Upper Peninsula of MI checking in!
 

Hello folks!
I found this forum and posted a newbie question in Main, but the story of how I started quilting this summer was too good to not repeat here.

My *first* quilt is a queen-size Sunbonnet Sue.

My mom ambushed me with this project.

I recently went home for a week to give my parents a little company during COVID-19 quarantine. My mom pulls out ..of baby clothes she saved from my sister and me. She's been schlepping these around for 50+ years (awesome 70s prints!) with the intent of making quilts with them for each of us daughters.

She has Sunbonnet Sue quilt that my paternal grandmother made for my dad. My grandmother died before I was born, and we don't have many heirlooms from that side of the family, so the quilt is a real treasure

My dear sister doesn't have a crafty bone in her otherwise very talented body, so this project fell to the two of us. My mom and I photographed all the washed and ironed baby dresses for posterity before cutting them up (that was ..).

We spent several days choosing which fabrics went together and what accessorief the girls will have. One is fishing, since my dad took us a lot. One has a little yellow dog to commorate Lemon, our beloved and long-lived mutt. There's a frog. And balloons. And rosette flowers. We had a ...

I'm home now and have finished appliquéing the girls onto squares and have started sewing the sashing (?) and plain calico blocks together to make the first of 2 queen-sized checkerboard quilts.

I'm a knitter and do other crafty things, but I haven't seriously sewed in decades. I've been watching YouTube tutorials like crazy and even installed Pinterest back on my phone to gather FMQ pattern ideas.

I bought a free-motion presser foot and a walking foot for an exorbitant amount on eBay since my Viking 1100 (late 1970's) machine has been abandoned by Husqvarna. I spent more on these two presser feet than the dang machine is worth in trade-in. But I love this machine.

I've spent hundreds of dollars on sewing supplies and built a table topper to make a faux drop-in desk with a big-ass platform for quilting (40"x30")

My neglected home-improvement projects are languishing and my dear husband is getting frustrated at waiting on me to organize the basement, but I am obsessed! I've just got to practice a ton to gain some muscle memory and control over free-motion stitching so I don't ruin my quilt.

When I'm done with mine, I'll decide if I've had enough before I offer to quilt my sister's SBS.

I feel honored to be among such creative artists!

welcome to the board and wish you many happy quilting hours, I know how easy it to over do on gadgets, my room is full of them.

That's a fun story and a great way to get started. Kuddos to you for using old clothes with memories. I made a tie quilt once out of neckties, it's amazing the memories that came up with the ties. Welcome to the Board, there are some great people here.

:waves to the Yooper:

Welcome aboard the forums and the hobby both, so glad to have you here. Some people get started with a family project, and for some one is done, for others well, we just gravitate to this whole concept of taking perfectly good fabric apart and then put it back together again.

I met my husband online playing a game, he was originally in the Grand Rapids area and I have been there but not to the UP yet. We are both waving from a safe personal distance near Seattle. I was hoping to go to the big quilt show this year -- maybe next year!
https://www.quiltweek.com/locations/grand-rapids/

Welcome aboard from a fella who likes to play with the vintage machines. and BTW there was a restaurant in Emporia Kansas named Yoopers. yep, for your turf,
This machine was abandoned by Husky, too

Welcome to the QB and happy quilting :)

Welcome to the QB from SE Michigan! Wow! It sounds like you have been working very hard. I hope you are making time to enjoy the experience. I love Sunbonnet Sue and just finished making a block for a 3rd maybe 4th Sunbonnet Sue Quilt. I haven't counted except quickly in my head. Be sure you take some time with your mom to enjoy the experience. Of course we will all be here to cheer you on!! Again welcome to the QB!

Welcome from South Louisiana! That is a great "How I started to Quilt" story.

Welcome from So. Cal. I am impressed that you were able to convince your mom to take pictures and then cut up the outfits for the fabric. My mother would never agree to do such a thing. It's great to make the quilt out of the clothes. Enjoy!

Welcome from Oxford, MI!:)

Welcome from the Lower Peninsula. I am from SW lower Michigan, Guess I am on the cuff of the mitten. Good to have a "Yooper" with us and take a wander about the site There are wonderful teachers on this site, Ask questions and watch for photos and groups that support each other as they work on a common patter or project. Have fun.

Thank you all ..much for the warm welcome. I just work up early to take am hour and a half to practice free-motion quilting.

It's messy and I was really slow, but it's coming along.

I feel very proud of myself for finding this forum!

Welcome from Southern Indiana. Loved your story, can't wait to see pictures of the quilts!

Welcome! What a lovely way to become a quilter! I look forward to seeing your quilts later!

Welcome from southeast Michigan -- specifically, Plymouth. Don't think we will have the UofM vs. MSU football game this year. Join all of us Michiganers and me with a big "Hello".

Welcome! What a ambitious project you and your sister have undertaken. It will be a great treasure for many years to come. Be sure to cover up with it.
MAE central Wisconsin

Welcome from Minnesota! My husband went to college at Michigan Tech, so I have been there a few times. Beautiful country.
This is an ambitious start to a quilting career. It sounds as though you may be hooked like the rest of us. We all will love seeing your completed quilt.

Leslie

Welcome from Northwestern Lower Michigan!!

Welcome from Southern California. I have travelled to the UP with my husband. When he was about 4 or 5, over 80 years ago, his mother shipped him off to live with a family in the UP. Living with them for a year was his best childhood memory, and we tried to find the house he lived in with no luck. Just a shout-out to the UP-ers for the kindness he received.