A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I made a couple wall hangings and pillow covers. Then my daughter wanted a quilt, she picked the pattern, colors, fabric, everything. To this day that is the only bed sized quilt I have hand quilted - too many years as a secretary and carpal tunnel won out, so took a class in machine quilting. The rest, as they say, is history. My Mom quilted, although none of her quilts survived 7 kids, 5 of which were boys, although there were other quilters in the extended family. I've sewn since I was 7 years old, although I didn't learn how to read a pattern until high school, and after trying fabric painting, oil painting, every imaginable craft there was, crocheting, knitting and ceramics, quilting was the only craft that really stuck to me. Now I make family reunion quilts every 2 years, picking a color and family members sending fabric, so I shall live on with my quilts, which my family loves.

This is a wonderful thread. I really enjoyed reading everyone's stories of how they got started making quilts and just had to add my own. I just started last fall, when my 84-year old mom wanted to quilt a top that her deceased sister had made. She asked me if I could mark it, because that is what my aunt did for her. I had no clue what it meant, even less how to do it, so I went to Joann's and purchased an encyclopedia of quilt blocks and a reference on learning how to quilt. I didn't even have a working machine, so I asked for one for Xmas from my DH. I wound up making Mom a Sunbonnet Sue and Sam lap quilt for her to quilt and had my aunt's quilt done by a pro, since Mom treasures the quilt her sister made. We didn't have enough fabric for the quilt back so I had to piece that too. Less than a year later, my favorite thing to do now is to visit fabric stores. I already have a stash built up with fabric, quilt books and patterns and all the tools and equipment I could ever use, and even upgraded to a Babylock. I love the creativity of selecting fabrics and hope to get to the point where I can design my own quilts on my EQ7. I got the fever.... LOL

Like Tartan, I wanted a quilt but couldn't afford one and in the meantime, decided to make a baby quilt for my godchild. That was four months ago and I am hooked! It's very relaxing for me EXCEPT when I lop off the tip of my left thumb when my rotary cuter slipped!!! That happened Sunday night! I should post a picture if my "new thumb"! It's wrapped in all sorts if gauze and dressing gets changed 3x a day! Argh! But other than that? Yeah, I love quilting! LOL

Thank you ladies, I have so enjoyed your stories. The fact is I can't ever remember not being a quilter. My Grandma was a do-er, she crocheted, canned, embroidered, and a million other things; but she was always working on a quilt in some stage. I think the first quilt I made was a yo-yo quilt for my doll, it also served as a dress and night gown. I must of been four or so, so Gram said. So it was no surprise to my family that I am a quilter now. Pretty much Gram and self taught. Joined a guild almost ten years ago, and have improved 100 fold, they have taught me so much, and the classes have done me a world of good. But, you gals are the greatest learning experience of all, you all have so many varied ideas on how to do things, and ideas on how to make things easier, or prettier, that I would say you make it a creative experience just to read your input on here. I always leave here feeling so creative, so thank you to each and everyone of you. Lucinda

I took home economics in high school but really only learned how to use a sewing machine (my mother worked outside the home all her life and did not sew; we never had a machine). During my first job out of high school, I bought my own machine--a 99K Singer which I still have--and taught myself to sew mainly so that I could have clothes that fit (I had a small waist but was--am--hippy; my Dutch ancestry!). For years I made all my own clothes, baby clothes, curtains, etc., and once even made my husband a suit.

My grandmother had been a quiltmaker and I had friends who were quilters so I was interested but had no extra time while raising my family and working. When I retired I bought some fabric and, knowing nothing, made my first quilt, a simple 9 patch. Then, following a health issue I discovered that cutting, piecing, and putting together a quilt was excellent therapy......and so I'm still at it!

I've learned a lot since that first 9 patch! And I learned most of it from the internet, including this board. I laugh now when I think how little I knew when I began; even experienced sewers discover quilting is different from clothesmaking and requires different, often more precise, skills.

I have to gave all the credit or blame to my mother-in-law. I have done just about ever craft out they for years. my grandmother was our 4-H sewing leader, my mom sew everthing for herself and us four kid until we girls could do it our self. we spend will summer sewing the fair and school in the fall. they when I get hitch. my mother-in-law was quilting with a group of ladies so you know I had to gave it a try. that was 38 years ago have ,not stop yet. and just had a quilt that I quilting for a ladie. won the "best Hand quilting" at the show she took at to. so I much be doing somthing right.

