Butterfli19

OMG! It occurred to me last night as I was sewing half-square triangles and thinking of my sewing history - things I used to sew and what I sew now - that I have been sewing for 40 years! I learned in eighth grade and have been sewing ever since.

I have also been cross stitching for 25 years!

I wish I could remember what enchanted me about sewing, but I must love it to be doing it this long!

What about you - do you remember what it was about sewing that grabbed you at the beginning? Or what keeps you going now?

Quilting Angel

I think I began cross stitching before my teenage years, and I really loved it. I continued cross stitching for many adult years, and then taught myself to crochet. I enjoyed this even more than cross stitching. Then one day, I am at my mom's house, and I see the things she has been quilting......the addiction began....lol. I no longer crochet or cross stitch. I only have time for quilting. I've been quilting now for about 9 months, and never been so passionate about anything. I am self taught, and learn new things all the time. I really wish quilting was my job.......I would never dread going to work.

lauriejo

I'm not sure how old I was when I learned to sew, I can't remember not knowing. I was probably in first or second grade. My mom used to make our clothes and so I started by making clothes for my dolls.

mmdquilts

Me too! It is just so relaxing and such a feeling of accomplishment when I get the piece finished!

QuiltnNan

i remember sewing doll clothes in elementary school [50+ years ago]. my mother sewed all of our clothes and made all of the decorations around the house. i just grew up with the satisfaction of making things. i didn't learn to knit until junior high school and was an adult before learning to crochet. the kids were grown before i did cross stitch. my dad built things and fixed everything and we did the gardening as a family. so i had very talented/handy parents to learn from. i wouldn't change that for the world.

quilterella

I started with embroidery in my early teens - my Granny in Newfoundland would make us sit for hours on a Sunday afternoon and embroider pillowcases, tablecloths and dollies. I taught myself to sew and cross-stitch when my kids were little and took up knitting along the way as well. Quilting just happened. I was shopping one day and saw some fabric I really liked to make a skirt from, got looking at pattern books and the rest is history. My first quilt was a queen size log cabin that I made for my parents and I have never looked back. My Mother, and both Grandmothers were knitters and crocheters, or needlework, but, none of them quilted. I have probably taken about 5-8 classes in the 25 years I've been quilting so I have learned alot from my own mistakes. Quilting is the one passion that isn't affected by my various health issues, yet and I hope to be quilting for many, many more years.

Shelbie

I started getting into all of my mother's sewing stuff when I was five, playing with the buttons, thread, needles and fabric scraps which used to drive my mother crazy. When I was seven, an older lady from church helped me stitch my first piece of patchwork for a dolly blanket. Finally when I was nine, mom said there's my Featherweight and all the sewing supplies I have, "Go and do what you have to do". I quickly started spending all of my allowance on fabric at our local 5 and 10 store. By the time I was 13, I was sewing all of my own clothes and many items for my sisters and my mom and doing all of the family mending. I just continued to sew and started my first quilt (didn't finish it until I was 31) to use up my accumulating pile of scraps and my scrap bin still isn't empty!

mic-pa

My mother taught me how to sew when I was 10 yrs old, then I did embroider and knitting soon after that. I made most of my own clothes plus my kids clothes as I got older. This all started 65 yrs ago. I bought my first sewing machine at age 21 and have had several since then. I am retired now and sew every day, but now it is quilts.

dakotamaid

I am the 2nd oldest of 11 siblings (and whatever stray kid that happened into our home). My mom hated to sew so at the ripe age of 10 or 11 I learned to sew and and mend. I sewed for everyone in the family until I left home. I bought a used sewing machine in college and haven't been without 2 or 3 ever since.:)

quiltsillysandi

Took sewing in Home Ec because it was required way back when....lol......Made a skirt...Sewed clothes off and on over the years...Then in the 80's took a quilt class through adult ed, but got sidetracked with dancing and didn't start the quilting until 2003, been steady at it ever since.....:)