How/why did you start quilting?
 

For me, it seemed like such a logical choice after browsing some magazines and oohing & aahing over some interesting patterns. i sewed everything from clothes to potholders, so why not quilt? They were not only an art, they were useful!

i am curious what made you jump on the bandwagon & make quilts? Let's hear your story!

I've always done some form of handwork from the time my grandmother taught me to crochet as almost a toddler. I got frustrated with having lots of completed projects that I had no use for in my home. I also enjoy machine sewing and was doing little to none of that. A friend was quilting (piecing as well as quilting by hand). Decided the craft was a great mix of interets for me. I machine piece and hand quilt...perfect blend of interests for me.

I wanted a quilt and figured it would be cheaper yo make one then buy one. If I calculate all the money I've spent over the years on fabric and tools, I could have bought a heck of a lot of quilts!:D

I did a bit of quilting in the mid 80's (2 quilts). Life got in the way - went back to work and hobbies went in the drawer -- fast forward to 2010. My Singer (the wonderful state of the art Futura from the early 80's) was no longer working. When we went to get another machine my requirements were that the machine be able to sew both thin and thick fabric. The sewing machine store showed me the Janome 3160.

When we got home, my husband suggested I do a project in case there was any problem with the machine. So I decide on a quilt. I just couldn't believe how happy it made me. I've been quilting non stop since in spite of workin full time.

I started with sewing my own clothes waaayyyy back in high school, based on need! Once I married and had kids, I made most of their shorts and pants, pajamas, and some shirts. I expanded to curtains and drapes then finally made the leap to quilting. It fell away in the 80's when life got in the way. Retired in 09, and started up again. I enjoy the creative process. Don't do much anymore with clothing, unless it's alterations, or repairs.

I had retired and was subbing a lot when my orthopedic doctor said no more concrete floors and children's chairs, so I had to retire totally. What was I do if I couldn't teach children to read? The Prayers and Squares coordinator from church ask me to make a quilt. Sure, I can sew, I a quilt. What a difference! My first one had partial seams, LOL. But I have enjoyed learning a new skill and still being useful.

When I was still a kid I loved design shapes and math. I wish I had learned about MC Escherback then. I liked to play with a bit of color and design. The love just percolated and grew.
My first real quilt was when I was awaiting my first born. Then I was into sewing clothes for the kids and myself, recovering a hand me down couch and chairs, and making bedspreads and curtains or drapes. Once I had time and the kids were grown I really got into quilting for therapy. Retirement is awesome as I now have more time to play with all the fabric I want.
By the way, that first quilt was all hand embroidered, appliqued, and then quilted on an antique quilting frame. It was for my son but he never got to use it. It is an heirloom quilt, meant to be displayed after all that work. Definitely not a utility quilt.

We were staying in a rental -- dark, barely furnished, knew nobody -- while house hunting in Texas. The realtor took me to a cafe in an old home that had a small quilt shop upstairs. I went up, checked it out, fell in love with the instructors, signed up for a class starting the next week, and made a top before we ever even got moved into our new house.

At the end of that 6 week class the instructors took all of their classes/students to the Olde Opry in town and we all showed off our quilts on the stage with a red velvet curtain as background and a microphone to capture our words; we all thought we were really special!! A good time was had by all and I just never stopped being enthralled by the work! :o :D

That was in 1982, I think; so long ago, so fulfilling a lifetime. :)

Jan in VA

I come from a long line of makers---and going way back there have been quilters. So while I did lots of sewing of clothing,curtains, etc, I shied way from quilting cause the thought of using scissors & cardboard templates scared me off--and then in 2010 I saw a newspaper article from my local Guild that offered beginner classes for the price of membership. I signed up both myself & my DD, and am now addicted! I am now teaching those beginner classes--have a class of 28-30 starting Sat. and going 7 weeks!

I wandered into a quilt show as a youngster and the quilts were just breathtaking.

