Why have you chosen to sew quilts?
 

There are so many things people sew and yet many of you have chosen quilts over all. I'm curious as to why.

(I'm introspecting here, wondering why I haven't sewn much at all for quite some time. And no, I'm not depressed and am quite healthy :) maybe I need a new focus?)

I quilt for a creative outlet, it allows me to have something to “do” that I can do solo. I’m not a very social person and I have cats that are a lifetime commitment. If I didn’t have cats, I would travel a lot more than I do and I would probably not quilt as much and I would spend more time working on photography. Who knows what the future holds, for the here and the now I will continue to enjoy quilting and work on becoming a better quilter in the process. I do know I won’t ever stop quilting, though at some point I may slow down a bit.

I've done garment sewing off and on since 11 or 12 years old. My mom and grandmother were sewers and quilters, but it was hand quilting. Over the years as machines became fancier and my job and life became more stressful quilting was a stress relief and an escape. Now that I'm retired quilting is still like a therapy, but I enjoy it as much for the process as much as making something for seeing how much a gifted quilt is enjoyed. Our grandson won't go to bed without an "oma" quilt and our granddaughter only puts my quilts on her bed. Makes it all worth it. ☺

I have always loved sewing, but found that quilts bring so much joy. Bringing joy... that's what I love.

i grew up sewing, knitting, and all sorts of other needle crafts with my mother. oddly, we never made quilts. i can't afford most of the other crafts anymore. but i am able to fit quilting into my budget. even though it isn't specifically something my mother and i did together, i still feel that connection to the memories whenever i'm shopping for fabrics, or doing the various tasks associated with making a quilt. :)

Because a quilt can end up being the size it ends up - unlike a garment that looks better when it fits properly.

I have always had a sewing machine. Well since I bought my first one, a turquoise Singer 327, in 1965. I still have it and it works great. I used it for my first quilt. I sewed lots of things, but never considered quilting. About 20 or so years ago I used to watch Simply Quilts while I ate my breakfast before I left for work. Just liked it. Never in a zillion years considered doing it. Then almost 16 years ago I retired. My son said "now that you are retired you can make me a quilt". What? Where did he get that? He was on his own and had no idea I even watched Simply Quilts. I said "I don't know about that. I never considered it". He said "well, you could learn". Just like magic a few days later I opened the local newspaper and there was an ad for the senior center and a beginning quilt class. How about that. I signed up, made what the other women were making. Which was a flannel 3 1/2 inch trip around the world baby quilt. On that Singer. What in the world. But, since I already knew how to sew, I did it. Had baby granddaughter and she used it on her bed for years. Then tackled his quilt. I thought he needed a different kind of quilt and had seen on Simply Quilts a man doing an ultra suede quilt with giant blocks placed in 45 degree orientation so the shading showed. Never could find ultra suede but got microfiber!! What was I thinking! Very thin, slippery, stretchy. By then I had a Brother XR52 basic Costco mechanical machine. I sewed the blocks together fine, used fleece for batting and stitched in the ditch - it was a king size. He loved it. And by then I was hooked on quilting. I did go to the senior center for a few years, and brought my project and enjoyed it, and then the instructor moved on and the next instructor wasn't a quilter, but tried to convince us she was, and it all fell apart. Then I never had a good place in the house we lived in. So did it sporadically. When we moved here, I finally got my own room and now I do it because I love sitting in my little room and smelling sewing machine oil, and listening to the whir of the machine, and like the iron, and just do it because I enjoy it. I always say I quilt for my own pleasure and my mojo comes and goes. But, I'm fine with all of that.

I never even sewed until after my oldest son was born. But I enjoyed needlework, especially knitting. The lady I babysat for taught me how to knit in highschool.
When I learned to sew (took lessons) I found that I really enjoyed it. It was a great stress reliever. Then some years later a friend suggested a quilt class. Wow, did I get hooked!
To this day we laugh because she never made another one and I haven't stopped!
I get so much relaxation from it. I still love to knit too. I've been making my new granddaughter all sorts of things.

One more thing- when my boys were little their clothes weren't as cute as girls fashions so I used to applique little things on them. Cute and fun!

Quilting is a comfort zone for me. The prospect of taking little pieces of something and making something warm and beautiful for someone just makes me feel warm and fuzzy all over.I have always loved to sew. Now I have no distractions, kids are grown, and I have all the time I want to devote to this pleasurable pass time.

