My "sewing" friend and I were chatting one day years ago about how both our mother's were quilting... we thought, well, we should quilt, too. She mentioned our conversation while at choir practice to the lady sitting next to her who replied, "My sister quilts and she'll teach us. She's been wanting to teach me too!" So, that summer, we spent several days over the summer learning to quilt the old fashioned way... everything by hand, cutting each piece individually, etc... Next summer (we were both still teaching back then), we're fabric shopping and stumble into a wonderful quilt shop in OKC... we're standing there with our mouths dropped open when a staff member says, "You've never been here before, have you?" Well, we signed up for "Beginning quilting", discovered the rotary cutter, and have never looked back! Our quilt teacher has become a dear friend over the years... we've gone back to the shop for many different classes, all of them VERY helpful! Our only problem is there is just not enough time in every day to play!!
We have a mutual quilting friend here in our small town who is practically 100% self-taught and she makes wonderful quilts!!
The three of us are thinking about some kind of ministry for our church... teaching sewing basics, then possibly quilting basics.... some way to give back!