I wanted to learn how to do it and make something nice.

I'll never be that good, but I'm enjoying it. It satisfies my sewing urge. I love to sew but I'm not very good at it.

Lousy with garments. :)

I was about to retire and needed a hobby no one else in the family did. I looked at sewing but wanted more. I came from a family of knitters, crochet, tailor and wood turners. I saw quilting and decided I would do that as it also linked in my love of numbers. Been doing it now for 10 years and really enjoy it although I do find people outside quilting don't get it.

I have been sewing as far back as I can remember, used to design and make wedding dresses always made curtains and soft furnishings. I am one of these people who loves fabric, picked up some fat quarters, decided to make a quilt and have been hooked since. That was 2011. I signed up for a college course last year and I love it.

Since I was a kid, I have loved all kinds of needle work and sewing and was dreaming of quilting for a number of years. I actually started collecting some cotton fabric scraps about 10 years ago for the day I would take up quilting. However, I thought that in order to do so, I would need 3 things:

1) lots of time (meaning: I would have to wait until retirement which is still decades away!)
2) lots of space (I would need to settle down and have a spare room)
3) own a sewing machine

This view changed in 2011 when I met someone who introduced me to English paper piecing and showed me how hexagon flowers are made. I was hooked! My first quilt was a GFG, but then I decided that there probably isn't much you can't sew by hand if you don't have a machine, and so I pieced and quilted a couple more quilts and half a dozen baby quilts by hand before I moved closer to my mum which means that her vintage Bernina record 830 is now on "semi-permanent loan" with me (my mum uses her only to mend and alter clothes and either comes over to do so or borrows her back when I'm away). Having a sewing machine on hand means that I am now learning FMQ. I still have a long way to go, but I'm really enjoying it!

Moved "rural" after Y2K. Pulled out my old singer to make curtains. Got the bug to sew again. Knew there was a quilt shop in town. Popped in, told the owner to load me up on supplies and show me what to do. I know how to sew. Did garments years ago but not quilt. She got me going! Over the prior years I Dabbled in some sewing but life got in the way. Needed something to keep me busy in my new town. Shop owner introduced me to the cult! ( guilds) . The rest is history. Quilting opened me up to a great, new world. Why I never stopped in a quilt shop at my old home is a mystery to me! I am one of those who says..."I did not know people still quilted!". Ok, DUCK!

Sandy

Ha ha! I don't get "golf".

Sandy

I was an avid thread crocheter. No one in my family quilted but my MIL made my DD a tied quilt and she loved it. She asked me if I could make more quilts in different colors. I bought a quilt magazine. I remember buying a rotary cutter and small mat. I cut on my coffee table thinking this will be like crochet, I won't need much room at all. I now have a two room studio with two walk in closets full of my quilting needs.

By the time I was 17, I already had a pile of scraps from all of the clothing I had made. Ivy who worked at the same fabric store as I did on weekends gave me a couple of cardboard shapes to make quilt blocks to use up the scraps. Many years and dozens of quilts later, I still have piles of scraps and still make Shoofly (Monkey Wrench) blocks sometimes.

I learned to sew when I was about six years old and have never looked back. For many years I sewed because it was a necessity if I wanted and clothes to wear. In high school my mentor was my clothing teacher and I went on to become a Home Economist. I made my first quilt for my first son in 1968. It was embroidered blocks alternated with solid yellow squares. From then on I just kept sewing and growing (so did my stash and stuff). I sew some almost every day. I am still happily learning new stuff. It just satisfies my inner being. I make lots of comfort quilts and charity quilts as well as family projects.

I had sewn all my life, but never quilted and there is no history of quilting in my family, although I appreciated the time and skill required. Purchased batik fabric on vacation on a whim, and a friend explained how to make a wonky log cabin block. The fabric aged, uncut, for about 6 years, occasionally I took it out and petted it. After I retired I decided it was time and I figured that that quilt would be a one of. I was surprised to find that I loved every part of the process, even pressing and binding. It was the start of a slippery slope!

