Why do you sew or quilt?
 

At one time, it may have been to save money -

But it sure is not that way now!

I think I started out sewing in an attempt to get things to fit the way I wanted them to. (And that was when I still had a whistle-worthy body!) I didn't succeed very well at that - but I did learn a few things along the way.

I think I sew now because, unlike housework, laundry, and cooking - one can "finish" a project - and not have to redo it the next day or next week.

I'm just a hands-on, crafty, maker type person. I am always always always making something. What that "something" is tends to change every 5-6 years, but I'm always doing something.

For me, it's a necessary creative outlet. I've been this way my whole life, even as a child I would rather make something out of tape and paper than to play with toys people had bought for me. As a teenager I was cutting up my old clothes to sew little stuffed animals and performing reconstructive surgery on my sister's dolls when the dogs would get them. Now I'm a "grown up" so I have more expensive materials and tools to play with, but the drive to be creative is the same as it's always been.

As to why I picked up quilting specifically....quilting is in my blood, both of my grandmothers were quilters and we all loved and treasured the quilts we were given. Now they have both passed on and nobody in the family but me has picked up quilting. I feel both obligated and privileged to carry on the tradition. And it's nice that my family has a quilting history, my quilts are VERY well received within the family, even my most amateurish beginner quilts have been treasured. That gives me warm fuzzies. :) I am hopeful that my niece and/or nephew might some day take it up too, that would be wonderful to see it continue in the family for another generation.

I think I inherited the love of quilt making. My grandmother, mother and 4 aunts made quilts.

I simply enjoy making things. I've dabbled in a multitude of crafts but sewing and crocheting are my favorites.

I have always been a sewer, my Mom taught me to sew on her old Singer- wish I had that one now. When my oldest son was born, there was a quilting group that met in a local church one morning a week, and they had free babysitting. I registered and learned to quilt from those ladies who still meet almost 30 years later. I tried other crafty things too, like tole painting, but quilting called me back. Now I do some quilting related activity every day, I am fortunate to have a new Bernina 750QEE, a Tin Lizzie long arm and my Aurora 440QEE, my beloved Bernina 830 Record and an enormous stash. Oh- and a husband that enables me too.

No quilters in my family and only one aunt sewed and didn't teach me. I took it in school. Got myself my first sewing machine in 1965 which I still have. Came into quilting when I retired 10 years ago and one of the sons said "now you can make me a quilt" what??? I don't quilt! Found a class and made him a quilt. I mainly quilt for my own enjoyment. I now have some vintage machines and enjoy the process - even the smell of the sewing machine oil. I do give away some quilts but mainly just satisfy the creative urge in myself.

I started sewing at 9 while in 4H and have enjoyed making things ever since. It was mostly clothes for me, then for my girls. Now my interests have expanded to make quilted things of all types as well as the occasional "mom will you make this?".. My time at the sewing machine is mental therapy/stress reliever and relatively cheap considering what they charge at a psychiatrist! My skills at quilting will never be at par with some of the wonderfully talented quilters I see here on the board....but...I do love seeing the face of a recipient when I give a quilt that is "exactly what I wanted".

To bring order and beauty into a chaotic world.

i started making my own doll clothes in elementary school. i've always liked making my own clothes, too, once i was old enough to use my mom's machine. i grew to love creating something that was unlike anyone else's. i grew to love quilts while staying at my great aunt's home in the summer. so merging the two loves was natural.

I have always had a reverence for quilts. My mother nor grandmother ever made quilts. I had a great aunt who pieced quilts all her life. She made me a double wedding ring quilt when I got married. I treasure it. I started quilting on my own and have taken classes at the LQS to learn. I am still learning and try to make several quilts each year. Last year I made 14. I am behind on that schedule this year. I have made a quilt for each of my three children, my mother, and mother-in-law, and need to make two more to have all the grandkids one. Quilting is a joy to me. I just love making things. I knit and crochet too.

Sanity.... It is wonderful therapy.....It's a chance to be creative...cuz i sure can't paint, write or sing....the ability to give gifts that are useful and not "store bought".....the chance to leave something of "me" behind besides memories when i'm gone.....It gives me joy and pleasure......hmmm....i think i could go on for a while, but will stop there.

