Sewed clothes in my 20s & 30s when kids weren't in school yet, then went back to work. When the last kid was in high school & right after mom passed I wanted to do something with her cottons & added more from my kid s clothes & had enough for a California King sampler with prairie points using Marcia Hahn's QuiltBlocksGalore.com patterns I accidentally found online. Received a pack of 2" charms as a gift from Blue Star Mothers & googled what to do with the precious charms so I joined QB & The Curious Quilter to learn about swapping charms & enlarged my stash & charms. I used Missouri Star Co. tutorials, & Quilting Board seasoned quilters instructions & info on putting together a postage stamp quilt (1.5" finished!). QB friends challenged me to do an applique from an "ugly" pattern but I changed the colors to suit my home motif using batiks & got thumbs up so I kept going. I joined QB Birthday swap to build charms, joined Quilts of Valor in which we liaised with in hospital military overseas by sending them fabric, rulers, patterns, etc. they'd complete the blocks & send to us which we turned into quilts & sent them back to their hospital for distribution. In the 2020 pandemic did face masks for locals (under 500 folks in town here) & also made Christmas ornaments (the folded type on styrofoam ball). Current project is a Row by Row cotton license plate quilt from all the places we've been quilt shop hopping over the last 7 years. It is for my DHs vehicle, complete with pillow & bag. 3 yrs ago hubby bought me a longarm, yippee! Quilt Something!
hugs,
dj