There's probably many different reasons that folks here quilt, and more than likely it's a combination of several reasons actually. I think the main reason I've gotten into it is because it's a creative outlet and one in which I don't feel so frustrated with the end result because of my own perceived inadequacy with it.

I used to paint many years ago (seems like another lifetime now), and won awards at it when entered in juried shows, but I never really felt comfortable with it. It was WORK to get it to where I felt it was tolerable to look at, and I destroyed a lot of canvases in frustration in the process. And I know where that "not good enough" thinking was seeded at, but that's another long story.

So, why do you quilt?

I love puzzles, and putting together all the little quilt pieces is like completing a puzzle. The bonus is that in the end you have something useful. I really enjoy the process of cutting up all the bits, then watching how the pattern emerges as they go back together.

I started quilting to make baby quilts for grandbabies.

I used to knit many years ago but my arms could not handle the repetitive motion. Then I dabbled in assorted arts and crafts. When we bought our house in '89 I decided that it needed a quilt .....and THAT, as they say WAS THAT.

I love the smell and feel of the fabric. I love the inspiration of the colors. I love the cutting apart and reassembling of the pattern and I adore watching the top come to life. My imagination is very visual and I usually see the project in my mind's eye long before it is done.

Advancing from the beginning Rail Fence to a Jacob's Ladder or a more advanced pattern is a personal challenge. Finishing a quilt and seeing the joy on the recipient's face is priceless.

I cannot imagine living without quilting. It keeps me sane. (sort of) LOL!

I quilt to carry on the tradition. My grandmother taught me, who was taught by her mom, who was taught by her mom who was taught by her mom.

My mother quilted later in her life and I loved going with her to pick out fabric - it took all day on my day off-. she made several quilts before she passed and we have those to hold on to. I never took any home ec classes but I have always wanted to quilt - so - when I retired, I taught myself and took some classes and now, don't feel complete unless I sew almost everyday. Quilting is very calming.

I started quilting after watching many shows on it and started thinking that "I can do that!" I had given up on crafts and handwork a number of years ago due to fibro and found that I CAN be creative in quilting!! Once I started I fell in love with the whole process 8) 8) 8)

It helps me be creative and use my brain so it doesn't turn to mush :lol: . Plus it is a huge stress reliever for me, I call it my "therapy" :lol:

And one more reason, I love to give gifts!

I have been sewing for a long time ( well, long time for me, I'm only 27) I used to make my clothes because everything was always too big, even as a child/teen, now I mostly do alterations. I also paint, I mostly work with watercolour and I do portraits, I took fine arts in college and have my DEC, and now my real job is painting cars... I guess you could say that I'm creative and pretty artistic.

I started quilting last year. Actually, my best friend, who was very very sick, was getting ready for a long hospital stay, and I was looking for activities and things for us to do together, and that she could do alone while I wasn't there, and I came across quilting. My plan was to make a friendship quilt, each of us was to make 6 different blocks, two of each, so we would both have a quilt made by the two of us. I started practicing, looking up patterns and ideas, and well, it all just took off. We never did get that quilt made, but I went over often and taught her lots of watercolour techniques, and we're going to make tote bags this summer, to use as beach bags.
She also wants to try quilting, she's always so excited to see what project happen to be working on, I think I may eventually have another quilter, lol!
My mother taught me how to sew, and now I'm teaching her about quilting, I think that's fair :P

A few years ago, after the death of my beloved grandmother, while cleaning out her home, I found 6 bow-tie squares in her linen closet. they were hand stitched and made from feed sacks. Being only a grand daughter I wasn't in line to get any of her quilts, but I did get these blocks. I brought them home and looked at them for awhile. then, I decided to buy material and turn them into a small quilt. And that's how it began for me. Touching those hand sewn blocks, and loving them, a quilter was born in my heart. I still have those squares, made into a small top.I have yet to quilt it. always thinking I will add something to it,someday.Once I made that first cut of the fabric, there was no going back. I am just an old fashioned quilter. Loving the old patterns, and hand quilting. There is no rhyme or reason to what we do. But there is a lot of joy and satisfaction in the finished product. I have never made a quit without mistakes, always striving for that perfect point or square! :D :D