I think I've been interested in quilting since I was about 4 years old, when I would be at my grandma's house, where she almost always had a quilt on the frame. (That didn't change after she and Grandpa moved to town, either...and the quilt she almost always had on was a Log Cabin!). I love watching my mom sew (she was self-taught), and she was going to teach me to sew one summer, but I ended up moving away after I graduated high school. My aunt lived in the city I moved to and she convinced me to sign up for the Singer Dressmaker's Course....best thing I ever did! First few things I made looked okay, but as I listened and learned and read more about sewing, I got better at it and made a lot of my own clothing, and then sewed for my family after I got married. I made lots of prom dresses for my daughters and for their friends when they were in high school...fun! In the back of my mind I was always thinking about quilts, but didn't really get a good start until about 9 years ago...My sister advised me to sign up for beginner's quilt classes after I had been to a quilt show where she works part-time. I did, and the rest is history. I'm not a volume quilter, but I think some of my favorite quilts have been the t-shirt quilts I've made for family and friends.

I love to read the stories you all have posted. My first quilt was a little odd. Exactly 40 years ago I was expecting our first child and read somewhere that it's good for babies to have tactile experiences. They suggested offering different kinds of fabric for a little one to touch, so I gathered up various swatches from my sewing scraps such as satin, corduroy, velour, flannel, etc. in a variety of colors and I sewed them together. I used a rubberized crib mat for "batting" and a backing that I don't remember now. I used a stitch and flip method, which resulted in a quilt of sorts, and I put a binding on it, somehow (though I may have used wide bias tape - I'm not sure). My little boy loved it, and then his brother and sister did, too. I intended to keep it but somehow in one of our moves it got lost.

I always did lots of sewing, crochet, knitting, cross stitch and crafts but dabbled in quilting only occasionally until recently. While living in Houston for many years, I'd inevitably go to the quilt festival now and then, and I'd come away all fired up to do some quilting, but the feeling was that in this hot climate, how many quilts would anyone need?

I might have drifted off to something else again, but this board and the local guild help to keep me focused. Most of the quilting I've done in recent years has been on guild community service projects, and it was a revelation to learn that there is an endless need for quilts in our communities, even in a hot climate.

I retired last year and joined a craft club. One of the folks is a quilter who started giving lessons. Together we made a lap size DP9. That quilt was raffled off for the club. I am hooked!

Just started few years ago! Like to learn diferrent crafts. Was learning something new every other year or so but started quilting and havent stopped!!

My mother was also a wonderful seamstress, and quilter. I sewed some clothes in my 20's trying to be like mom, but never had the patience she did. She would talk about liking cutting out patterns and fabric. I hated both. I never understood what she was talking about when she said she loved just looking at fabric and feeling it. The clothes I made in my 20's were forced by my drive. hehe.. I would much rather have been in a store shopping for them.
I also decided back then I was going to make a quilt if it killed me. It didn't kill me, but it was the ugliest quilt I have ever seen. It was just squares sewn together, and I quilted it by hand with the biggest stitches you ever seen, but I did finish it. Later threw it away. hehe.

I retired early due to being ill in 2010 after going back to school and working as a teacher for 15 years. I one day decided I was going to sew some blocks together again to make a quilt for a full size bed. After I accidentally found this board, I made a first mug rug that I gave as a gift to the superintendent of schools. She said she uses it everyday since she has retired.

The rest is history with my now love for quilting, and especially discovering the rotary cutter, etc. I now also love cut fabric and love feeling fabric that my mother talked about.

I have even made one bow tuck purse that my mother seen before she passed away, along with the quilt.

My mother died the week my first grandson was born, but that's a story for another time. Amongst her effects was her sewing machine - she was a great seamstress and made a lot of our clothes when we were young. Although a knitter (hence board name) I'd never even threaded a machine, so my sister took it.

About a year later she hadn't used it and asked if I wanted it it. Having taken early retirement from a very stressful job, I'd been learning Spanish (we learn French in school here) and the class had just folded, so I thought, 'I'm going to learn to sew'. I took a class at my local college and started to make a cushion. That Christmas, I bought fabric and made napkins for Christmas dinner - I was so proud!

While looking through a magazine, I saw an ad for my LQS. Never knew there was such a thing! (Despite it being above my local supermarket and shopping there a couple of times a month...........) Anyway, I signed up for a beginners class three years ago and the rest, as they say is history!

My one regret is that my mother never lived to see my progress as a quilter. She would have been amazed that I, who could barely sew on a button, could produce something like this - she would have been so proud.

I have been sewing for about 65 years, since I was 5 or so. My mother would sew all my clothes and I would sit on the floor beside her and make clothes for my dolls. Oh, how I love being able to go through the scrap fabric box and pull out the pieces and play with them. I made most of my clothes through high school, and all my maternity clothes, and layettes for the kids. Then I graduated to home dec sewing for friends, when the kids grew up, then wedding gowns, for DIL and some friends. After the death of my DH, I decided to move where I would be closer to all my kids. I became great friends with the gal across the lane from me. She quilted, I never had. Well, I made blankets for all the grandkids, but never called them quilts. They were flannel, batting, flannel squares, and stitched so they wouldn't fall apart. Anyway, she convinced me to try making some placemats. We ended up having a grand time going to Joanns and perusing the quilt fabric for the next project. That dear neighbor is no longer with us, but I thank her every day for introducing me to a craft that I never thought I would love. Now I make mostly quilts for charity, but I love every second of it. I even got a long arm so I can quilt them myself, nothing fancy, but I can do a mean meander.

