I started with a pattern I figured out for myself and was so proud when it was finished. I bought used mens shirts at a thrift shop (all the shirts you can fit in a grocery bag - 15-) and cut my pieces from that fabric. Hand quilted it using a template. Didn't know the dased lines on the template were supposed to be merged into flowing lins. So I stopped at tach dash and knotted my thread and hid the knot then started at the next place. Took forever; broke my back leaning over the quilt frame but I finished it. It came back for repair a few years later. All the old fabrick fell apart. Then I started machine quilting on a little Singer with about a 5 inch area for free motion quilting. I do think the less I knew about the right wayto do it, the more I got done. I found this board and learned so much. Everyone here is so willing to share.