I am completely obsessed with quilts. A complete goner. I started sewing at age 9 through 4-H. Some clothes fit, most didn't turn out like they did in my head! Sewing for my kids was fun. But quilts always captivated me. I love how they feel, how they always turn out (unlike clothing!). The industry is always offering something new to try, new tool to get or inspiration from others. In the end, I can give away a truly one of a kind gift that is warm, designed especially for the receiver and it just feels good to do so. I love every aspect of the craft - I am a complete goner!

My favorite process is designing and drawing. I started appliqueing my children's sweatshirts. Then I made 9 larger squares with beach themes that I planned out. My only regret is using flat bed sheets for the edging strips. My SIL was helping me save money, "They're cheaper than fabric!" Boy, was she right. 20+ years later, it is wearing thin on the edges.
I say that my quilts don't look like your grandmother's quilts. I don't follow patterns. I wanna make "one of a Kind" quilts.
So many ideas...so little time...

I always did crafts as a kid, was a Camp Fire Girl and all that. I was born in 1960, and there was a big push about quilting because of the bicentennial, along with embracing post-hippy life style in terms of reducing/reusing, handcrafted items versus commercially produced.

Anyway, despite from having no quilters in the family, as a Senior in High School (1977-78) I decided I wanted to make a quilt to take to college and so I did. I lived in a small town and mostly I had access to what was at one time a Carnegie Library with a few quilting books, we did have a fabric/quilt store but I was rather intimidated by the little old quilting ladies. Now that I have become one myself, I find we are a pretty awesome group of people and nothing to fear, for the most part anyway... Even back then my mother declared the fabric store as too expensive, and the first quilt was made for less than $20 from fabrics I got from the Montgomery Wards catalog.

I've never been quite sure if "I quilt and therefore I am" or "I am, therefore I quilt". Whichever way it is, it is my chosen form of art. It along with music is a constant in my life. I quilted when I lived in the dorms. One of my first purchases out of the dorms was a then high end sewing machine (pattern cams, right before computers!). I've quilted as a single mother and now as a beloved wife and woohoo! grandma just happened.

I've tried many things throughout the years and by now have a style and a PoV (point of view). Mostly I work in scraps or collections of fabrics, and I believe that while an art that quilting is a craft -- that is, a useful object is my end result. Nothing against textile artists, but my old tagline was something about "it may be three layers stitched together but if you can't wrap a sick baby in it, it's not a quilt."

Started in the days before rotary cutting, loved the rulers and cutters as soon as they came out. Figured out all by myself on that first project that I could get desk blotter sized graph paper and use that to cut multiple layers at one time with big dull scissors! Still good with graph paper but always learning and trying and now use computers and copiers and other technology. At this point in my life, my vision is failing and I'm learning all over again how to do things because I can't do them the way I used to, but I still have plenty of quilting ahead of me even if my best work is behind me.

I have always had a love affair with fabric and sewing. Since I was quite young I would sew clothes, stuffed animals, pillows, curtains - anything I could think of. After a while I had all the clothes I needed. My sister made a quilt and so I made one. Took a few years before I was totally into nothing but quilts. I still get my sewing fix and there is always someone willing to take a quilt. I have a nice stash of them now but there are charities just waiting for me to find them.

I've always been been a person who sews, but I wanted a quilt and could not afford one. So I made myself a quilt and quilted it myself. Hence I was hooked. :D

I started quilting so I could repair a quilt that had been gifted to me and had been well used. I had to take it all apart to replace the batting and cut out some fabric that had deteriorated. Thank goodness it had been tied and not running quilting stitches or I never would have attempted it. Since I didn't have a clue what I was doing, I bought a "how to" book. It had lots of pictures, which is how I learn best, and more than one simple design to try out.
Since I spend a portion of the year sewing costumes for a Renaissance Faire, with a definite deadline, quilting can be done at my own pace on my own terms and just enjoy the process.

For me it's a number of things. My grandmother was a huge inspiration for me. She was an *amazing* seamstress and did crochet as well, so I grew up watching her work with fabric and thread, and make magic. I made a tiny hand-sewn "quilt" (really just some tiny squares sewn together, no batting no backing) for my doll at that time, and the fascination with wanting to make a quilt stuck with me. I *love* designing quilts in my head when I see pretty fabric. I try to get them drawn out with EQ8 when I can, then try to make them come to life, to see if I can make a little magic too. I just recently gave my first gift of one of my quilts to someone - something in my head just told me she needed it - and she was absolutely thrilled with it. So, now I have the additional feeling of joy of giving something I've made away. Can't say it gets much better than that.

