mpspeedy2

I made my first quilt when I was 20. I had been sewing in one way or another since I was 12 or so. My mother had been a Home Economics major in college before she had to drop out for financial reasons. As her only daughter I got what little time and attention she could spare when it came to teaching me sewing etc. I didn't have money to spare for buying fabric for quilts until I had my first job. My first quilt was made from leftover clothing sewing. It was simple squares sewn together with half inch seams. It was certainly nothing to write home about. When I showed my mother the top she gently told me that it should have 1/4 inch seams and be made of "like" weight fabrics. My hand quilting looked like almost small basting. Never the less it was completed and I proudly used it on my bed. It followed me to my first apartment and ended it's life about ten years later when my husband used it to lay on when he worked under the car. In the years since I have made hundreds of quilts, if you count the Linus ones I have made. I didn't learn to piece or applique properly until I joined a quilt guild. In the guild they had a "block of the month". The idea was to try a new block that they provided directions and one piece of fabric for. Each person who made a block entered it and their name was put in the pot. Each month one "lucky" person or two if there where more than 12 blocks submitted had their name drawn and they received twelve blocks. They were expected to make a top of them within a given time period. I have not been active in the guild for at least 5 years so I am only assuming that that practice continues. It was a good way to teach new blocks and designs and assure that there would be quilts from the members to be displayed at their quilt shows. I have a trunk full of finished quilts that include a queen size white on white. While I love fabric the actual quilting is what appeals to me the most. I only do machine quilting on my charity quilts. All of my other quilts are hand quilted and I am an expert at that and very speedy. What I like most about it is that it is portable and I can do it while watching TV or visiting with friends or family. Find whichever part of the quilting process appeals to you the most and do that. If you don't like the actual stitching of the layers together have someone else long arm or hand quilt your top for you. My favorite is what I call "cheaters" cloth. It is fabric that is printed to look like patchwork or even applique. Once I get done hand quilting it most people can't tell that I didn't piece or applique it myself. Find what pleases you the most and get going.