When I was a child, I spent summers in Alabama, with my Grandma and aunts and cousins. After the chores were all done in the evenings, they would(in the summer) cut out all the pieces for the quilts they would sew in the winters. I t was my job to thread the pieces on a long thread, to keep all the "like' pieces together. As a child, I hated that - I wanted to be playing with my cousins.
Many long years later, I returned to college to get my Nursing degree. Shortly after graduation my BFF and Study Buddy got married. I wanted to give her something hat would remind her of me. A set of Glasses? Sheets? Towels? Hmmm, after they were washed, she wouldn't know they were from ME. Then I thought of all those years ago, helping my GM and aunts. I know... a QUILT! then she would know that it was specifically from me every time she used it. Even though I had never done anything by myself before, I set about learning how to do it, and finished the quilt the day before her wedding. It was a burgundy, rose and cream colored Dresden Plate with burgundy sashing and binding. That was back in 1980, and I was 'Hooked". She likes to joke that even though she doesn't have the same husband, she still has the same quilt.
Every year for my family reunion, I make a quilt that is raffled off to help pay for the next year's reunion. I have enough stash to stock a small quilt store, and go through it each time to choose the material for the quilt. Once I have the colors, then I choose the pattern. Probably backwards, I know, but that is the way it works for me. And, luckily, every quilt has turned out so much better than I imagine when I am working on it. I have never been able to design, but I can follow a pattern to make it look good. And that is why I quilt.