I think I first started because I had too many Scrapbooks. I realized a tower of scrapbooks was enough to memorialize my son's childhood. Then I kept quilting because of the friends I made at Guild. I loved the lunches after Guild with the girls. Plus, I was making something that could actually be used, not put on a bookshelf. I love playing with color and the textures of the fabrics.

Yes! I totally agree!!

Wow, reading all your replies has shown me that you all love to give. You may have started out with things for yourself, but shifted to your homes, children, families, and now you gift away. I love this. I feel selfish when I sew anything for myself, most of my sewing has also been for others. I've thought of attempting garment fitting again but omg, I really don't want that stress at this stage of my life!

Maybe I'll give quilts another chance. Your answers were so warm and comfortable, just like quilts.

I grew up with my mom always sewing, she sewed lots of special things for me as I grew up. When I was in high school she had her own leather clothing business, along with mending and repairing leather items for people. My maternal grandmother had a crafting business which included sewn items. So the creative bug comes to me through genetics. I have done lots of different crafty things, from henna tattooing as a business, dried floral wreaths and arrangements, crotcheting, etc.... to special dresses for my daughter when she was a toddler, all without a pattern, but all involved my creative bug. My first sewing machine was a dressmaker that I bought at our local thrift shop for $3, I still have and still use it for certain projects. My creative bug evolved into quilting and I soon became addicted, there are so many different creative aspects of it, from finding a pattern to picking the fabrics for it, to the quilting of it once sandwhiched. And as you know there are so many skills and different techniques that can be done with the end result becoming a quilt. Quilt shows offer many other options to try that aren't a quilt, but do involve sewing and being creative. With a passion to create and share my creations, I see sewing and quilting for many years to come.

because I've sewn since about 9yrs old and I prefer quilting because it allows me to be creative (I couldn't imagine making clothing without a pattern); I get to play with color and when I quilt it, texture--my 2 favorite things! And there are no zippers or gathers (hopefully!) to deal with

My mother made our dresses/shorts/tops when we were little. When I was in high school I figured out real quick that clothes cost a lot of money, but I could make dresses and skirts for a fraction of the cost. I've always loved crafting, and over the years have dabbled in most everything. When my boys were small I made all their shorts and sweats. My best friend has always quilted, and I was really impressed with what she could do. I took the plunge, and have been happily quilting for years. I love making quilts, wall-hangings, ornaments...you name it. I'm a "shiny object" kind of quilter. I see something that sparks my interest, and I have to make it. I usually don't use a pattern, just draw it up and go for it. I love making things for friends, and give most of what I make away. I still like sewing, and do a lot of mending and repairs for family and friends. I love the creativity, and the ability to express myself. I like making something that is unique to me...something that no one else has made exactly like it. I find it soothing and calming and energizing and get great satisfaction from it.

I make quilts because I love to give them away to people who are special to me. They say that I care enough that I spend my time and effort to make a pretty "hug" to keep them warm! And I pray for them as I make the quilt also.

It’s a sense of an accomplishment that is so fulfilling. I’m not creative, I can’t design a quilt pattern. But, just selecting a pattern and a bunch of beautiful fabrics and sewing them together to create something is the ultimate high for me. I hand quilt and that totally relaxes me. Even trying to decide how to quilt it is a thrill. Years ago, the owner of my then favorite LQS told me that quilting is cheaper than going to a psychiatrist. How true. I am so thankful to the lady who introduced me to quilting - about 35 years ago.

I have sewed all of my life. I grew up with my grandparents and I learned to sew on Mom’s Treadle. She taught me to embroidery though I never learned to tat, crochet or knit. Being a child in a world full of adults I never had children to play with. Pop was a voracious reader and he would always read to me. He read me whatever he was reading.. Emerson’s Essays, Shakespeare, whatever. I didn’t start quilting until my children were grown as I had a very busy career and an awesome husband. I went to visit my mother and she dragged me to her quilt group. Those ladies convinced me I could make a quilt for my soon to be grandchild. So on the way home from her group we stopped at her LQS and I bought a mat, rotary cutter,, a quilt book and fabric. My first quilt was “A Gingham Dog and a Calico Cat”. My grandson is now 16 and that quilt still exists! My husband died in 2008 and I retired in 2009. I Sold our wonderful historic home in NJ and moved to Illinois in order to be close to my grandchildren. I still miss the hustle and bustle of NYC/NJ but I love the country life and my quilting groups and buddies. Quilting has allowed me to meet wonderful people, kept me busy and I keep learning and getting better at my craft. I have made so many quilts and I love donating them to causes I support. ( battered women, abused children and Veterans). I love scrappy quilts and spend the month of January making quilts for my church group.

