HI to all from a new bee
 

My mother taught me how to make the clam shell quilt. She made them for years. This past year, two friends and I made a quilt for the Cancer Society. It was a combination of Tee Shirts, clam shells and strips. It gave me the courage to branch out. Since I do not use a machine, my work is slower than most of you I am sure. But, I am kind of proud of two of my last quilts. I am slowly gaining confidence that I can do this even though I do not use a sewing machine. Any tips would be appreciated. Debbie

Both look great. I love the sea scape--such pretty colors!

Your work is so great. I feel like a wimp using a machine. Please keep sharing as you get the quilts done.

Love the ocean quilt.have been promising my daughter one for a couple of years now since she went to the Bahamas.

Hi, and welcome from Texas! Your quilts are great!! I think its great that you do it all by hand...I used to do all of mine by hand, that is how I learned to quilt from my Grandma...Last 2 years I started using a machine and I love it, too...I am still trying to get the hang of fmq (free motion quilting)...and admit more often than not I revert back to hand quilting...keep up the great work, keep sharing pics...advice I would have besides all the great info here on QB is just google search about quilting, lots of great free info out there, and some really creative people who have their quilt blogs...About 2 years ago I happened upon a lqs (local quilt shop) in town close to me...I have been going there and quilting with a small group of gals...if you can find a small group or few friends who enjoy quilting, I think that is really helpful to bounce ideas back and forth..and just for the friendship, too..I also have bought a lot of great books on quilting...most of them in very good-new condition from Amazon and or Ebay...and of course you can buy books, fabrics, patterns, etc. here, too...
Regards,
Kif
PS Do you not use a machine because you just like hand quilting? Or is it that you haven't used one before? If its the latter, you can get some nice starting machines for really good prices..also most quilt shops offer beginning machine quilting classes...just some more info...

Welcome! Both of your pictures are great, but I love that first one that reminds me of cathedral windows looking out onto gardens. Looking forward to more pictures ...

Welcome to this wonderful quilt board. You can get lots of help here.
I only use a machine for piecing and quilting. My goal is to use as much of my fabrics as I can and make quilts fast.
Your quilts are very pretty.

nicely done

Very nice work. I wish I could hand quilt. I try, but arthritis makes it more difficult.

I really like the way you used the beautiful prints in the first quilt. It's like looking out of the windows into the tree tops.