Like the other quilters, it is my therapy, passion and much much more.

For me it is my mental health. I feel it when I can't quilt for awhile. Much like a clean house is my mental stability. My poor husband suffers when I can't quilt and the house is a mess.
:) (most of the time I can't quilt BECAUSE the house is a mess...therefore, so am I!)

A lot of fun,surprises, family and friend presents, and companionship with guild members.

A passion for me. I love the finished products and it keeps me connected to my dear departed Mother who was a great quilter.

It is relaxation for me!!! I am in a fabric-world with lots of colors!

Your question made me think about something that I normally just take for granted. Over the years, I guess quilting has been many different things--a way to connect to the past, an act of creativity, an expression of love for friends and family, a way to deal with stress and unhappiness. Right now, my best friend of 35 years is dying of leukemia. She has only a month or so to live. I am making a quilt that she promised to another friend and was unable to complete and, in doing so, I'm helping to deal with my own sadness.

I think there is something inside us that needs to create and that need finds expression in different ways--photography, painting, sculpture, basket weaving. For me, it's mostly quilting.

God will bless you abundantly for you gift of friendship in completing your friends quilt. That touches my heart. :lol:

I've used quilting, embroidering, crafting, etc. as my release & therapy and relaxation for years and years. With quilting I continue to learn with every single quilt I make. Many, many times I have started a quilt having absolutely no idea what I am going to do with it to put it together - and then an idea comes to be (obviously from God) and a new quilt is born. I love giving and sharing with others - such a joy.

All of the above, art, hobby, craft, fun, relaxation

It all of it...art, craft and hobby. It's a place for just me to create something. And hopefully make someone happy by receiving a gift of love. When I get started hours can go by before I know it. It can also be a place of frustration when I do something wrong or can't figure something out. That's why I'm a member of this board. I can always come here to find out the answer.

Its a craft that helps me put a smile on someone face who need it

It is my sanity-my domain-my own little private haven. I am in MY ZONE and everyone in my family knows it. It allows my 'creative juices' to flow. If I do it right it is all me and if I do it wrong it is all me. No excuses, no whinning no passing the buck. The only opinion I may ask for is "how do you like the colors". And then all I want a yes or no answer. I have to negotiate and wheel and deal all day. I make some tough decisions all day long. When I sew and quilt I totally RELAX. It is sew much better than a Xanax.

I enjoy quilting as a form of a hobby for me. I have been taking quilting classes to learn new techniques. They are so much fun. I enjoy being with other people who enjoy this hobby as much as I do.

It puts me in a Zen state; a meditative state; a new dimension. It lowers my blood pressure; allows creative juices to flow. The best part is making something by hand, from the heart, for people you love and care about. What a legacy to leave behind!

:-D Big time RELAXATION :thumbup:

Mine is pain management therapy. When I am working on a quilt - from planning it to finishing it, my mind is on my project not pain. But, I love to quilt and make quilts for those I love. And - they appear to appreciate them and definitely use them.

It's a bit of everything for me. It's a challenge, it's relaxation, it's time for me, it's time for me to think of anything other than what's stressing. It's art, it's comfort, it's memories.

For me it's a way to create and show how much I care in the same thing. My sister could draw, my older brother was a stone mason and taught my youngest brother the art, my second brother inherited my mothers talent of playing any musical instrument he picked up. I've sewn since I was 8 and didn't realize it was a talent until I started quilting seriously about 15 years ago. It makes me happy when I gift a quilt and it makes the recipient happy when they get it.

All of the above. Big smile.

It gives me a reason to say I was up all night creating and have a smile on my face. I love everything about it. I especially love faces when I say I made this for you.....

Keeps my hand out of the cookie jar. In addition gets me a chance to try new techniques and color combinations. Sure beats watching the trash on TV

I have to say right now its my sanity. I hope it grows into something productive someday. But I'm not worried about that part right now. I never realized how creative I could be until I REALLY started doing this quilting stuff that actually turns into art for me. I mean...really...I rarely ever make 2 of what I'm doing. Nor do I follow a pattern. I might like an idea and then run with it..The fabric ends up telling me what to do with it. Anybody else do that??

Mine is a little bit of everyones response, chill pill, enjoyment, giving from the heart to others, weight control (can't eat and hand sew - or so I claim)

Ithink it is because my mom was still quilting even when she was ill.lost her over21 years ago and miss her very much. I have the quilt she was working on when she passed and will finish it one day. she would be thrilled i am learning. Makes me feel closer to her.

