Hi! I'm Sharon and I have been hanging out reading posts on this board for months. I've learned a LOT and you guys gave me the inspiration and push I needed to finish my first quilt that I've been working on for over a year. I was hung up on the border. I quilted it to fleece rather than batting and cotton, and my daughter wanted a wide fleece border and I thought that was against the "rules." Reading many posts here, I've changed my thinking ... there aren't really rules, and I think of quilting more as my "art" than a formula I have to follow. It may not be a typical quilt, but it turned out great. I also placed buttons on it from my grandmother's button collection I inherited when she passed on over 20 years ago. I'll post a picture when I can.
I signed up today because I want to get in on a swap of Sunbonnet Sues I was just reading about. I'm not sure how swaps work but I'll ask the originator to fill me in.
I want to thank you all for sharing so much of your knowledge and tips and encouragement. I just know I'm going to love getting to know you better and absorbing and incorporating your tiips and help.
My big goal for now is to learn how to machine piece and possibly machine quilt. I am a cancer fighter/survivor and started a nonprofit that delivers sunshine boxes to first-time chemo patients (more info at www.fightingcancerinc.org, if you're interested). We always give them a blanket on day one because the lab is so chilly, and most of the time they get a plain old store-bought fleece, but we've had some women crochet beautiful afghans for them (there are pics on the website) and I'd like to be able to give them a quilt now and then. I think I'm going to do the Around the World pattern first. Anyone have any suggestions as to an easy pattern to learn machine quilting on?
Again ... I love this forum and thank you all for your inspiration and wonderful spirit of friendship I've already enjoyed even though not "officially" a member until today.
Sharon