My father was the quilter in our family. He also taught many young sailors how to do repairs and sew on patches, also! My mother was more into the embroidery, knitting and clothing sewing. So I was touched by both areas of sewing in my youth. As a teenager I had an amazing Home Ec Teacher that encouraged all of us to find an interest and build on it. This I did in so many different ways - painting, cooking, sculpting, and sewing. Over the years I found others were interested in what I could do with a sewing machine and needle with thread, needless to say I have done alterations, home furnishings, and so many others crafty things. My true love I found was in making stuffed animals and found that local fabric stores didn't carry "good" furs to work with and their patterns were more cartoonish in my oppinion. At this time I was also trying to quit smoking. My mother sent me a teddy bear pattern in the hopes of keeping my hands busy but to be honest I was not overly impressed with the pattern so I changed it. Now this was over 30 years ago and since then I have developed a long line of animal patterns, designed a number of formal dress patterns for our daughters along with our oldest daughter's wedding dress. Quilting was not in the picture but I did admire them. My father was still alive at this time, collecting second clothing, sewing bits and pieces together to make "Double Wedding Ring", "Log Cabins", "Dakota Stars", "Scrappy Patches", "Drunkard Pathes" just to name a few. When I visited him, I would always see one in progress, mounted on a wooden frame that was suspended from the family room ceiling. When company came over he would put on the coffee, set up folding chairs and then drop down the frame to lap height. He always had plenty of thimbles, needles, thread and patience for all that came over to shot the breeze. You could either sew or not but he would be busy sewing along whenever company came around. He managed to finish a queen-size quilt every winter for the Seniors at his church. I never did get one done by him for myself, though I whined about it often. A few years after he past I met a dear new friend at a craft show and she was admiring some of the "art" wall hangings I was doing at the time. She brought me to her booth and showed me some photos and quilts done by a local quilt quild. She encouraged me to come to a open class night being done with her guild as her quest. All I could picture at this time is a bunch of "old people" sitting around a wooden frame or two, sipping coffee, joking, and catching up with each other. Well I did show up, was taught how to hand sew a landscape art quilt using scraps. I had so much fun, meeting others, admiring their work during show n tell and enjoying the diversity of the group of women, young girls and a few brave men. Next thing I know I'm getting involved. Became the coordinator for the community service quilts & projects that this amazing group did every year. Then somewhere along the line I became the president of Guild. I for one can tell you how skeptical I was at first but if you haven't attended a guild meeting you all really should and be prepared to be surprised. The things I've learned, the shared talents, the variety that comes from one simple workshop or class. Though they for the most part are quilters they all love what fabrics and thread can do and how they help us all express and find the artist side within them all. I for one am certainly hooked and have so much more to learn. God willing I will be doing this for years to come and someday I will make a quilt for my hubby and I to enjoy. I keep giving them away to those that need them more then I do at this time.
And to all of you I for one love all the stories and the tremendous amount of shared information that comes from this forum.