I will warn you, Quilting has proven to be addictive and I will drop everything to go quilt store shopping with friends. We have checked out every shop within a radius of 200 miles. Our road trips are so much fun and I absolutely love my huge collection of fabric. I really love bus trips and overnight trips to quilt stores with friends. My FIL was a textile expert and he taught me so much about fabrics and colors. This has been a great experience for me and I hope I can keep on quilting for the rest of my life.

My sewing started as necessity. 16, pregnant and sew or go naked, back then the price of fabric was much more reasonable. Sewed for my girls as they were growing up, not so much for my self, never could get the fit right by myself. Taught myself to crochet. Did some painting. When my Mom passed, I was cleaning her sewing room, found some squares she had hand cut. She sewed charity quilts with her church group. They cut all their blocks with an unmarked glass square, drew around the edges and cut with scissors. Our oldest grandson was the "first born" everything and I wanted to make a quilt with her squares. I signed up to take a class but couldn't wait for it to start, Sewed the squares together, that wasn't too difficult. Purchased batting and backing. Didn't know how to quilt or I did some hand quilting and some embroidery. Brought the backing to the front and sewed it down. Do not look at the corners LOL!
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A creative outlet is a necessity for me, and quilting fills that need. Ohh, the colors!! It is all about colors and how I can put them together. Piecing is like a puzzle and I get a lot of satisfaction when they all come together. I love pointy points and seams that meet. And mostly, it is mine. No quilt police. I can work fast or slow, my choice. Once the quilt is finished, I am ready to let it go. I am very happy if my quilt and canmake somebody feel loved.

I love making things. The first time I sewed was in High School Home Economics classes and we only made clothes. I didn't start quilting until I was in my fifties because I thought quilts had to be made by hand and I didn't think I would have the patience to make anything that large by hand. When I found out you could use the sewing machine to quilt a sandwich I couldn't start fast enough. I also crochet, knit, embroider, weave, and cross stitch.

I have always loved sewing. When I wore business suits to work, it was worth my time to sew "designer" quality clothes for a fraction of what I could buy them for. Now that I'm retired and pretty much live in jeans and t-shirts or sweatshirts, it's not worth my effort to sew my own clothes, so I pretty much hadn't sewed for a few years. When my great nephew was born last year, I thought it would be nice to make a baby quilt. That was it - I was hooked. I enjoyed making that quilt so much, I've been making quilt after quilt for relatives, friends, Quilts of Valor, Ronald McDonald house, etc. I'm really enjoying my "new" hobby and the opportunity to learn new techniques, etc.

My mom can do anything crafty-- sew, quilt, knit, crochet, etc. She really wanted to pass it all along to her kids, but we wanted nothing to do with it, myself included. While I appreciated what she can do, it wasn't "my thing" (I preferred reading, woodworking, etc).

As a young teen, I found out that my great-grandfather had made quilt tops for all of his great-grandchildren. My mom didn't have mine (or my little brother's). Then, in my early 20s, I found out my gramma still had ours, and she gave mine to me when she sold her big farmhouse (that my grampa built) to move to a smaller place. It became my goal to learn to hand quilt "when I had the time".

The time finally came when I was in my late 30s. I have a job that has a lot of down time, and as long as a project is somewhat portable, and can be dropped in an emergency, I can do it at work. So I sought out a group that could teach me to hand quilt (a group at the local senior center). My mom was also a great source, and I used her as well, but she didn't hand quilt often and hadn't done any for years. Anyway, I wanted to make sure I got practice before tackling my great-grampa's top.

I hadn't really touched a sewing machine since I did a small project in Jr High. I hand pieced a baby quilt (pretty simple since it was a panel), and then hand quilted that. Then I realized that there were other projects I wanted to tackle that would require the use of a sewing machine, so I finally gave in and attempted that again.

I'm finishing a large quilt for my parents (I posted it on here as I was making the top), which will have a mix of hand and machine quilting, due to time restraints and my choice of backing.

After my parent's quilt, I will finally hand quilt my great-grampa's. I'm looking forward to it!

I've been led to pick up several other crafts for "practical reasons". Like, my mom knits the best socks in the world, and keeps me well-stocked, but now I have to learn to knit socks too. So I did. She had me knit about a 3 x 4 inch piece, then we unraveled it and she got me started with 5-needle-sock-knitting. She works at a Joann Fabrics, and I've been told by her coworkers and the women in my quilt group that she is excited that I've finally fallen in love with her crafts.