I have always loved quilts, always loved the feel, the smell and the history of them. Never once did I think I could make one though. They just seemed to far out of my reach of my capabilities.
Then one day I decided to try and it didn't come out to badly...so I made another one... and so on.... I find it's such a great stress reliever for me too... Also it keeps me always thinking of what I need to do next or how I want to do it which keeps my brain on the active side.

the amish believe that it is bad to think they can make a perfect quilt because that is too god-like. unless u are a perfect person- no perfect quilts. relax and enjoy that's what I do some points make it some don't. most of the time, the receiver of the quilt doesn't have a clue.

Great subject! I think it is the first time in my life I have felt like I could be creative & maybe someday a bit artistic. I started out sewing clothes after I quit working(hated not working but had health problems) and never got the hang of making things fit. I promised DH that I would never get into quilting (thought it was expensive & stupid to buy fabric & cut it up again) but here I am, new to it but feeling like I have my first "addiction."

My grandma and mom quilted together, don't know exactly when they started. They were always buying material and starting new projects, taking classes and finishing small projects and swaps. I used to go to the store with them when they bought things really not knowing a thing about what they were saying. Eventually I started picking out fabric colors for them or matching up colors. I always thought it was so beautifil the work they did(all by hand). Well my grandma quilted even when she was sick in the hospital. Then I started asking questions about quilting and wanted to learn. Once my Grandma passed I really bugged my mom to show me how. I guess I never really started before then because it was a thing for my grandma and mom to do and I was happy enough to just be around. So I started to quilt, by hand only, I have yet to finish but like them I am a great starter!! :lol: I really enjoy seeing what I can do.

Oh, cool topic! I like hearing what everyone has to say.

For me, it's in my blood. My whole entire family quilts- my great-grandma taught my mom and my aunt, and my grandma (who was her DIL) taught me. My sister and my cousins all quilt on some level so I think we just absorbed it while we were playing under the quilt frame while the grownups were tying off quilts.

Another reason is that I just adore fabric- the feel of it, the colors, how it looks in stacks. (What do you suppose it tastes like...?) I guess if I just bought it with no reason my husband would have me committed so I say it's for my quilts. LOL!

I think that quilting is the perfect marriage of creativity and usefulness.

I learned sewing basics in high school, stopped during college. Then I crocheted. Soon after getting married, DH surprised me with my first machine and I went to town on clothes. He sweetly wore even matching shirts or his shirt to my skirt...I know, I know... but it was a "thing" in the early 70s. When our daughters were little, I made them lots of cute clothes and crotched slippers. My sewing soon was just mending with a rare skirt, pajamas, or holiday or stage-performance costume. The closest thing I did to quilting was a pillow where I stitched over print of double-wedding ring... the cheating turned out pretty real looking and I never forgot it. So when in honor of my 50th birthday, I decided I needed a hobby and for it to be something nobody else I knew did, especially in my whole extended family, I remembered that pillow and how even pretending to quilt made me happy. I took a beginner class and told my sister the wallhanging would be a gift for our mom since she'd love it and I didn't know if I would be good enough at it to continue so it might be my one and only quilt. Well, I enjoyed it so much and it looked so great and everyone was so thrilled that I could do this, I was hooked! I really love the puzzle-piecing aspect. After my current projects with deadlines (baby quilt, daughter birthday) I am going to play around with kaleidoscope quilting. I have so many techniques and patterns to try, I rarely do the same one more than once unless it's just for a pillow. I love it, find it so mesmerizing that time can fly by with no tv, no music... only discussing quilting at hand things over with my dog and bird.