Grew up thinking a sewing machine was as important to a house as stove refrigerator..learned on my moms old singer treadle...when in high school, first partime job after school bought myself an electric sewing machine...look out world, here I come!...sewed clothes, home deco after marrying, etc. was a hairdresser, ceramic teacher..always using my hands to create something. neighbor was an avid quilter and would show me her beautiful quilts, but at the time I thought, not me. Kids got older, not as many demands on me. Loved garage sailing and at one picked up a bag of cut squares......but them up in my little attic sewing room......one evening out of boredom, decided to sew them together......need I go any farther.....

I went to a quilting Bee with my mother under protest. On the way home we stopped at Hancock's awhere I bought fabric, a book a ruler, cutting board and a rotary cutter. I made a quilt for a grandchild that was on the way. That was about 13 years ago and many, many quilts later I am addicted! I always sewed. As a child I sewed for my dolls, later for my family and my home. I never thought I would have the patience to do a whole quilt....little did I know!

I also started with sewing my own clothes back in junior high school, based on need! A great aunt got me interested in quilting in the mid 70s. Has been a hobby for me replacing the sewing.

As a small child, my DGM taught me embroidery, and I kept tinkering in other things too. Made little things for my dolls, gifts for friends and family,etc. As a young mom, I bought a Singer Sonata machine, a sewing kit (when they still came with misc. tools in them!), and was into quilting. Did order a couple kits from a place back east, and the rest is sweet history! What a fun journey!!

When I was in grade school, my best friend's grandmother made quilts. Since I loved to sew, it was something I always wanted to learn to do. I never actually summoned the courage until we moved into a house in the late '80's and I wanted a quilt for our bed.

Originally because I had just been diagnosed with asthma as a 41 year old and thought it would be better if I had bed quilts that I made. Not sure if that made sense, but that was the reason.

Unfortunately, I have yet to make a bed quilt yet. However, now that I have a machine that I can FMQ with which has a very large throat space, I probably should get to making that bed quilt.:o

Both of my DGMs were into needle work. My paternal gma, crocheted and knitted and taught my 2 cousins and I how to crochet with thread. We together made a beautiful lacy tablecloth. Grandma always brought it out to set the table when any of us had dinner with her and grandpa. I was the 2nd of the dgds to get married and wanted it for my bridal table. Grandma had since passed on and we found it cut up and used for a template for a lace design on my cousin's hot rod. My father nearly killed him. My maternal was more into handi needle work sewing/mending but she made a few clothes for my cousins. I was very proud of a dress she made me on her treadle. She never let anyone use it and I could never get the hang of it. One day my sister spilled nail polish on my mother's new store bought bedspread. A lady in town was a quilter and took one of the matching shams to repair the spot. I went to pick it up and was at her house for 2 hours. I was mesmerized with the woman. She had a treadle and an electric. She told me what I needed and gave me some pieces of fabric. I eventually asked my mother if I could use her machine but she didn't have time. Didn't want me to touch it without her being there. Anyway I saved babysitting money to buy a pair of Gingher scissors. Had all of my things in a bag in the back of a closet shared by 4 girls. The one sister got a hair and "cleaned' out the closet. When she opened the bag she only saw the top layer of scraps and threw out the whole bag. I had 4 blocks pieced that I was going to show my quilting friend. I beat the crap out of my sister and I got a whooping too.It was decades before I got a new "start up kit". It's been off and on but I think I have a quilting/sewing buddy in my DH. I kdid a lot of other crafts in between but sewing was always in the back of my mind and now Ihave a sewing area. Just need some motivation now.

