Self taught here, too. My Mom sewed for other people when I was little, and she taught me to sew ( commercial Wilcox and Gibbs machine) before I started elementary school.
Made my own clothes from 4th grade on, and watched my Mom and grandmothers do quilt piecing.
Did not take up quilting on my own until my own kids were grown, and by then, my Mom and Grandmothers were gone.
Have gotten magazines and books, and endless information online.

When I stared I Made acover for my mom & dad they were four blocks with strip around them. Moms had a pink border with pink flanal on the back. Dads had blue around the four blocks and a different Blue border with blue flanal on the back. The blocks where different colors with flowers in them. the borders where plan and so where the ssssstrip around the blocks. They are both gone now and I don't know what happen to the quilts.

In Dec last year I started working my way through Harriet Hargrave's Quilter's Academy book. I am now about to start on my 13th quilt top.

Yep, 13 quilt tops in 2 months - all from one book. I'm just about to do the last project in the book - a quilt top with no pattern and no instructions!

After that, I need to put on borders and then make all those tops into quilts. I have 3 months to do this before book 2 comes out and I progess onto more advanced designs.

So, self taught from a book. I've blogged my progress with this which you can read here http://patchnblock.blogspot.com

I'm also learning to applique and quilt from Harriet's other books. Joining a guild is helpful too.

I am self taught, except for the
Home Ec classes in school. I have
had a sewing machine since I was
10 years old. J J

Never :)

Self taught... books, mags, and Fons & Porter
That is why I used heavy cardboard from "All" detergent for making 6" squares. Still just into squares...no desire to try anything else.

Took sewing in High School in 68 and my Mother was a seamstress and made 6 kids clothes. Learned more than ever from her. Would love to take a quilting class too..oh well, think I've done pretty well on my own too.

never took a class, they always seem to be in the afternoon, and i'm at work. my grandmother taught me some when i was little 4-5-6 yrs, and i sewed my own clothes in high school, but i started quilting when my granddaughter was coming & i saw a great quilt on the cover of a magazine. lemoyne star probably not the best choice for my first quilt. but my granddaugher still sleeps with it, and it hasn't fallen apart in the wash in 4 1/2 yrs, so i guess i got it right enough!

There are certainly a lot of self taught quilters out there. But I can't claim the same - I took a hand quilting class at the Quilted Fox in St. Louis County that started me off a few years ago. It was very good and taught me a lot. Since then I've taken a couple more machine quilting classes but I do use books and the internet for further education too. And I've learned a LOT from this site to be sure.

Like many of you I started out quilting on my own, but then joined a great quilt guild. They are the best. Instant sisterhood. Not only do they ooh and ah over each others work there is always someone to ask if you are having difficulties with a project and sometimes give personal support when needed. Our guild does a show every two years and has always been spectacular.

Most guilds have a goal of teaching others to quilt and ours has several classes each year and sometimes workshops to work on current projects.

Check out your area for guilds. You may have to check out a few to find a perfect fit, but it is worth the effort.