I love your pillow Izy.

I came from a very poor family and we needed blankets to keep us warm in the winter so whenever a blanket or quilt would get too thin Mom would buy whatever fabric was cheapest, usually flannel, and she would sew big pieces together to make it cover. They weren't necessarily pretty but they were warm & snuggly. They were always tied.

Mom sewed and quilted at times, so why not follow in her footsteps? Now, if I could only crochet like she did.

I can crochet Terri. Come on over and I'll show you. LOL

Oh my mom quilted... But that so is not why I settled into this delight.

I wouldn't even let DH buy a sewing machine for years. I eventually let him buy an iron, because it was for a home improvement project.

But then it happened. DD's outgrown much loved baby clothes began to pile up... I'd always loved fabrics and colors, but the machine had been OFF-LIMITS when I was growing up.

So I decided the clothes would become a quilt, and then I let them pile up some more. But then... A friend needed winter things for her preemie daughter who had now made it into clothes and needed winter things when no winter things could be found. I went through dd's and discovered I still didn't want to part with most of the girlie clothes. Around that time I picked and pattern... It's much to fun to stop with one project.

It is so soothing, even when the quilt is misbehaving. I find I'm able to quilt and let my mind wander. It has helped me to deal with many difficult things... Oh and of course the grief forum was sick of me. LOL

I bought a Better Homes and Garden magazine 19 years ago that had a quilt/embroidered alphabet quilt in it. I had just gotten married, moved away from all my family, and had to justify spending all that money on a magazine! LOL. I held onto it and 6 months later, I had moved back to my home state, gotten my first job, and with my very first "bonus" I bought a sewing machine. My mom drove an hour over to help me learn how to use it. Together, she and I embroidered all the blocks, assembled them, and I had a quilt--now, remember, I cut it all out with scissors and cardboard templates but, I still have it. It's one of my family's favorites to snuggle with and watch football.

My hubby ended up working 3rd shift and I was alone alot. I made my own dresses for work and many people asked me to make clothes for their kids. I declined--could have been something great now that I look back on it! LOL. Anyway, I was hooked on sewing/quilting and have always done some project to keep my hands busy. Once I had kids and they were school-aged, I wanted something to show for all that time in carpool line--mini quilts fit the bill. It has been a great stress reliever for me. :!:

I did cross stitch for 17 yrs. They are pretty and I enjoyed doing them, but when they were finished and framed, they just hang on the wall. Something about quilts being functional..........THEY get finished and you snuggle under them and watch an old movie and drink hot chocolate.....aaahhhhhhh!!

This is a terrific question, by the way. I like them. Feels like a survery. :D

Dorothy of Kansas.....It's in long bins by color (3 bins of just blues!!)...
Oh my goodness. A Woman after my own heart. I LOVE blue. I counted my blues once. 289. (but not much of any one) I have a bad habit of buying 1/4 or 1/2 yds.

I sewed a lot for my kids when they were growing up and ended up with a lot of leftover fabric. Being somewhat of a pack rat I couldn't bring myself to throw the scraps away. One day I made a 9-patch out of some fabric that was a particular favorite. Don't know what inspired me to do that but I soon decided it was the perfect way to use up all my fabric scraps. So I put together my first quilt top. I knew the quilt would never get finished if I hand quilted it so I got a book from the library on machine quilting. This was back in the 80's when machine quilting was pretty much looked down on by most quilters. I finished that quilt and even though it wasn't exactly a masterpiece I was very proud of my work. That got me started and I've quilted on and off ever since.

I have to say thank you for this. I am loving hearing everyone's stories.

Thanks.

My boyfriend at the time (15 years ago) his mother was a quilter. I use to love seeing the pretty projects she would make. One year for my birthday she bought all the fabrics and taught me the very basics of quilting by making a sampler quilt. I was HOOKED!!! From there I taught myself. I have been quilting for 15 years now, teaching for 12 of them!

I was into restoring the old quilts, and one day found a sewing machine at a yard sale and started making my own.