Because I love to sew, and quilting was a new challenge. I researched quilting to death before I actually attempted it. Then I found a BOM here on the board that I loved so much I had to give it a try. I piddled and piddled making little experiments here and there after that first block.
Then my nephew was diagnosed with cancer, I decided to make a quilt for his benefit (along with several wonderful ladies here who kindly and gererously donated quilts to the cause). When I showed the top to my dad, who was on home hospice care for cancer of his own...he looked at me and said..."You're so smart, and talented. You can do just about anything ya know. Lisa this is really 'perty'" (Dad was from KY hence the perty LOL). It was the only time I can remember him complimenting anything I did. Now I love quilting even more, because Mom shared with me a few months ago, that even though he didn't tell me personally, he bragged about "Lisa's talents" to anyone that would listen to him. He really was proud of me, so now I do it to honor that pride he felt all along, but couldn't tell me about directly.

I quilt because it's an outlet for me to get away from the world.
I can go "inside" myself and not worry about what is going on outside.
There's been many nights when I've disappeared into my room, only to emerge with the sunrise. Then I think....where did the time go?
I love that feeling! I don't like the tired feeling that envelopes me later.
But, I love taking the fabric apart and turning the pieces into something completely different from what I started on.
I used to knit. Not very well, I may add, but I tried. I cannot crochet to save my life. I don't like scrapbooking...too boring if you ask me, but give me some fabric to cut up and put back together? I'm in HEAVEN!!!

Awesome topic! I love reading about how everyone started quilting :)

I forgot to tell you about a big inspiration to choosing quilting as the perfect hobby for me!

It wasn't from only that pretend-quilting pillow from 25yrs ago that I mentioned, but probably even more, from a particular movie.

Did you ever see that movie called Stepmom? It's basically about Julia Roberts as the stepmom and Susan Sarandon as the children's mother. Well, Susan gets terminal cancer and decides to make something very special for each of her children before she dies. So for the rest of the film we see her taking photos and then using them on 2 quilts. She makes a bed quilt for her daughter and a magician's cape for her little boy. It's heartwrenching but got me so excited to do photo quilts!

Although I haven't done a big, primarily photo, quilt, what I have done is use the photo technique in a smaller way on gifts and they've made the receivers so happy. I often include a photo on my label sewn on back and on smaller projects like pillows and quillows. For example, I made a fancy-with-golds quilted pillow with a copy of their wedding photo in the center of the pattern (I forget which one) for my BIL/SIL's 50th Wedding Anniversary. They love it. Thanks, Susan Sarandon. Eventually I would've found and tried using photos, but watching the projects grow over 2hours of this movie inspired me to start out in my first year having this rewarding technique.

See that square in my avatar quilt? It's a photo of a dish broken into 4 pieces and a "whole" dish surrounded by the Broken Dishes pattern. I wanted to symbolize how a "broken" victim of sexual assault or domestic violence can become whole again. The photo helps me do that.

I have sewed forever, took 4 years of home ec., 2 years of fashion design and 1 year of occupational sewing in high school. Mostly what i did was garment sewing but some crafty type stuff too. I have always been big into "old " stuff, heirlooms and that sort. I love anything historical. No one in my family that I knew quilted. My Grandma had a Double Wedding ring quilt that my Great Grandmother made and originally one of my Uncle's was to get the quilt when Grandma died. So I decided to try to replicate it and that is what got me started. I just found out recently that my Mom ended up with Great Grandma's quilt, so I will end up with it eventually!!! :D

Awesome topic, Eddie!

I have always admired (and coveted :D ) quilts, but my Mom was the seamstress in the family. Boy could she make anything! I felt I couldn't even come close to measuring up to that, so I went a different way - needlework. The love of a needle and thread in my hand had to come naturally :wink: I did that for 20 years, going from counted cross stitch to designing Hardanger and Counted Thread pieces. Then MS took the focus from one of my eyes, and one day I just couldn't do it anymore. Rather than look at what I lost, I focused (pun intended :lol: ) on what I could do - and being older (maybe not wiser :wink: ) I turned to quilts. I can design again, I can play with thread again! Plus, the kids are grown and gone, so I have spending money again!!!

Wow, what a great topic! I have so enjoyed sitting here reading about how everyone got started quilting.

