Welcome from South Louisiana. Look in your local area and find out if there are any fabric shops or quilt guilds. They will have beginner classes or sewing groups and many quilters will lovingly share fabric and teach a beginner.

Again, thank you for the warm welcome, and all the information. When it comes to information, I really like that, but sometimes I, a pretty slow learner, get information overload. So it will take m a little time to go through all that info and suggestions to see what works for my brain pattern.

I purchased a package of four inch cotton squares to experiment on. When I received them from Amazon, I was surprised to see they are very, very thin printed fabric. Guess I will experiment as I said, but what I make will stay at home, Might be adequate for a wall covering. I also experimented with the rotary cutter last night, cutting out the temporary hand stitched hammered dulcimer cover I made to protect it from the desert dust. I've since then made a cover made of upholstery fabric.

Anyway, this is supposed to be a welcome section, so I will start asking questions in the appropriate areas of this Forum. Again, thanks so much for the warm welcomes and suggestions.

I just had to remove my desired sewing machine I mentioned earlier from my Amazon wish list. And it seems this model just isn't available anymore. Problem is that a lot of listings that had been available, all of a sudden are no long available. I'm wondering if the virus mandate of stay at home has made people purchase things that will keep them busy while stuck at home?

Anyway, what I did purchase (Brother Sewing and Quilting Machine RSQ9185 (refurbished).. It's the only thing I can afford. It cost me $150, Not sure what the original list price was, but hope I didn't get taken and that it will work for a few years.

I need to find the owner's manual online, and download that, so I can read about what other things i will need to get things up and running

These manuals say they are for a SQ9185 Brother Sewing Machine. Not sure what the R in front of your model number is but hope this will help you. They are free downloads.

https://support.brother.com/g/b/manu...d=hf_sq9185eus

osewme, Found them, and downloaded all pertaining to this machine. One thing that really confuses me is the number of presser feet for quilting. Since I've never done this, I haven't a clue what i need. The accessories catalog is just for sales, doesn't do a whole lot when it comes to making a decision on which feet you need.

Do you have a list of the basic essentials and what they are used for?

Caley, with Covid there is indeed a run on sewing machines. Freezers too... sounds like I might get one of those by Labor Day.

You need a zig zag suitable foot, and a single needle position foot, and I really like those quilter feet that give you your 1/4" on both left and right, and markings for front and back. There are sewing techniques where this is really nice, but like most stuff it is always optional. The nice thing about Brother feet is most are designed to be interchangeable and are often available at your local store as well as easily on line.

Iceblossom, Thank you for the feet list. Really helps. Hopefully the machine comes with those feet, but, if not, I know what to get now.

If you are going to quilt your own quilts, you may want a walking foot, also.

I just did a bit of research on this machine I ordered. It has several type quilting feet, as well as standard feet for sewing buttons and button holes and standard stitches.

They also include three different types of needles that apparently are standard for this type of machine.

I won't really know if I need anything else until I get it sometime in the second week of June.

I hope setting up and using your new machine is a joyous experience. One of the best pieces of advice I can give is sometimes you just have to walk away. Whenever I am trying to force something to happen, well more bad things happen.

There is a wide range of what people consider "acceptable" or "quilt shop quality" fabric. The standard used in quilting is 100% cotton, but many of us have used poly blends as well (cotton behaves much nicer!). I'm not a designer snob and judge fabric on a piece by piece basis. I've had name brand fabric that failed my tests (which include prewashing fabric, whole 'nother topic but I am a believer in prewashing), and I've had low cost fabrics that have behaved beautifully. But there are differences in weaves, and thread weight, and print quality and several other criteria.

Sometimes "lawn" fabrics are used in quilting and that's just fine if all the fabrics are the same weight, but yes, they are indeed finer than what people usually expect.

Batiks are often a finer weave but have a higher threadcount. Again, the feel of them compared to other fabrics can feel off but they are considered a higher end fabric.

You can get "quilt" quality fabrics at Walmart, you can also get what is called "craft" fabric, they aren't necessarily separated and can be right next to each other. Often the specialty holiday fabrics are craft level.

One final thought in here about being a small space quilter. I'm lucky enough that I have an entire (small) bedroom devoted to my quilting now, but my house is still small and my biggest layout space if the queen bed. I've quilted in my dorm room, in apartments, on vacation trips, and it can be done in a small space. For your tools, you do need something about the size of those big old sewing kits from the 70s so roughly a cubic foot??, or I had an actual tool box (it was cheap, $10 I should really invest in an actual expensive one), my current kit is starting to fall apart, it's a large old fashioned lunch box shaped thing (the size of an old fashioned loaf of bread) with Minions on it. Something that size will hold all of your supplies. You will also need a place for your rulers (you can hang them on the wall, my small ones are pinned to a cork board). You pretty much have to have at least two rulers, I suggest a 6.5x24" as your standard ruler, and then a square one based on whatever finished block size you might want to make. A 10.5 or 12.5" square is a good choice. I probably have over 20 rulers, 6 of which I use with some regularity but I'm a believer in the right tool for the job! Watch some videos on cutting techniques.

What tools you need, what supplies you will want will determine ultimately on what you want to do. We have many ways to do things!

One of those collapsible wood sweater dryers is an awesome thing to have, put your working yardage on there, or your strips. Lightweight and easy to fold up and carry from room to room or to store away until next time.