It is always fun to hear everyone's quilting story.
No one in my family (that I know of anyway) sews or quilts. I am a craft fair junkie, and I was always fascinated by quilted things. My husband and I travel a lot for work and we spend at least six months of the year away from home. In September of 2007, we were in Boise, Idaho for a three-month period and we happened t be staying near a quilt shop. As I was driving by one day, I saw them advertising beginner quilt classes and I heard the shop calling my name. It was my first time in quilt shop, surrounded by fabrics and notions and I realized right then that it was something I'd enjoy. I asked the helpful ladies about that class, and they said even if I can't even a thread a machine and don't have one (both were true in my case), I can take the class learning on one of the store machines. I signed up. It was a six-week class, one session a week, where the teacher taught us about fabric, measuring, pressing, cutting and we made Ohio star blocks. She taught us how to add sashing and borders and by the end of the class I had about 45 by 45 wall-hanging. The teacher was so gracious and generous that she even loaned me one of her personal machines to use at home. I enjoyed every minute of the class, and despite the challenges I faced learning everything from scratch and struggling with even winding the bobbin, I knew that quilting was going to be a new hobby for me. We then went to Hawaii for nine months (for work) and quilting was not an option for me during that time, but it was always on my mind. As soon as we left Hawaii, and got to Spokane, I told my husband that I am buying a sewing machine, bought one and quilted my Ohio Star top from the class. Since then, I've worked on some small projects and some bigger ones, took a machine quilting class and attempted few things, and I am loving it. I take my machine and some stash with me whenever I can and I try to always have something to work on, some months I get a lot done, and some months I barely sit on my sewing machine, but I am always thinking about it. I discovered that I don't like kits, and I like to change many patterns. I got a used copy of the EQ5 and I am discovering that I love designing quilts. I am a better piecer than quilter, but definitely have a lot of room to improve in both arenas. I also discovered that my spirit is more advanced than my skill levels, I keep getting myself in way over my head, but I am loving it.
Thanks for asking :)