My mom and grandmother and aunts all made quilts.

The first thread in this post-
http://www.quiltingboard.com/posts/list/23168.page
is the story of WHY I got started making quilts.

I love fabrics and quilts. I love the process, well, everything except the basting, and now I have spray!

There is nothing so peaceful, so relaxing, so calming than to sit down and quilt by hand. Someday I would like to learn to machine quilt, but for now, hand quilting is my therapy. To feel the beautiful fabric under my hand and very slowly, never a hurry, just take my time and put in all those little stitches is just my joy.

At first I thought it was just me and that I was really weird or something, but then my Aunt told me that they used to have to MAKE my grandmother stop quilting so she could eat. Then my daughter was visiting me and I realized that after I had gone to bed she stayed up ALL NIGHT quilting. She inherited the quilting gene!!!

I wonder if we all have it?

I've sewn for over 40 years (Geez! THAT made me feel old!) As a teen, I made my own clothes, learned to knit, crochet, cross stitch and when I moved to Hawaii, learned to do Hawaiian applique' quilting. My hands have to be busy, quilting has become my therapy.

Like many of you here, I love to sew and enjoy the creative process of quilting. I was looking for a new challenge and found it in quilting. I love every aspect of quilting from choosing a design and fabric to that last stitch on the binding. It is my mission to gift all my family members with a special quilt. I also enjoy making charity quilts for my quild. When I am at my machine, the hours just fly by! I also love the camaradarie of my quilting friends. I have never met a quilter I didn't like! Quilting has truly enriched my life.

Pleasure and satisfaction that I can make things for my family. Plus is very relaxing

I can remember (back in the day of being a little girl) my grandparents taking us to the Indiana State Fair. The first place I wanted to go was to see the quilts. Everyone else wanted to do anything but that. I can remember standing there trying to figure out how they made things so beautiful. I loved the feel of an old quilt. When my daughter was 7 she wanted a canapy bed and matching quilt. So, I with my knowledge of sewing garments and a few curtains thought to myself, I can make them. So, off to the library I went and got a couple of books. Read them, bought fabric and made a quilt as you go quilt, the canapy and curtains. It was then and there that I knew I had to quilt. I really didn't get into it until after the kids were off to college. I love the feel of the fabric and the challenge of trying new blocks and making something I am proud of. I sometimes wondered if there was something wrong with me. I have purchased so much fabric and sometimes I am just obsessed. I stay up half the night. I think of nothing else.
Then I joined this board and realized that there is nothing wrong with me....I am a quilter.

Really interesting thread! Such great stories, I've enjoyed them very much.

I was in 4-H growing up, learned everything from woodworking to cooking to sewing. Mainly the sewing stayed with me; I enjoy lots of textiles and also do counted cross stitch and some knitting (self-taught though, and don't know how to fix errors - so when they happen that project is done!).

I haven't sewn clothing in 25 years. After my dad passed, I wished for something that was his and it made me think of what my girls would get. I'm not really a jewelry kind of girl (uh, jewelry kind of middle aged woman just sounded funny), so don't have much. They each get a ring. But that somehow didn't seem personal. So I used part of my inheritance to buy a Bernina and haven't looked back.

Thus far, both of our DD's have no desire for crafts of any kind or - horror - quilts I've made :shock: Maybe when that's what they have left of me? That's a long ways and lots of quilts off, though, so in the meantime I make lots of gifts.

Thanks, Eddie, for the thread and for everyone for their replies. Great stories!

The replies here have given me goose bumps. Thanks for the question, Eddie.

I asked myself this question years ago. I've been quilting for about 15 years, and I stopped to ponder why it brought me such joy. I'm not a crafty person and hated my sewing class in high school. The only craft I enjoyed was making pressed flower pictures. But quilting then, it was all about choice. In a life of small kids and trying to be home as much as possible, quilting was one small area where I called all the shots. What shall I make? What colors? When will I work on it? When should it be done? Who will I give it to? Then--the joy of giving it to someone else was awesome.