Because I play with way more colors, shape, etc. than when I make clothing.

I have always loved to sew, I use to make all my clothes and for my daughter also. Now I just quilt. My grandmothers were the quilters in our family. It is a way to stay sane in this crazy world we live in. I make quilts for Project Linus. I love reading this thread.

I started sewing as a young wife and mother with more time than money. I have always gotten immense satisfaction from making something beautiful - be it sewn, knit, crocheted, embroidered or quilted. My mother, grandmother and great-grandmother sewed, knit and crocheted, but I'm the only quilter in our family. My daughter is so talented and has taught herself to sew and upholster. I, too, love the thought that some of my quilts will out-live me and bring memories of me to my family after I'm gone.

Sanity
 

I am blessed to be able to work from home; that being said we live out in the boonies and I need something to do in my free time. I learned to sew on a old treadle machine when I was 9. Always wanted to resume sewing but kids and work always took precedence. Hubby has always been on me to get a hobby, so I took up quilting!!!! He never says 2 words about my purchases and is very supportive of my fabric addiction. But, I do share with my sisters in laws (2 quilters) when they come over. Unfortunately we are all very different personalities so the "let's get together and quilt" won't ever happen!!!! I have always felt that I was born in the wrong era!!!!!!

I started doing needlework at a young age, 8 or 9 or so. Taught myself how to do it. My Mom sewed clothes, and I took sewing a couple of years in school but didn't like making clothes so I went back to needlework. Then I got into counted-cross stitch, which I still love to do. My friend who taught my counted cross-stitch wanted to learn how to quilt so I went along. I love working with colors and making happy quilts. It takes me a while to complete one because I am a slow sewer, although I have picked up my pace lately. My dream house would be on a lake with a quilt on every bed and one on every wall. Lap quilts on the chairs and sofa!

For me it has been a journey. I started with needlepoint, to painting, to scrapbooking, to quilting. It's a creative outlet. I love the creative process, feel of the fabric and the colors.

I think its out of my control - does that make sense? I went through years I sewed and then when my kids were little I sort of slowed way down. I find it wonderful therapy. My job is crazy.. a lot going on and some long days. But when I start working on my machine all of that work stuff goes away. Its like sewing purges all of that nasty work stress and thoughts out of my mind....and someday I hope to be blessed with a grandchild.... and I consider my work now practice.. learning more and more. So that if I am blessed with a grandchild I will be able to make a wonderful quilt for that little baby. Maybe they will have that quilt still even after I am gone

I learned to sew as a small child because my mama and granny sewed everything we wore. By my teens I made all my own clothes. I think it was necessity back then because fabric was cheap and we were poor. I always loved sewing of any kind. Sewed for my girls, then grand girls. Did alterations for many years as a paying job. Got into quilting when I ran out of other projects to do. It keeps me sane, lets me express my creativity, and I just love it...I give away all my quilts. I really need to go back and see if I can figure out how many...it's a LOT!!!

I liked to can my food for the same reason, you could look at it when done and feel accomplished through the year instead of cleaning and have to clean again the next day. I started sewing to save money, then because I just liked to sew, now I quilt for me and myself and I to enjoy it and get through the stresses of the day, etc.

It's my therapy!

Because I can! :)

I too had a Grandmother and mother who did not quilt but I got my inspiration from a Great Aunt. Wish she could have seen the time I won Best of Show in a major county fair.

I quilt because I enjoy it better than making clothes. I made my children clothes when they were young, and made some of mine too. But quilting satisfies the creative side of me... and I love to see how happy my family is when they get one from me.

Hummm, I guess because it's my way of being creative.

And I can make gifts one heck of a lot cheaper than buying them. And be useful gifts

One reason I sew some of my clothes is because I can get the colors I want, the designs I want and the fabrics I want. Guess I'm a bit picky.

Because when I finish a project, I feel like I've accomplished something. Sometimes I feel like it's the only thing I do well.