I didn't have a lot of money & wanted to get a nice gift for my sister's baby-to-be. Little did I realize when I started that it would have been FAR cheaper to buy a $25 gift than all the money I spent on the paper pattern, fabrics, thread, batting, marking pen, ric-rac, etc that went into that quilt. I thought it looked so-so when it was done and I didn't finish until 3 weeks after his birth, but the expression on my sister's face when she saw it was priceless. She said she had been looking at other teddy bear quilts on etsy, but her husband was not keen on letting her spend $225 on "a blanket" (GASP! Quilts are NOT blankets!!!) She was so wonderful & encouraging of my quilting and helped me be able to start making quilts to sell. I know that quilt had plenty of flaws, but I will always love and cherish the one that got me started (photo is my avatar).

I wanted a bed spread in certain colors that I couldn't find in the stores, so I decided I could just make one. That's what got me started, and I haven't stopped!

I had sewn for quite a few years when a fellow teacher introduced me to quilting -- she was a master and did most of her sewing by hand -- I was inspired and found that I could do it -- after retiring, I joined a bee with someone I had taught with and her friends and now have lots of projects, inspiration, and quilty friends and a great hobby!!

Years ago I'd sewed my own clothes. Then in 2000 I was going to have foot surgery on both feet, one at a time and would off work for up to 12 weeks. So went to JoAnne's to find me a new hobby. Picked up an embroidery machine to start with, got into a group at the store and met up with some nice ladies who were also in a quilting club. So I joined it with them. One thing led to another and that's how I started combining embroidery with quilts. Then the mother of one of the ladies wanted to check out the Viking MegaQuilter when it 1st came out, I tagged along. I ended up ordering one too. Then came PCQ robotics and so forth. Oh yes, my one and only commission quilt I had embroidery in the blocks. I took it to someone to quilt and asked her not to stitch over my embroideries..............well you know the story..........she did so I figured if that's the kind of service I'd get I'll just quilt myself so reason for getting a quilting machine. Never thought about qujilting on my DSM. So now I'm making quilts as a hobby and as gifts only.....no more commission quilts...........too much stress of goofing up on it.

After I painted the inside of the house and found out what custom curtains cost, I got a book from the library and made the curtains myself. I'd never had so much fun -- sending for swatches, taking pictures, handling the fabric. When I was done, I looked at the bag of 1/4 yard pieces I'd bought to audition for the third bedroom curtains (which has since become my sewing room), and realized they all went together really well; I thought, I could make a quilt! So I began reading quilting books from the library and realized it was the perfect pursuit for someone who enjoyed working with fabric and color. (I didn't realize it wasn't the best idea to learn hand-quilting on thick home decor fabrics, lol, but I persevered.)

I'm really not sure how it started. Boredom I guess. Now I have hardly any time to quilt but I plan to make some as I love it!

I was taught to do simple hand sewing by my mom when I was little and then later I was taught how to work on a machine. In high school I took a sewing class and one of the projects I could choose to do was make a quilt. The first quilt I made was for my choir teacher (who was like a second mother to me). Anyway, the rest is history. I've been making quilts for about 6-7 years so far.

I started making yo yos when I was 7 because my grandma was doing it. She gave me fabric for it.
I sewed them together into blocks to make a quilt.I went head first into it when I was 15,(40 yrs ago), because I saw one in a magazine and wanted the quilt but couldn't afford it. I used my babysitting money to buy the fabric for it. I was hooked on it ever since. Haven't found a cure for it yet so i'll continue to do it.

I started sewing my clothing when I was in middle school. It was a matter of finances--I got more clothing that way. Then I got married and 3 years later I had 3 little girls. Sewing their dresses was my hobby. They took their naps and I sewed--usually matching dresses. I got so many compliments and that gave me a lot of satisfaction. It didn't hurt that my girls were so cute. A few years later I discovered quilting. My first quilt was a gift for a new baby. I didn't know anything and I'm sure the quilt showed it. I didn't make another quilt for several years, but I was soon off and running. I think I have been quilting for 20-25 years, and I hope my skills have improved. lol My daughters have all grown up and think my sewing skills are wonderful--I won't tell them any different (they don't sew) and we added a son to the mix several years later. These wonderful children have given us 5 grandchildren and a couple of stepgrands and the frosting on the cake a step GGD. My cup is running over. More little ones to quilt for !!!
Sue

The Spanish class I was attending post-retirement folded (we learn French in school) so I signed up for a sewing class instead, even though I didn't know how to thread a machine.