We were not in a position to spend money on such things back then, so all my fabric came from Joannes or Wal-Mart--I talked my husband into using a Joannes credit card so we could get the gift card each month. I remember how excited he was to use the card on a business trip. One day I came home and he pulled the $40 in gift cards from behind his back--$10 by $10. :D Oh the happiness!! I only bought when these were in my pocket. Wal-Mart had great prices--and I never bought more than 1/4 to 1/2 yard at a time, for tops. I quilting everything myself, but nothing was too big.

I never took a lesson and for a long time didn't have a quilting book to learn from. I remember sitting in the aisle of a Sew-Fro Fabrics reading the directions and going "Oh, gosh, I'm supposed to be ironing all this?" :lol: I'd memorize steps, then run home to try them.

My first sewing machine was purchased from extra money I earned working in the Iris gardens with my dad.

My how far I've come. :shock:

PS Eddie--do tell your other long story sometime. As a parent and teacher, I'm interested in that sort of stuff. I'm so glad you traded the frustration for joy.

devouring every story, and going, "me too, me too!" with every one. :-)
I love to draw and although both sides of my family are artistically inclined, my dad's side is phenomenally talented. I am not as talented as they are, but I do ok. Drawing takes so much concentration, for me, that I just don't do it, often. When I look at them, I wonder why, but, I like something that I can touch, feel, and has loads of color. I don't paint, haven't gotten into it...yet :lol:

My little gma helped me get started sewing at age 10. I used babysitting money to buy fabrics, and made a lot of my clothes. Got married, had kids, and sewed for them. Got sick and didn't sew for eight years.
Eventually, got better doctors and meds, and bc of chronic stuff, slowly returned to sewing.
During one of my phone visits, with my paternal gma, she told me about wall quilt her senior group was doing. I got so into it, she suggested I try it. I bought a quilting magazine, and it was like a light bulb moment.
I am a very visual thinker, and realized all the different fabrics I would need, but not that much of each one. Oh, this was going to be fun!
I did a ton of research too...started slowly, it helps with my nerves, and I do as much as I physically can, when I can, and have my own 'cave', so I can leave it laid out.
It is my sanctuary, my happy place, and I do go in there, and turn off the world. I am so happy no matter what I am doing with all those different fabrics. I hug them, I sniff them, i pet them and,...I talk to them...always nicely :D

My first memory of quilts, was when I was a child we would travel to Kentucky to spend time with our grandparents and relatives. At nite I would climb into bed & pull the old quilts on top of me. I would always feel warm and secure. I remember the rain would hit the metal roof and I would lay there under the quilts listening to the rain. My mom always made our clothes, but never quilted that I am aware of (she passed away young). My grandmother did and my Aunts did. When my Aunts passed away years later, I bought some of their quilts at the sale. I wish I had bought them all! I spent the last 32 yrs thinking I would make a quilt, something I always wanted to do. 2 yrs ago I got started, and made some lap quilts, I have one full size to finish, just need the uninterrupted time. Yes, I do machine quilting, where my heirloom quilts are hand quilted, but I love them all!

Wow, what wonderful stories. I only wish mine were as interesting. Although my dads mother quilted my baby quilt for me, my moms mother & her sisters were awesome sewers I did not have that interest growing up. I took home ec and for one 6 weeks period we sewed and I made a skirt. My mom does not sew,there was never a sewing machine around. in her later years she started crocheting, I tried once but was not that interested in it. In my mid twenties I picked up a counted cross stitch pattern. I loved it and did that for 20 years.
Then I met my BFF 7 years ago. She quilted. First she got me into doing crafts, we made fabric baskets. I could not sew a straight line, so I would cut out everything and then I would watch her sew. Then we moved on to quilted purses. Since I am a visual learner after awhile I thought "I can do this." So off to Sears my friend and I went to buy my first machine, a Kenmore. I only paid 250.00 for it but was all I could afford at the time. I love that machine. As my confidence grew she introduced me to actual quilting of quilts. We went to the Houston International Quilt show and I was hooked. We get together once a week on average and have a play date, either shopping for fabric, patterns, etc.....or we are sewing.
Thanks for the thread Eddie.