I can't begin to tell you how much I've enjoyed reading this thread. The stories are wonderful. Thank you all.

My quilting habit kicked in about the time I quit working and didn't need to make any more garments for myself. Although I love to sew, no one is more surprised than I am that I love making quilts, especially doing the planning and piecing (at this point, the actual quilting is still pretty much of a chore). I get bored really quickly and I hate repetition ... so no knitting, crocheting, cross-stitch, etc. for me and, once upon a time, I thought that making quilts would be boring. What changed my mind? The quilt show people, such as Alex Anderson & her guests. There used to be a whole slew of good quilting shows on t.v. The quilts displayed on those shows were often stunning works of art; the more shows I saw, the more I was convinced that I had to make at least one. This was in the mid-90's and and I'm more intrigued than ever with the process and the zillion possible patterns and color choices.

After retirement three years ago, I finally jumped in and hand pieced and hand quilted a king size quilt. Not perfect but not bad either! I did enough ripping to have made three quilts!

Quilting is a time of meditation - a time of connecting me with those who have gone before me....sure hope there is quilting in heaven.

It's a time to reflect on our blessings when I compare the way pioneer women vs 21st century women live. Quilting is a creative outlet.

It is a conversation starter when I take my portable project with me when I have to be in a waiting room.

Quilting jogs memories of warm, loving hugs of bygone times, of going to a grandparents' home and sleeping under a quilt instead of a blanket.

Quilting brings women (and men too) together for encouragement, support, sharing and learning.

Yes, I have sentimental thoughts about quilting. My only regret is that my Mom is no longer here to share this pleasure with me and I was too busy when she was here.

I watched my Grandmother for years and she taught me to quilt. I can still hear her telling me " if you aren't happy with it, it won't fit. Rip it out"

I like hearing these stories of how we began quilting. It truly is a satisfying/rewarding thing to do.......always some
new technique to learn - and those beautiful fabrics to bring home with us. Each new project I start is going to be the
best one I've done....

I started when my teenage son returned to Montreal. Quilting helped me cope with missing him.

I have admired quilters since I was a little girl. My mom was a quilter and did everything by hand. I hated when she made me go with her to her cold quilting room with the old frame that took up half the room. She made me do hand quilting with her. needless to say I hated it. Of course I was all of 11 years old. I always wanted to learn to piece quilts when I grew up but never had the time. The last 15 years of my career was spent as a traveling nurse. I traveled for a new assignment every 13 weeks. I lived out of a suitcase and a small studio or sometimes a very small apartment. I retired three years ago and have been sewing as much as I can. I still have a lot to learn but I did learn a lot from my mom, God rest her soul. Now I have time to play but will have more time when my sewing room is done.

Love reading all these stories...like different chapters in a good novel. I retired in 2006 and got interested in quilting when I saw lovely quilts at the state fairs or different quilt shows. Things I could never afford, I thought. My sis had a memory quilt made for my mom and it was wonderful. Hubby thought I should try to do one for our family using my computer skills and newly acquired interest in quilting. Bought a book, followed the pattern, and it hangs in my hallway. Learned later I probably should have started out with a simpler project, but I didn't know any better, so it was on to the next project after that. Now I have several vintage machines as well as some fancy computerized ones, and this board has kept me inspired every day. Hated sewing in my earlier days. First project was in 4-H in fifth grade. Never liked it, but I learned more than I thought. I never forgot how to thread a machine. :)

I learned to knit and crochet around the age of eight. Mum couldn't teach me as she did everything left handed. She did beautiful embroidery, but all with her left hand. Her two sisters taught me to knit and read patterns. Great Granny taught me to crochet granny squares blankets. I learned to sew at junior school, then on a sewing machine at Secondary Modern (High School) In my teens I made satin flared trousers, waistcoats, hot pants, dresses, etc. It was the 70's. When my son was born I made his baby layette and knitted his toddler jumpers (Fair Isle tank tops). When work colleagues had babies I would knit baby clothes and blankets. Now I have retired and have grandchildren I have started quilting. I made my first quilt last year, then made quilts and Christmas Stockings for them last Christmas. I'm still knitting and crocheting for friends and family, but mainly improving on my quilting. I love it. This board is fabulous and I learn so much. Also, youtube is great. It gives me the courage to keep trying because "Practice makes perfect". Thank you all you quilters out there.