It's her fault...
 

I ripped a zipper last week, dug out the ole fashion mate 5560 to put a new one in and my daughter came to visit and caught me. “Dad, you still sew?!” Growing up mom taught me to make my clothes and later I worked in furniture upholstery, so I know my way around a machine a little. Tried to teach her but she wanted nothing to do with it. “Make me a quilt”, she said.

She doesn't ask for much and to be honest I have always wanted to try. I stuck the 5560 back in the closet and picked up what I hope is a decent quilting machine (got a great deal on a package) at my local dealer. I asked her to give me until next Christmas to learn. Yesterday I started what I think is called an ugly quilt with a hand full of scraps I was given.

One day I hope to look back on this and say, I remember when, but until then I need your help, It's her fault I am here. Almost 10 years ago my son asked me to quit smoking. If I can do that, I can do this, right?

I love scrappy quilts! And yes, if you can give up smoking, you can do anything. Since you already know your way around a sewing machine, you are way ahead of lots of folks who start quilting. How can we help you?

Glad you're starting sewing again and a new machine is so much fun!

I would pick out a layer cake and go from there. You will get a variety of fabrics that all coordinate. Missouri Quilt Company has some great tutorials for easy patterns with alot of punch. They will also give yardage amounts for border, backing and binding. She will be amazed, you will too. Happy Sewing.

I love your story, Have fun on your new adventure & remember it doesn't have to be perfect.

Enjoy your new adventure and remember You Tube can help you solve or plan any corner you sew yourself into any time of day or night.

Welcome!
Glad you found this bunch, everyone is very helpful. Just figure out what you want to start and dive in! Someone will always be available to help if needed.

Thank you for the welcome and suggestions, I am open to them all. "YouTube" yes, live there now, information overload, I honestly need to take a step back and try out what I have learned lol. Currently following Leah Day and The Fabric Patch. If you know one or two more that I should add I am happy to hear it.

Layout, that is the grief point. I try this, I try that, I try the other, I go back to this. LOL, I have OCD'd this thing 6 ways from Sunday.

Let me correct myself here, what I thought were scraps were loose charm packs, an odd name for fabric bundles. I made these solid pastel charms into half-square triangles and started laying them out, over and over and over.
Everyone on youtube says not to spend much time on it, 15 minutes or so (I will easily spend 15 hours lol).
What's funny is, I know the first few will likely go right in the trash. I know I cannot get good until I make a few mistakes and I hope to make this early and get it over with. :)

go to the Quilting Marine Y-tube channe lhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRhD6VH0FmU. He makes scrappy quilts and it's very freeing. I know people with OCD have trouble with that kind of quilting have trouble with it. I love it.

Always keep this first quilt as it will bring good memories and always take a picture of every quilt you make. These are two of the mistakes I made when I started quilting.
Also welcome to the QB! You will find a lot of tricks of the trade here. I am so glad you jumped right in and look forward to seeing a lot of you here on the QB!

Welcome from Michigan!:)

Old Dog-- you will be quilting like a pro before you know it! There are quite a few gentlemen quilters around. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I have. (Warning: it is an expensive hobby!)
from "Quirky Quilter"

I was hoping you'd give an update on your progress! Have fun: those kids will get you every time.

Welcome to your new adventure. Let the quilting begin!

Sorry, I have had a run-in with real-life (RL), and the option to ignore it was refused. https://cdn.quiltingboard.com/images/smilies/eek.png I have learned a lot so far and, though I am not at the level any of you are, I feel confident I am well on my way to assembling something worth sharing soon. Though I will likely be using patterns and/or kits while I continue getting my feet wet, I have been bitten. Now, to deal with RL while I figure out which side of the batting battle I am on.

The seam allowance argument "open or to one side" took me 30 seconds to decide which side I was on. I am growing gray hair over batting LOL.

Scores so far...
Fairfield 80/20 +1
HOBBS 80/20 +1
Pellon 80/20 +3
Quilter's Dream 80/20 +2
Warm And Natural 80/20 +2
aaaah!

I could make it easy on myself and buy a roll of Dacron, be done with it (Nah). And to think, I thought I had a lot of options when picking a forum to follow.

Thank you for looking, your welcome, and your support. I look forward to learning everything you are willing to share.

Welcome from Arizona

So start with smaller projects.. A bad table runner is easier to throw away than a bad quilt. I was cautiously making a control line air plane once. making sure every piece was perfect. A more experienced pilot wrote in my box. "How long to you think it will last anyway?" It was very liberating.

There are a lot of beginner quilts on U-tube

Youtube is my friend! I find out how to do everything on youtube. I heard someone say that being and adult meant learning how to do stuff on youtube. They were right!

Congrats to you! She will really cherish the quilt made by you. Not every child can say their dad made them a quilt.

Congrats, My Father was also the sewer in our house, he taught me to sew and I have been sewing ever since. About 60 yrs now. He did upholstery also, mostly in cars, but also furniture. One of the best videos and ideas I have found is Missouri Star.
Here https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWn...VFDHmDXqCIzuAw I love Jenny and the Girls, they have awesome videos and easy to follow along. I love Leah Day also, learned everything I know about free motion quilting, but I think Jenny has the most versatility with quilting patterns. Good Luck and I know your Daughter will be thrilled with what you make her.

Welcome to the world of fabric creation. We quilters go the gamut from t-shirts to scraps to watercolor to fabric painting to traditional blocks. Welcome and glad to have you here! You are about to get addicted to fabric art ;-) Hugs, Reba

Don't worry about making mistakes, that is how we learn. There is always some one out there that can give advise and a helping hand. Don't overthink it, just plunge in and have fun and in the end all that matters is you tried. Have fun!!