Mine was both the best and the worst time! I had done apparel sewing for twenty years and decided to make my brother a quilt - a very large log cabin. I was used to 5/8" seams and not having to be so precise. A 1/4" seam was a total disaster for me. I spent much more time ripping than sewing. But, when I gave it to my brother, he was beyond thrilled. The best part is that he is an artist and I always felt I had no artistic talents. He told me how amazed he was that I could take a flat piece of fabric and create something so beautiful! It opened my eyes to the fact that we are creative and talented. Quilters are artists!!! And so began 40 years of quiltmaking.

My first, quilting project that I started was a hand pieced 'Grandmother's Flower Garden,' that I made the templates from construction paper. It's still not finished and the dye lot of the fabric can not be matched. the 'fabric store,' where I purchased the fabric has been out of business for years. It's a 35+ years old UFO boxed in my storage room. So, answer to one of your questions is: I learned to take smaller stitches in hand piecing, I learn the understanding of placement of shapes of that pattern. In those days of my beginning there was no rotary cutter, no mat or rulers. Everything was done by scissors and needle and thread. I realize over half way in I had took on more than I could handle. I sometimes take the piece out and the ladies at my quilting circle give me ideas on how to finish it, but I just bring it home and box it up again and store it away.

I took a six week class and met every Saturday to learn how to do different blocks and it was to be a sampler quilt. Sad to say that it is still a UFO in a bin in my closet. :( Yes, I did jump off the deep end and had so many ideas and plans to make so many quilts. I really didn't realize how long it would take to make just one quilt!!! But----I am so hooked on quilting and love the process. I think I learned what the word "patience" meant.

I made my first quilt in 1986. My inspiration came from my grandma's flannel scrappy quilts, quilts made by my DH's great-grandmother, and the two "QUILT" magazines I owned at that time. One article and quilt by Ami Simms was my inspiration to make a twin size quilt for my son's bed. I had no idea what I was doing except for the instructions from the magazines and a few library books. The block was a simple Jacob's Ladder done in solids since it was hard back then to find cotton fabric that did not include flowers. I did everything by hand starting with templates, cutting, sewing, and quilting. It took me a couple of years to finish, but it was loved for over 20 years until it was retired so a king-sized quilt replace it.

I bought a Pam Bono book "Big Book of Rotary Cutter Quilts" and did 3 of hers! That book was my bible and I learned all of her piecing techniques there. Many of mine have changed now but it was a great way to begin.

I bought fabric that I liked, especially poly/cotton. Quilt hasn't faded at all.

I had watched a few Alex Anderson shows and was fascinated by the idea of quilting. I had sewn when my kids were young and I was broke and we needed curtains or dresses, etc., but I really hadn't sewn for years. I stopped at my local quilt shop and fell in love with a Christmas tree skirt pattern. I bought the pattern, fabric, mat and tools that I needed and just started. My old machine was giving me fits. It kept eating the fabric and I soon gave up. A couple of years went by and we visited some friends. She was an avid quilter and I got inspired all over again. Two days after we got home from our trip, I was the proud owner of a Janome 6600. I got out my quilting supplies and set to work. What a difference. I didn't know anything about squaring up my HST, so they were pretty messy, but I finished the skirt, and I love it. That was six years and 57 quilts ago. What a wonderful hobby.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]573456[/ATTACH]

My first quilt dates back to only 2010, though I'd been sewing garments a while before that.

It was a big quilt-as-you-go tee shirt quilt because I needed something for my own bed. My only regret is that I didn't realize how much the batting I used would gain loft when washed. It ended up comforter-weight, and fine for chilly foggy San Francisco nights.

When I moved to Texas the next year, it was way too heavy for summer nights.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]573455[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]573457[/ATTACH]

On my first quilt I had some very beautiful expensive fabric and saw a pattern in a magazine I loved and never saw it was for advanced quilters until it was done. I was lucky it turned out so well and is very loved by my DD who wanted it so much I gifted it to her. It gave me the courage to tackle any pattern I want to make. I have had some problems with some but have been very lucky with most.

My first was the beginnings of a crazy quilt and I was about 12-13 years old.