My sister--- she lives w/ her hubby in a big house out in the sticks of Flagstaff Az. But has no room to let alone move around let alone sew. They are clutter freaks. Anyway- she has decided to live her quilting dreams thru me. So far she has sent me 8 quilt kits- tools and toys that I am still trying to figure out what to do with..... gave me a Featherweight 221 and a Bernina 930. She buys tons of machines from ebay. Just finished my first quilt. Called paperweights. After beginning my new hobby- my in laws have given me 3 - eight foot tall bureaus full of old fabric-- ranging from wools to silk-satin- linen- lace- upolstery- etc. you name it - I inherited it. Will never use alot- will have to sell it sometime. Anyway-- I am very grateful to her for living her dream thru me--- I Love It!!!!

I have 3 wonderful ladies who tolerate my endless questions and chatting about quilting. I have Sandy in Idaho who motivates me. I have Carol in Utah who's encouragement keeps me going. And I have my dear niece KrisStena who answers my endless questions and gives me the best advise. I'm a lucky lady.

Probably Fons and Porter via TV, Taught me the basics. Then joined a guild filled with great teachers.

I will say my mother also. Actually my mom taught me to sew when I was twelve.She insisted I learn to sew by hand first, then sew on the machine. She was right there (it was her only machine at the time)to guide me. She always has been. Now I am 56 and she is still there with me. We always sew together in her beautiful and very large sewing room. I think I would be happy to just sew every day. We both quilt (I do more than she right now)and she is a great mentor to me in helping with design and color choices.My mom is the greatest and probably my closest friend. I cannot imagine life without her.

This quilting board was my first mentor :D:D:D

My mother and grandmother taught me how to sew, but neither one of them quilted at that time. Many years later, I had a friend that I babysat for and she brought me cutaways from the uniform factory where she worked. I didn't have the heart to throw them away, so learned to quilt (they were some really ugly quilts). My first two books were Georgia Bonesteel and Eleanor Burns, then in the 80's took a quilting class with my grandmother. Got my Mom quilting and one of my sisters and we all have a good time with it.

My mom sewed our clothes for many years and at Easter we all had clothes to match. School time-she would take her patterns and we always had new dresses for school. Of course as we got bigger it wasn't "cool" to wear handmade clothes. My mom didn't start quilting till she was nearly 70. I was telling her about a quilt I was making. She lived in MO and I lived in TN so many of our phone calls were about quilting. She didn't follow patterns but would find a coloring book and use that as her pattern. Once while visiting my brother in CA. we saw a quilt that was hanging at one of the famous areas. My brother really liked it and told mom he would pay her to make him one. Well, that became a challenge to her. She bought a poster and then made her pattern of each animal and successfully made the quilt. When we were all home for holiday my mom pulls the quilt out. Of course, I knew what she had been working on as during that time when I came home we would pick out the colors for the next animals. When it was given to my brother he cried which made us all cry. He couldn't believe it. Mom was so proud. I am the oldest of 7 kids with my brother the youngest. My brother was special to all of us and it was wonderful to see him so happy. And yes, mom got her money even though she didn't want it. She just wanted to do something special for him.

My first quilting mentor was my first MIL. She also taught me to crochet with fine thread. Told me then that I could do ANYTHING I PUT MY MIND TO! She was right!! :) (I divorced her son....ROL!!!)

I pieced a quilt for my son that looked like little boats. Then we hand quilted it on a quilting frame sitting up in my tiny livingroom! Oh, the fun we had! I sure do miss her!

I am considered a "aged old Woman" at 66 now, I wanted to start sewing for my grandchild, age 10 who had no one to show her the things we all had learned , I met the most wonderful mentor of my life teaching quilting 1 year ago, until that time I had given up thinking I could learn anthing new until I met her...she is 83, runs her own quilting shop and has no patience for me what so ever, that is why I love her so much. Learning does not need to be fun...learning is in the accomplishments you feel when you know you have done everything the best you can be...isn't that what learning is all about, it doesn't matter how old you are, it just matters who you are inside that others sometimes cannot see

:) My grandmother. She never quilted when I was around, but as a kid someone in the family was always getting quilts or embroidered pillow cases. Her eyesight has deteriorated, and she doesn't have the patience for sewing anymore.

I have the quilt she made for me when I was in elementary school. It was all poly-blend fabric, so it's still bright and unfrayed. She always tied her quilts, and because of the use, the backing has come loose. I haven't gotten around to re-sandwiching and quilting (vs tying) it. Someday.