I was kind of the person in scenario 1 when I started quilting. I had lofty goals to make three quilts for my nieces and nephew for Christmas. My friend and teacher was a quilter and she showed me the MSQC tutorial for a jelly roll race quilt. I thought since it was something fairly straightforward that I could do as a beginner sewer. She took me shopping for my supplies which included:
-Sewing machine - I spent approximately $250 on a Brother Simplicity SB700T. It came with an extension table and was labeled for quilting.
-Extra machine needles
-Rotary cutter
-Self healing mat
-Rulers for cutting
-A basic sewing kit (scissors, pins, pin cushion, seam ripper)
-Fabric from a quilt shop to include borders and backing for the quilts I was making. I was shocked at the price at the time.
My thinking was “It can’t be that hard.” I was half right. It was fairly easy to start sewing but more difficult to see accurately on the first go. What I wish she had done at the time is give me a reality check as suggested and encourage me to start with a smaller project. When life happened and then she moved away, I didn’t sew or quilt for a long time. I wasn’t confident enough to do it on my own at the time and my work schedule and some small social anxiety prevented me from seeking a class. It wasn’t until a few years later that I started looking online for information on how to finish the quilt. That was when I learned that it was possible to finish a quilt completely on a domestic machine. I learned about so much more than she had the opportunity to show me. At the time she intended, once the tops were finished, for me to rent time on a long arm to quilt them. I had no idea what that was and assumed that was how it was done.
All the tools she suggested have been incredibly useful for the craft. My 6.5 x 24.5 creative grids ruler that was my first purchase is still my go-to ruler.
In retrospect, what would have been helpful was a beginner quilting class and to test drive more machines. My little machine got me started but it was a struggle to sew a nice straight line compared to my new Janome. Those first quilts, that I’m just now quilting the last one, very clearly show what a novice I was.