I have sewn since I was 4 - my grandmother was a professional seamstress- self taught- and as soon as she could put me in front of the machine I was off and sewing. I made actual wearable clothes at the age of 6. I didn't make my first quilt until I had my first child. I was in a needlepoint shop buying canvases and saw a sampler quilt on the wall. The saleswoman told me I could do that. So I spent $12 on the pattern and went home, and made it out of the fabric left over from sewing. Not all cotton- who knew- and no instructions. And even then, I put in my own touches and reworked things I didn't like from the pattern. But for a first attempt, it turned out great. I handquilted the whole thing- double bed sized.
Now I quilt for the pure enjoyment of it-- and the most important thing-- no need to apologize for the amount of fabric I have. I love the whole process- even those hst's.
Cheryl

Great topic!

I learned to machine sew in home ec. I started mostly sewing clothes. My first machine was this HEAVY green singer in a white plastic case. It was sitting in a closet and I asked my dad if it worked. That machine is a work horse, but I could never get the tension right. My boyfriend (DH now) bought me a brother for Christmas one year. I started watching Simply Quilts and thought - hey, I can do this. I bought her beginning quilters book and off I went. I love all fabrics, especially the repros. I tried cross stitching, but for me, it was too much work for something sooo small! Also tried to crochet, was ok at it, but the yarn made my eyes itch!

I love everyone's stories. I don't have a great family story. I just have always liked the way quilts look.

I have always been more of an outdoors person, biking, hiking, things like that. Due to health problems I had to give up my usual activities for something more subdued.

I decided to take a hand quilting class and found I really enjoyed it. I am very, very slow about finishing things though. I have a very short interest span, problems with my hand, and a back that is pretty much done for the day by the time I get off work. But I am plugging away slowly at what I have started. Thanks for sharing your stories.
Chrissy

That's a guaranteed tear jerker!

But it also gave me the idea of doing a memory quilt for my niece. She just turned 18 and I have a stash of pictures waiting to be scanned.

....that's the other part about "quilting" - there are sooooooo many new techniques to learn, and try. It keeps me young and keeps me going!

My grandmother was incredibly creative--she could cook, sew, paint, play piano. I've always felt a need to be creative, but didn't have the skill. Years and years ago a friend and I took a quilting class, back when we used templates and cut out each piece individually. I was always frustrated because I couldn't get anything to look like I wanted it to! About 3 years ago I decided to try again using the newer methods, and there's been no looking back! I love the feel of fabric. I love going up into my little sewing room and doing my own thing. And I love the look and feel of quilts. I love the history of them, and I feel like there's some kind of tie to women generations back who did the same thing. I love being able to produce something beautiful and giving it to someone special, because I think every quilt is full of love and comfort, and what wonderful gifts they are to give!

Sounds to me llike all of you feel pretty much the same!

When I was in college I had a job as a companion to an elderly lady. We would sit and watch tv all evening til it was time for me to go. She would not let me turn the channel so alot of what she watched didn't interest me. I got my first crewel kit and learned to do crewel while I sat with her. I went on to learn more embroidery and other needle arts.
When my kids were little I was tired of staring at 4 walls and I saw a book on tv about quilting. We couldn't afford even a candy bar at that time but I knew I had lots of clothes that we didn't wear anymore so I cut up old clothes and I made a cardboard square and I traced each square out laboriously!!!. I did a lot of applique then because it was easier.
At this same time I answered an ad in the paper to make a quilt top for a lady. I had never quilted!! She gave me a pattern for a bear's paw in cream and browns and she gave me the fabric. I made that top and it wasn't too bad for a beginner!! But when I went back to get paid for it she and her husband had seperated and she was gone. So I ended up with that top.
I continued over the years learning by trial and error. I love color and patterns and just kept trying new things. I like to challenge myself or I get bored!
My billfold fell apart at work one day and I decided to make myself one. My coworkers saw the one I made (just squares not minis) and they wanted one. I made one for the wife of a guy in the nursing home where I worked because she had such a hard time with her DH and I challenged myself to make the blocks really small. She loved it and I started making them for the people I worked with.
I have just messed around and done things by trial and error and when my daughter was looking through an antique and gift shop in Kalona Iowa( a big tourist atttraction that concentrates on quilts as the marketing theme) she showed a keychain I made to the owner and I started selling to that shop. I have been selling to her for 11 years now.
I decided I wanted to pass on some of my ideas to people so I got into teaching classes and then into the internet web arena.
It gives me so much personal joy to create something that to me is a picture and I do think of them as a framed picture. I agree they are like putting a puzzle together and i love that aspect of it too!!
My favorite thing to do is to play on my EQ5 and design. Love to see what happens when I think what if.........