ETA: when I started, I only wanted to hand piece/quilt. But then I started using a sewing machine for other things, and it's just so much faster! Then our group made over 120 quilts for recipients of Meals on Wheels, and definitely needed a machine to accomplish all that (I only contributed a few, but the women in my group are seriously impressive and fast!) So now I hand quilt some, and machine quilt others.

I had my Mom show me how to make a quilt top. I made a quilt for my first Daughter in 1966 or 1967. I have no idea what happened to it. Mom had never made an actual quilt. with five kids to raise alone and not enough time or space. I didn't know anything about tying or quilting it probably fell apart at first washing. I didn't attempt any more for several years. I finally found quilter's newsletter and they talked about making quilts and had some patterns. In the early 70's. I made some, I had been sewing clothes,pjs,some of my clothes, curtains, etc. I hand quilted 25 quilts. After our last grandson was born in 2002 I discovered rotary cutters,rulers and machine quilting. I bought quilting books and taught myself with their information how to actually make quilts.

All my kids, grandkids, great grandkids have several quilts, friends and tons of people I don't know have quilts I made. The last 3 or 4 years I make quilts for fosterkids in my county. I donated about30 to a local food pantry. I have probably made 400 - 500 quilts all total. Since I give them away I don't keep track of them. I have 5 or 6 for our bed.
My oldest granddaughter calls me a quilting machine. My oldest Daughter quilts, etc. too. A younger daughter (mother to oldest granddaughter) had other interests.

Several reasons. First, I love fabric/textiles. Always have, always will. Quilting gives me an excuse to buy it. Once I buy it, I have to use it, so, sooner or later, it becomes a quilt. Second, when I retired I needed serious 'decompression' from commitment to anything. I also needed something to do while I decompressed. Made my grandsons twin size bed spreads. Had no idea what I was doing, but they turned out ok - 12 years later, those bedspreads are still in use, so I couldn't have done too poorly.

Then my Mom went into her final 'decline' and needed someone with her 24 x 7. I wasn't working, so my DH and I became the care takers. Honestly, I enjoyed it. As one of 8 kids, I never had her to myself before that! But I am not the type who can just sit and watch TV all day, so I went to Walmart and bought some $2 fabric and made my first quilt. Mom was going to help me. This was her help: "I've forgotten more about quilting than you'll ever know!" She was right. She'd forgotten it. But she was an excellent quilt inspector.

After 2.5 years of non-commitment to anything other than my Mom and my grands, I decided I had to be part of the world again and joined two quilting groups. I have never looked back. My quilting is simple stuff - I'm color blind and quickly found out that quilts with a lot of different colors/fabrics confuse me and don't get finished. So I have a limit of about 4 fabrics per quilt. Added to that, I am impatient and want to get the quilts done quickly. I make lots of donation quilts, and grands and my kids are all recipients of quilts.

But it really boils down to the fact that I love fabric. And need an excuse to buy it.

I do not just sew quilts. I sew tops, bras, home dec, pet beds. Sample quilt sandwiches turn into pet quilts.

I also crochet, cross stitch, garden, cook, and bake. I do to university full time and am working towards a professional designation.

I am far more than only a quilter.

I make quilts because it makes me feel so good and it is a great hobby. It makes me feel so relaxed when I get to my sewing machine and can create something that is fun to do. I have done cross stitch, tole painting, crocheting and embroidery work but quilting just makes me feel good and relieves stress.

I grew up in a family of sewers and quilters so I started sewing early. Seeing and using beautiful quilts made by my DGM and DM I made one of my own and was hooked. I love color and love creating something of beauty. I love every step, finding a pattern choosing all the right fabric and watching it all come together. Then the joy and pride in it when it is finished.

Quilting is a creative outlet for me - even the ones I see in my head!
Used to love to sew but not usually for myself - and now fabric is so expensive. It's easier and cheaper to buy something to wear. But quilts are forgiving - they always fit something. And I like to play with scraps...

But do you ever sleep? I admire you for all that you are doing.

I grew up beside my great grandmother, and she quilted, knitted and crocheted. I spent a lot of time with her and always wanted to quilt. Life got in the way because I was a career woman who did not have time to quilt. I did, however, have time to buy fabrics and attend guild meetings once per month. When I finally retired, I had time to quilt, and by then I had a room full of fabric and about every quilting gadget known to man, but better than that I had a place and the time to quilt. I do not do show quilts, but I make quilts as surprises for family and friends. It relaxes me--or at least it does if I am not ripping out the quilting from a queen sized quilt (1/2 of the quilt) because I found 2 wrinkles quilted into the backing.