Quilting means to me- My mom had just got into quilting when she found out she had cancer. Funny thing is - she would have loved for me to get into the quilting- but i was busy raising a family and i was into scrapbooking at the time- then when she found out that she had cancer- we were both too busy to think about quilting- she was too busy trying to stay alive and i was too busy trying to keep my head above water while missing work- keeping up with the kids and going to the chemo etc with her. As it ended up- my mom passed away at the young age of 64. My aunt connie graciously bought her bernina and entire sewing room and she gave me the bernina. I thought- oh crap- i have been given this expensive sewing machine and now i have to use it . I mean, i always loved to sew ever since i learned to sew on my grandma's treadle- but life has a way of getting in the way of selfish hobbies while you are raising children. I took the machine and i put it in my office. I didn't want it at home because we have furbabies- actually grandfurbabies- and i knew that if it was at home i wouldn't let myself sew because the house wasn't clean enough or i had other things i should be doing. so i put it in my office-and I have to tell you- i absolutly adore my bernina- i adore the time i have to sew- and I adore my aunt connie for buying it for me. every time i sew on it i feel close to mom and every time i sew on it i remember how lucky i am to have an aunt connie

It started out as a way to create ,but through the years it has saved the lives and limbs of husband and child :D --it kept me to busy to spend time worrying during years waiting for my transplant and these last 3 yrs I know its kept me sane since my husbands passing. Each and every quilt has strenghten me -they all contain more love than the receivers could ever imagine -so for me- - Quilting is Peace

I want to echo what everyone have said. I have not exactly starting quilting yet. I am working on my sewing room, buying fabrics, quilt books. I have a new sewing machine on layway. Working toward it. But I have always done some kind of craft hobby - the latest (which I probably have been doing for atleast 20 years) is plastic canvas and hook rugs. I figure it was time for a change. My DM and DGM were both into quilting or some kind of craft for their peace of mind. I am loving the time that I am spending just designing quilts. I am like what someone else has said "must be doing something with my hands and mind" besides the TV, family reseaching and reading. No children, and all of the main relatives are deceased now. But I must have this to do. Quilt desinging is peacefull. I am looking forward to the acutal quilting. Thanks to all of you. I know that I am not alone.

For the past 6 years, the time I have been quilting, I have been happy. Happy spending all my money on gorgeous fabrics, colourful threads, batting and notions and in doing so changing people's lives. ALL my family now sleep under comfortable cheerful healthy quilts. Children who I have never and will never meet have the comfort of my Charity quilts and I am stress free and happy being a quilt addict.

I don't know how I would now manage without my quilting and don't intend to find out. :mrgreen:

Keeps me sane in this mad world we live in!!!! Beats housework hands down!!!! Just wish I had started years earlier!!!!! Hopefully I will leave behind lots of memories for other people!!

This is the best topic!!! I've read every single response and there's not one thing I don't agree with/have the same experience !! :)

It's relaxation, therapy to be doing something, and creating a beautiful piece of artwork when finished; not to mention the satisfaction of seeing the smile of the receiver getting your quilt - it is many things wrapped into enjoyment overall.

it is my happy place

It gives my spirit a great lift....seeing the face of the recipient. Especially when I make memory quilts. Most of them are for deceased family members. Doesn't hurt my 'ego' either.

Oh what quilting to me means is my own little world -- well until I found the Quilting Board - LOL - I go into my own space and get going either piecing or cutting and have peace of mind and solve the worlds problems and a few of my own. Its a sense of accomplishment and pride to give away something I made to a loved one. I'm too busy right now to quilt and I know I have to get some other things done in order to get back in there and sew so I will get bookkeeping done quicker. Quilting allows me to be myself at my own pace even. :lol:

It's more than a hobby for me. I love to start projects, not so good a finishing, lots of UFO's, and love to give my stuff away to people who appreciate the effort. Quilting and sewing go back many generations on my mother's side. I can't imagine life w/o a sewing machine.

That is absolutely amazing! Thank you for sharing :).

Its my spark. My husband says that when I quilt on the frame after 8:30 at night, I must quilt in my sleep as I thrash around all night! I also dream of piecing and quilt designs. I get very crabby if I cannot sew most everyday

I've read many of your responses and realized I "connect" to so many of them... and then it hit me...
Quilting is "connecting"... in so many ways... connecting fabrics and threads in wonderful, creative ways...
connecting with old and new friends who quilt...
connecting with those to whom we give our works of love...
connecting with the past and connecting with the future, too!! Someday, someone will be holding a quilt you made or I made, and perhaps wondering about us... even if the quilt isn't "perfect" (as we so often wish they were), the person holding our quilt will somehow connect with us... and maybe even wish they could have known us...

They'll know a little bit about us, just holding that quilt...

For me, quilting is connecting...

Quilting allows me to be creative. I love it and it's relaxing to me. The rest of the world goes away when I'm quilting. It's better than therapy and much more productive.