A few weeks in I bought a sewing magazine to and saw an advert for 'Seattle Quilt Company' (lady that owned it was from Seattle) upstairs from my local grocery store. I went in looking for fabric, saw the quilts and immediately signed up for for a beginners quilting class.

Never did finish the shorts I was making and still have no dressmaking skills. :D

My great aunt had made a quilt that I had on my bed when I was a child. It had appliqued cat on a white background with the old cotton bat that wadded up some. I just loved that quilt and promised myself that I would make a quilt when I grew up. Well, in my 30's I took a class and that was the beginning of it. I've looked around forever to find that cat design and have given up. Did find a book at a quilt show that was just cat applique and there is a very similar one in there that I will use. But I wonder if it would not do justice to my memory.

I watched my DM and DGM quilt all my life and started sewing in 4 H at nine years old. When I married in 1957 the first thing I bought was my 401A while DH was serving overseas. DM had not quilted in several years as she was a nurse and didn't have much free time. She took it up again in 1969 and got me started and I never looked back. I have had a quilt in progress from then until now I have given away all I have made but one lap quilt I made from the scraps from some I loved most. I have one started for DD and after I finish that one I am going to make some just for me.

I've been sewing since making doll clothes and was making lined suits in 9th grade while the class made aprons. My sister got me into quilting when I retired from 30 yrs. of teaching in 1996. She lost her battle with colon cancer 4 yrs. later and I started sending her vast quilt book collection all over the world. I have made so many quilty friends doing this.

I always sewed. whether it was simple curtains, some of my own clothes, halloween costumes for my kids when they were little. One day before work I came upon Alex Anderson's show and watched it every day while I ate breakfast. It never occurred to me to try it. I didn't tell anyone, just because,well, it was me and the cereal and Alex. Then 12 years ago I retired. One son said to me "Now that you are retired you can make me a quilt" What? "I don't quilt" He said "well, you are retired so you can learn". So I looked around and as luck would have it, found a quilting class through the parks department of where we lived. I met some wonderful friends and the teacher couldn't have been better for me. Except my very first quilt was a flannel trip around the world. I had sewed on flannel before so that didn't seem odd. The quilt turned out fine and my granddaughter who is 12.5 still has it on her bed, covered with a bigger quilt. Then I made the quilt for my son. I had seen someone on Alex's show who made a quilt with large ultra suede squares and if they are placed with the nap going different ways it gives a nice texture. I couldn't find the video of that program and couldn't find ultra suede in the budget but did find a kind of knit with some of the same features. It was a challenge because it was slippery, but, the top came out fine and I backed it with the same fabric and used fleece as a batting. I stitched it in the ditch (did have to wrestle it through some parts) on a Costco version Brother mechanical machine (which turns out is my favorite machine even though I have a collection of nice vintage ones too). He was thrilled with it. After those two challenges, I have mostly made cotton quilts except for the flannel and chenille one I made for the youngest grandson who is now almost 8 and he calls it his "triangle quilt" (talk about the mess the chenille made) and it is still on his bed under a big whole cloth quilt I made him from chambray and cut embroidered bugs off his crib dust ruffle and appliquéd them on with invisible thread. that was a huge challenge. He loves both of them. My daughter in law thinks I can do anything, which is nice, but I really can't, but she is pleased with it all. I took a class on hand piecing, which I don't love, but then decided to hand quilt and I did a few by hand which I enjoy but right now can't get my act together to put one together to hand quilt. so now we moved to a house where I have my own room which is bright and sunny and I don't have any quilting mojo at the moment. I know it will return.