Rose Marie

I learned to sew in High school and hated it. They make you do so much extra stuff that it was no fun just work.
Then a neighbor taught me on a treadle machine and I still didnt care much for it and when fabric became so expensive that store bought clothes were cheaper I stopped sewing.
Then several years ago I was introduced to a small group of quilters that met once a month. I am hooked and broke from setting up my sewing room and stash. But love it and since I am retired it is a life saver. No time to be bored, lots of quilts to make.

BellaBoo

I learned to sew in High School Home Ec. class. I started making quilts using the instructions from quilt books and magazines.

cjc

I have been sewing since 6th or 7th grade. Too many years to remember. My grandmother always have something in her hands, knitting, sewing, crocheting. My mother taught me some but she sent me across the street to the neighbors house, she knew that some things are better taught by someone not so close. When everyone is junior high home-ec class was sewing ponchos, I was making a jumpsuit, and got an A if I remember correctly!!

LoriJ

My mother makes the most amazing clothes! She even made my sister's wedding dress from a picture. I didn't wear any "store bought" clothes until the last few years in high school. I wanted to learn, but she wouldn't let me touch her Pfaff until I took home ec in junior high. So, I made stuffed animals and such on my grandmother's old treadle machine. When I got married, my husband bought me a Kenmore machine that I still have and used until I bought my Janome last fall. I have sewn clothes on and off since home ec, but it really isn't fun for me.

Several years ago the church I attended put a call out for people to put together lap quilts for the foster children they were sponsoring. We had to do 40 lap quilts in two months. One of the ladies in the church offered to teach anyone who wanted to learn how to make these quilts (basic 6 inch squares sewn together) so I signed up. Over two Saturdays, she taught the basics of matching seams, pinning and quilting. I enjoyed it so much, I ended up putting together 4 of the quilts. The rest is history. I've read alot of books, learned a bunch from online and tv quilting shows and everything that gets posted here. I love to try new things and stretch my knowledge with each new project.

Funny thing is I asked my mother why she never did any quilts and she said that it isn't fun, she'd rather sew clothes. :shock:

dojo36

i took sewing in high school and hated it, didn't sew again till i had my daughter in 1963 at the age of 27. made most all her clothes while she was growing up and by then hated it, so didn't sew again until little over 2 years ago when i took a quilting class and bought an embroidery machine and new sewing machine. am so hooked it's pitiful. i still don't like sewing clothes - just lots of other stuff including quilts of course. tis interesting to read everybody's stories.

omak

I knit, crochet, piece quilts, even manage to quilt a few ... in high school, the only reason I sewed anything was because they told me if I didn't, I wouldn't graduate - - for some reason that mattered! <g>
Sewing for me, became manageable when someone told me that I could always do it by hand ... I didn't need a machine. At that point, I was expecting my first child, and the concept slowed the whole process down to a crawl, which allowed me to enjoy it (I love lava lamps, too!) ... personal problem! LOL Some friends helped me sew maternity tops with machine, but machine and I had personality conflicts, so I rarely got along with them.
Didn't sew for a long time after that, and then, when I realized I was in a rut doing the home nursing/hospice work I was doing as a nurses' aide (I was good at my job, but being around people takes a LOT of energy), I went looking in the paper for a different kind of job.
A clothing factory (sweat shop) was offering job training, and you have to admit - - that was a CHANGE! I was able to listen to headsets and listened to KMBI, RUsh Limbaugh, talk shows and even country music, as I struggled to figure out how to inset a slash pocket WITHOUT pins! Thank God my supervisor, LuAnna, kept faith in me, because I was really struggling. I told myself things like: I have superiority over all inanimate objects - - therefore, the fabric and machine have GOT to obey me! "Remember! You asked for this job, so you had better do it!" There are a hundred other people here who have figured it out - - keep trying!
And, it finally started sinking in. As I figured out the beauty of the production line, as I learned how to enjoy the same color, the same operation, but each piece being a chance to do the job better ... I don't know where I thought Levis came from, but imagine how IMPRESSED it is to see a hunk of fabric turn from flat nothing, to pieces, and pieces being added until ... VIOLA! Hundreds of pairs of Levis going out the door every day, and I could name EVERY operator!
During this time, I discovered Elenor Burns on KSPS television ... the chain piecing! It was a factory approach, but it wasn't until I saw her use a rotary cutter that I FINALLY took the plunge and began quilting ... practical, producable, and colorful.
I am hardly as productive as most on this list, but I enjoy what I do, and I have big dreams of doing some big projects <g> never hurts to aim high, eh?
And, I am a lefty ... for any who don't know ... lefties aren't all the scary ... just show them what to do, and they can duplicate it ... right handed people are just strange to watch sometimes <g> ... I have found that when the teacher doesn't care which hand you are using, you can accomplish a lot of amazing things. Left-handed people are the only ones in their right minds, and if you look at a sewing machine ... it is specifically designed for a left-handed person - - I say that because most of the manipulation of stitching and quilting is done on which side of the head?
Good stories to read about how people got to quilting ... it is a good thing to remember where we came from <g>

Sanveann

My mom isn't terribly crafty, but she taught me some of the very basic sewing stuff (like sewing on a button). My grandma tried to teach me to sew (and crochet, and quilt) when I was a kid, but I had the attention span of a gnat, and I wasn't very good at any of them, so nothing stuck with me!

I actually started sewing when I got the Janome Mini for my scrapbooking stuff. I quickly got a nice secondhand Janome and started making sock monkeys and other little doodads. I then took a class on basic sewing at the local quilting store. I didn't make a lot more stuff -- just some nursing covers, an apron and some other small things. I did make a baby quilt from a kit I got at Joann's, and was so pleased with how it turned out! (Now I look at it and thing, "Yikes!" -- but my little guy didn't mind it!)

When baby number two (see avatar photo!) entered the picture, I decided to learn how to REALLY make quilts. I'm taking a beginning quiltmaking class right now and also doing a lot of reading.

cynde

I learned to sew from my mother and grandmother at a very young age, starting with doll and Barbie clothes. I was making some of my own clothes before high school, and was the sewing teacher's pet, she sent other students to me for help when she was too busy.

I made many of my own clothes for years because I'm six feet tall with a 37 inch inseam. It was almost impossible to find clothes off the rack back then, not easy now, but easier. I made my own wedding dress and all my maternity clothes. Then I made many of my children's clothes and costumes until they became teens and didn't want "homemade" clothes.

11 years ago I moved back to a city and reconnected with an old friend who was hooked on quilting and wanted someone to share her passion. She taught me, had me join her guild and we would have stitch and bi7@h sessions while our young children played together.

I do not have as much time as I'd like to quilt now that I'm working full time, but I squeeze it in when I can.

blahel

exactly like me except for the friend who quilts!

sewnsewer2

I learned how to sew in 9th grade but then didn't sew again for years and years, then had to teach myself all over again. :(

I learned how to quilt from one of those quilting for dummy books, the rest is history. :lol: :lol: