Quiltingboard Forums - Board Newbie from Missouri

Hi everyone, this is such a great site. I love all the photos, ideas and support found here. I love quilting but do make time to do as much as I'd like. I'm a confirmed fabriholic and my husband supports me fully in my addiction. He takes me to fabric shops for all important anniversaries, follows me around, carries bolts of fabric, calculates how much I need and heads to the cutting table while I keep shopping. He's built custom furniture for my sewing room that is just the right height for me to sew or cut comfortably. Not to mention its rustic look that I so love. He's let me take over half the basement and has offered to build additional shelves for my ever-expanding fabric collection. I am fortunate to have inherited my family's quilts. The oldest one was made in 1872 by my great great grandmother as her first project on her first sewing machine. It's even machine quilted. It was made as a baby quilt for the child she was expecting (my great grandfather). Another one is a community quilt made in 1889 with over 300 names listed of individuals from Stephenson county, Illinois of which at least 50 individuals are my relatives. I will post some pictures of these quilts eventually. My grandmother sewed everyday that I can remember but she never made quilts (though, she was a fabriholic as well). I just joined the buyer's club at a nearby quilt shop and the application asked what my favorite part of quilting is and though it's hard to pick one thing, it's probably the design process. I can entertain myself for hours with graph paper and colored pencils. My son tells me that if I'd sew just half the quilts that I design, we'd all be buried in quilts. I also have a serious problem with UFOs, I have so many that I don't want to tell anyone the number (but I did get one off the list this week). This is in part because I love the design process but sometimes I hit a stumbling block or have to pack up the project to work on something else (like puppets for church) or a new quilt with a definite deadline (normally baby quilts...though I have one that I started and was on track to have it to the family before the little guy was born when the advice of friends caused me to modify what I was doing and now it's still not done and he will soon be 4 years old). I have made myself a vow that I will complete at least 2 UFOs before I start a new project (have I mentioned that I love starting new projects). I'm considering joining the UFO challenge thread but I'm not sure that I can commit to finishing one each month. Anyway, I'm happy to have been introduced to this site by my mother-in-law who is also a quilter and who inspires and encourages me. Thanks to everyone who participates in making this such a great site.