Thank you everyone for your stories!

Unlike the majority, I had no exposure to quilting growing up, in fact I only have one cousin who even sews at all and that was mostly children's clothes. My grandmas did not quilt but I don't know about their mothers so I don't think there was a quilting gene like someone here wondered. I taught my nieces to make a nine-patch potholder and one of them won a prize at her county fair! Neither went on from there, but that's ok, they learned the effort involved so appreciate quilting more, including Aunt Cathy's.

High Schools and Colleges offer courses in Art Appreciation and Music Appreciation in which they teach the history, equipment and techniques, but the student does not have to do it. I think they should also offer, for credit like the others, a Quilt Appreciation course! There might be a textile class for those registered in those programs but it should be open to everyone as a single course, like when I took a basic music appreciation... wow, I learned so much and it changed my listening forever. Imagine how many unexposed-to-quilts next generation might then really look at a quilt, be thrilled if given one as a gift and maybe even give it a try!

OK, that's not really about my story, just my reflections.

I learned to quilt from my friend Jeannie. She had quilted for years and made such pretty quilts. She taught me all the basics, and then I started taking classes and just quilting my heart out. It's very relaxing for me, and I feel like it's the only time I have any ability to do "art" or be creative. I'm also a huge fan of giving gifts and love to my family and this gives me an outlet for that. lastly, my job is extremely stressful and often very negative. (I'm a divorce lawyer and deal with some very intense custody cases) Quilting takes me to my "happy place" and that's worth it's weight in gold.

I love hearing all your stories. Common thread seems to be a love for the art. :)

As you say, Eddie, why I quilt is a combination of several reasons.

I love needlework and crafts.

I love the work of it, every stage except maybe pre-washing in the sink.

I love color, love to design, have come up with a pile of designs to quilt.

I'm unemployed and needed something new to do for my sanity. I was trying to make an art out of doing housework, but that just wasn't working, lol. (I still clean my house, but now I tell myself it's exercise.)

I found a beginner's quilting class that started when I needed a class to start. I'm always ready to learn new things in the spring and summer, which is just when most classes stop meeting. Had I found a woodworking class instead, I might be doing that now.

I had this idea that quilting would be an affordable hobby. It might be, if I stop buying fabric for anything but my current project. OTOH, a rotary cutter is more affordable than a rotary saw.

Along the same lines, I live in an apartment with carpeting. Picking up loose threads is easier than getting wood shavings out of carpet. Plus, you can't saw wood in bed (go ahead, laugh!), but you can quilt there.

Everything kind of came together to get me finally started quilting. I'd actually started a handpieced quilt top years ago in college but couldn't get my square esges to match and gave it up. This spring, I came across Jennifer Chiaverini's Elm Creek Quilt novels and read them all, one right after another. In the first book, the process is described when Sylvia teaches Sarah to quilt. It sounded so doable, and I knew I wanted to learn exactly that way. So I took the only beginner class I could find to get some basics, and am now making a sampler quilt by hand, where my goal is to learn how to do each technique rather than to rush to finish it. Once I do, however, I have lots of other quilting projects I plan to do.

I'm enjoying everyone else's stories. Hope to see more!