Greetings from Ohio
I'm new to quilting. I took a class nearly 20 years ago and enjoyed it. I finished one quilt and started a second. The unfinished quilt is lost somewhere in the basement. In the meantime, I've enjoyed art welding, pottery, painting, and drawing classes. Loved them all. Luckily, I can get lots of pleasure from the creative process without being particularly good at it. I took a basic sewing class at Jo-Ann's this past winter, followed it with a quilted table runner class, then a beginning quilting class. By April I had talked myself into a new sewing machine during a 50% sale. Signed up for another couple of classes and here I am.
The new sewing machine has greatly enhanced the experience. I had been using my Mom's old Singer. Ive looked for opportunities to make and give away my novice creations. The friend of my daughter with a new baby boy has been the recipient of a hooded fleece blanket with matching fleece hat and scarf, two quilted baby bibs (one with the cutest Halloween fabric), and a crib quilt. The friend of my sister with a new grandson on the way will receive two quilted baby bibs and a hooded fleece blanket. Beth is a serious Quilter, so I had to have assurances she would be forgiving of my newbie skills. And I recently saw the thread from Annaquilts looking for people to make baby quilts for preemies at her local hospital. I committed to making baby quilts for her local NICU as a way to continue practice and learning.
I'm going to seriously have a problem with with the growing stash of fabric in my upstairs attic room. I seem to buy every cute fabric I stumble across.