Cheaper than a psycharist !

I began sewing to save money on my kids clothes but now just love to sew or quilt now that I am retired have more time. Glad I learned how to sew in school it really is a great pastime and making gifts and things for the house. Sue

I quilt because doing so....makes me happy! ( since when did I start doing something just for the fun of it?). What a concept.

My mother sewed when I was a child, but she was far too busy to show me. Like others, I first learned on a treadle machine. I always sewed a little by hand, darning socks, sewing the seam on my little brother's flannel diapers. Lol! Gosh, that just came back to me. Cutting and sewing white flannel for diapers. Long ago. Necessity, as you said.

In my career, i worked with troubled people, and I often found that people who retired with few hobbies or interests in their lives often struggled with depression and anxiety afterward. With retirement looming, I went searching for things I enjoyed from the days when I HAD free time, and remembered that I once sewed and darned, and embroidered.

i took it up again and loved the peace of it. I can do it all day, and I don't know where the day has gone. I feel productive and content when I make quilts.

because i breath. i'm 55 and have been doing this crazy craft since i was seven. can't stop if i wanted to. it's in my blood now, and the air i breath

I like the creative process and being busy. Like others I used to scrapbook a lot, now have that outlet with quilting!!

I'm with the rest of you -- started with embroidery, made my own clothes, made my kids clothes, did counted cross stitch, ceramics, photography, and started quilting. It is the hobby that has lasted the longest. I guess it lets me be creative while still being practical. I'm teaching all my grandkids to sew now. When I sit by my machine my life becomes stress free!

I flunked home ec, got a c- in art class, and barely passed choir. I wasn't good at anything creative. No one in my family, aunts, uncles, even grandmother never ever did any crafty thing. It was rumored that my grandmother had a sewing machine, but if she did, I never saw it and I lived with her a lot until I was 9. Only my mom had some kind of talent. She was musical and could play accordion, piano and was a whiz on the organ. Unfortunately, neither my sister nor I inherited her talent. My college roommate taught me how to knit, I learned to crochet from a book, tried other crafts, but they always looked as if a 2 year old could have done better. Then one day I saw a Victorian crazy quilt on a decorating magazine cover. I was hooked, bought a book, fabric, a ruler, and scissors and proceeded to make the most awful quilt I've ever seen, but goodness, I was so proud of it. It graced our bed for many years (my sister still has hers--I don't blame her for not putting it on her bed, or if she did it was to keep warm and/or under the bedspread.)

Still hooked.

I have had a lifelong urge to create things...even as a child I was constantly fiddling with little creations from scraps and household items. I think my mother originally taught me the basics to just keep me out of her hair for a weekend, but the idea stuck and lingered through the rest of my schooling. I like playing with patterns and colors and angles; making quilts works both sides of my brain. Somewhere I have a folder of quilts I designed and drew out and colored through the years...projects just waiting to be made.

Now that I have the funds and time to pick up a hobby that requires regular supplies, I went back to the quilts. I can remember walking around and playing under quilts on the frame...and my great aunt quilted. When her health forced her to downsize, my family inherited several garbage bags of hand-quilted heirlooms; when a quilt would wear out, her family would make a new top, just a tad larger, and quilt it onto the old one, since most of them were made before people in rural areas had reliable heat and electricity. Some of the under-layers are beautiful, even if mostly shreds.

In short, I grew up appreciating the love and beauty of a homemade quilt, and want to make my own. I only wish I had been able to take classes in school; teaching myself from books only goes so far!

I make quilts and cross stitch to preserve my sanity.

I find it relaxing.

I also started to sew to save money making clothes for myself and my children. That is not the case anymore they would not wear anything I would sew for them like clothes. I sew entirely for my enjoyment and a need to express myself.

For me it is a creative outlet. I've gone through phases of crochet, needlepoint, cross stitch, quilting, scrapbooking, and back to quilting. I enjoy making things and find quilting to be fun, relaxing, and a way to feel like I'm accomplishing something.

Exactly! Also, as I remember reading somewhere, I quilt so I don't kill people! :) Stress reduction at its best.