What first attracted you to quilting
 

I was reading a thread this morning asking what attracts one to a quilt and got to wondering what attracted us to quilting in the first place

I was working at the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC in the 1970s. A good friend and I were having lunch and a Fashion Design teacher joined us wearing a vest made up of cathedral windows. Marilyn and I both began making a CW quilt - she finished hers and I luckily found someone in the 90s who was glad to take what I had given up on.

when I was in grade school, My mom was a piece worker in a slip factory, and after school a group of us waited on the stairs in the factory for work to end, and the sound of sewing machines bring back pleasant memories. She didn't sew clothes for me, but did have a new 301 with the cams when they were popular. I learned to sew on that machine for home ec. I married young and made clothes for my baby girls, then doll clothes and work clothes. Somewhere along the way, I stopped sewing for years. I did crewel and needlepoint, and cross stitch, and one day decided to make a quilt by hand as I traveled for my job as it was smaller to take on a plane. Moved to NH and met some quilters, and started to quilt (back in the 1980's). Still quilting after all these years!!!

when i was little in the '50's, i would visit my aunt for a couple of weeks each summer and she always put quilts on my bed. even as a child, i awakened early so had to do quiet things til they woke up. i would find all the different patterns made by the varied blocks in the quilt... they were all so busy. i'd use the patterns as paths to follow and 'things that go bump in the night' and happy faces... endless designs. that started my fascination with quilts. i took a class to make a baby quilt when i had 2 baby girls. unfortunately, it was never completed and has been lost. however, i still have the class book and the templates so very carefully cut from cardboard and from plastic milk jugs. i often went to quilt shows and finally jumped in to quilting when i retired in 2002.

my mom sewed in a factory for a short time, too, so i learned to sew garments since junior high school

My mother was my idol and when she began to quilt, she taught me what she had been learning. G rowing up she had already taught me to knit, crochet and sew. Now that I am out of work on disability, I have a lot of time and a lot of grandchildren to quilt for. It makes me feel close to her even tho she is gone.

I remember as a child going to visit my cousins 'down south' and we would go with my aunt to the church gathering room once a week. The ladies sat around a quilting frame stitching. My cousins were used to that but I had never seen 'quilting' before and thought it was fantastic. My mom doesn't sew but my older sister started teaching me when I was very young.... between 5 and 8 but that was just sewing clothes. Then, I married my best friend that just happened to have family 50 miles from my aunt's house.... and all the ladies in his family quilted. I made my first quilt for my 3rd child, back in the 70's but didn't quilt again until the mid 90's. I saw a quilt I loved (lover's knot) on the cover of a quilting magazine at my MIL's house but I couldn't do any sewing because I had a broken wrist. The healing of my wrist took months and a surgery so almost a year later I started that quilt. I haven't stopped since. I've found my passion........

I came into quilting much later in life. I used to watch Simply Quilts while I ate my breakfast before work. Loved it and never gave half a thought to doing it. Then when I retired one of my sons said "now you can make me a quilt". What? I don't quilt! He said, but you are retired and you can learn. So I did join a quilting class/group and did make him his quilt and the rest is history. I've been quilting about 8 years.

I will admit I hated my sewing class in Home Ec in high school; we made a pillow which I still have.

Then this past Christmas we were getting our daughter a doll. I wanted to repaint the cradle my dad made me when I was little so she could have it. I decided it needed bedding so I borrowed a Singer 347 sewing machine from a family friend. I made a very simple blanket. I then decided she needed Christmas PJs as we always get new ones each year and I wanted to make hers. Then she needed a Christmas outfit. lol And it just grew from there. I have now made a Queen size quilt, a twin size for my mom and some smaller quilts. I love creating stuff. I love making things from quilts to totes to outfits.

I started as a way to use up scraps let over from making garments , because thats what my mother did. Having started making my own clothes in 5th grade ... mom never discarded any of the scraps from any projects any of us kids or she made. They went into a special pile that was destined for quilts. We saved anything over a 2 inch square. It just always seemed that natural progression of fabric .. first clothing .. then the quilts. The only time I recall purchasing fabric for a quilt was for the backing . This was all pre - rotary cutter!

my sister had quilted for a long time and she made beautiful quilts. and then she started
her own business hand-guided machine quilting by pam berntson. she did long arming and
made severl quilts for customers and all the family. i was blessed with 2 of her quilts. so i took
some classes and here i am. she always answered all my questions. well june 2 we lost
that special person. i havent quilted since but know i will. but i sure do miss her. some of the
quilts she made covered every pew in the church for her funeral. some pew had two or three
on they were gorgeous.