New quilter in Toronto
 

Hi all. I’m new to the hobby! I have made two baby sized (3 foot squared) patchwork quilts so far. Doing all my piecing of and quilting by hand. Really enjoying the meditative and calming ritual of hand sewing.

I’m a 36 year old guy from Toronto Canada. I’m an audio engineer and music producer by trade and I’ve been spending my evenings sewing/quilting for the last few months. Would love to learn from people who have lots of experience and can teach me more about the craft!!

Matt

Hi Matt, welcome from across the border, NE Ohio.

Welcome from Michigan!:)

HI Matt and welcome from Delaware! I don't do much in the way of hand piecing or hand quilting but I'm sure you will find help and inspiration here.

Waving hello from Maryland.

Hey Matty, good to have you here. I am currently in the Seattle area, so south of Vancouver, BC.

Kudos to you for hand work, I have neither the skill nor the eyesight nor the patience! In addition to quilting we also share music appreciation. I say that the two constants in my life have been quilting and music, and I had music first. I was a classically trained oboist at one part of my life, now mostly I appreciate the playing of others.

Welcome from just down the road in London, Ont!
You will find lots of info here and answers to anything you need.

Watson

Welcome! I have sewed most of my life by machine. I never liked hand sewing at all! But last year I decided to do some hand sewing. I started with a little cross stitch and then hand pieced blocks for a quilt. I love to hand piece in the evenings. It is very calming and peaceful (pieceful?) for me.

Welcome to the QB from SE Michigan! It sounds as if you are having a lot of fun Matt. I would love to see some of your hand made quilts too. I know very few people who both stitch and quilt their entire quilts any more. I hope you realize what a treat that is to hear.
Now however if you don't have a sewing machine you might want to invest in an easy to use machine. There are many out there that don't cost a fortune, even at Walmart. This will help with the stitching of your blocks. Another thing that new quilters don't always think about is the seam allowance, That is the placement of your stitching to the edge of the fabric. That should be 1/4". It takes some practice.
Even sew, keep up the good work with your hand stitching it is a treasure to be able to do this. Looking forward to seeing you more here. BTW ask any and all questions you have.

Welcome! :-) You've found the right place - lots of inspiration and encouragement here!

Thank so much! Yes I have been marking all my seam lines with a 1/4” spacer and tailors chalk. I have access to a machine if I wish but I’ve chosen to work by hand. I am in it for the process not the results. As I said to my mother in law: I don’t want a quilt, I want TO quilt.

I’d be happy to share the first couple baby quilts I’ve made but I can’t figure out how to post a photo in these forums. Any advice there haha?

Howdy from Texas, Matt. It's always good to see new members here who can share their experiences & knowledge. You will find lots of help here if you have questions. I'd love to see your quilts that you've made. To post a picture, after you've typed in your message, scroll down to the box that says "go advanced". From there, go to "manage attachments" & then upload your file & click on the "upload" (you have to scroll way over to the right as it is in the far, upper right hand corner). If, for some reason your picture does not load it is probably because it is too large. Just go back & reduce the size & try again. Hope this helps.

Thank You @osewme ! Here are the two baby ones so far. the First one has too many flaws and loose stitching so it will stay with my dog. The second one improved my quilting technique and am getting 5-6 stitches per inch. Its going in the mail to a friend's baby this week.

Welcome from south west Ontario - it's a great hobby you've taken up.
Everyone here is very helpful and welcoming, so enjoy the QB.

Those are both great, and it looks like your furbaby loves your new hobby, too! Good for you for knowing what you want from quilting. You will find quilters of all sorts here. Like you, I'm rather fond of the process and am happiest when I don't actually have a hard deadline to work to - it's nice to just keep playing with the fabric. That being said, finishing a project is always satisfying. :-)

Look at you go, not only posting pictures but pictures of quilts made by hand!

There is something called Quilter's Tape (we have specialty products for so many things). It is simply a sticky but not too sticky 1/4" masking tape. You can take a piece to mark your seam lines and reuse it many times.

Eventually you will be able to "see/know" the correct measurement pretty exactly. When I first started, 1/4" seemed impossibly small, I was used to garment construction. A few decades later and even though my vision is declining, I find that 1/4" is actually quite a lot of space.

There are many advantages to hand sewing. Some things like setting in pieces or partial seams are a piece of cake by hand but a real beast by machine.

Hi Matt,
Welcome, from NYC, to the wonderful world of quilting and to the Quilting Board! I've found the members to be very generous and helpful with feedback.
I love handwork, especially hand quilting and embroidery, but typically make quilts by machine. I also love free motion quilting by machine but I'm planning to branch out into mixed media art quilting.
I first began quilting when I saw an exhibit of quilts by Paula Nadelstern. That's the first time I realized that my paradigm of what a quilt is was way too narrow. I would encourage you to feed your eyes and your spirit by exploring quilts of all stripes (Ha! Joke!) on the internet. You will soon learn that the possibilities are endless!
I hope you enjoy everything about your new pastime for many years to come!
Mitch

Hi Matt
Welcome to the world of quilting from northern Ontario.. You did a remarkable job of BOTH quilts in my opinion . Not sure if you have sent off the one baby quilt but hope you put your name and date on it. Must admit I don;t always put a quilt label on it but I know I should.
Love your pup!!

Hi Matt, so glad you joined us! This is a great place for all things quilting.
Your quilts are so pretty! But your doggy beats any quilt :)