mrs. fitz

I had my own apartment in New York City for ten years and started making a lot of my own clothes to save money. I'd always loved looking at pictures of quilts but thought I'd never want to cut all those pieces! Fast forward several years --- my husband and I were going to Vermont. Somehow I heard of Hearthside Quilts, an excellent company that sold a huge variety of quilt kits with all the pieces pre-cut. We stopped by, picked out a queen-size Trip Around the World in colors we'd never choose now, went next door to Burger King for a quick lunch, came back and the entire kit was cut and packaged. My second quilt was from them too, and then I started learning and THEN it became an addiction. You'll all understand. My thanks to my husband Jack who encourages me and has always shown an interest, even attending quilt shows and sometimes helping me choose fabrics.

Missi

I watched my mom sew while growing up so at 8 I started to sew in 4-H. My first project was a knit t-shirt that I still have. My mom always loved quilts and would buy quilt books and patterns, but was never sure how to do it. About 10 years ago she made a rag quilt as a baby present. She helped me make some for presents that same year and since then I have never looked back. I took all of her books and read and read and read and taught myself. My mom now jokes and calls me the quilt expert :)

isewman

I started out with trying to make a shirt, with a hood..I think it was a stye, back then, but cant remember for sure.. Then I eventually made some 12"squares, and sewed them together..Never had any ideal what backing or batting was. Eventually I started taking scraps, and sewing them together. Made a bunch of them, and we used them for chair/couch covers.. Then I joined the quilt guild, 20 year's ago, and been hooked forever... Don

isewman

sorry, the word is style, not stye,,

Alaskan lady

I remember going to my Grandma's(about a block from our house) and she would have up the large quilting frame in the dining room. She and several lady friends would be sitting around the frame and quilting away and visiting. My Mom was also an incredible seamstress. She and grandma also made most of our dresses(5 girls in our family). I was sewing buttons, making my dolls clothes and blankets when I was 7 or 8. Made most of my clothes in HS and had my first full quilt completed when I was 19 and I did all the quilting by hand(I couldn't tell you how many times I wanted to take the thimble and toss it across the room and then I would get this image of my Grandma telling me you can do it, try again). Low and behold I finally got the rythm of rocking the needle back and forth with the thimble so I wasn't tearing up my fingers. I've been quilting ever since. I also do crocheting, cross stitch, embroidery, needlepoint, made my girls their own cabbage patch dolls from scratch and they each have a lg. quilt all hand quilted. I've done quilts for fund raisers(one raised $2,800.00) I love fabric!

kd124

I have sewn since I was a small girl and did 4-H for many years. I started making cheater/panel quilts that were pillow cased and tied. About 8 years ago I started watching a quilting show and got more and more interested. Finally when niece got married I made my first pieced quilt. A couple of years later, my nephew married and I made my second. Then a few years ago came retirement; I moved down to where my sis lives. Now we quilt together like crazy!!

Bevanger

For yrs I sewed..... Mainly clothes for my son when he was young then for me..I often wondered what it would be like to make a blanket for my family, but shied away from it, til one day I was flipping channels and saw a lady sewing... Hrmmmmmmmmm That looks easy, Hey I do That, Wow! that looks fun..... I WAS HOOKED....... I watch Eleanor Burns (Quilt in a day) EVERY SAT now...... Was looking for beginner patterns online, found this forum and now I'm totally in 7th heaven..... :D

quiltmaker101

I received a sewing machine for Christmas when I was 12. It was absolutely the last thing I wanted, but my mom, aunt and grandmother all sewed, so it was my turn to learn.

I did the required Home Ec sewing class but never really liked making things til I was pregnant with my son and I hated the store bought maternity clothes. I made the nursery set also, and clothes for both my kids til they were about 4. One day the kids and I wandered into a shop called Piecemakers to see what it was. It was a quilt shop and I could not believe how much $$ they wanted for the consigned quilts. I loved how all the different fabrics got put together, but being a busy working mom, I didn't even consider taking up a hobby. It must have been a seed planted though because in 2003 I saw a quilt book and I knew I just had to make the one on the cover. A nurse I worked with wanted to learn to quilt also, so we signed up for a local beginners class, and I have been addicted ever since!

By the way, my mom, aunt and grandmother had all quit sewing when I started making quilts! I got my aunt started making quilts and now she is addicted too.

mamatobugboo

Isn't it so wonderful to hear all the stories of sewing being passed down through the generations?!
My mom and grandmother made clothes when I was younger - I would help my mom cut out the patterns and stuff. I dabbled in making clothes but just never liked it, probably because I wasn't any good at it!! When I was pregnant with my DD (she's 8 now), my grandmother and great aunt died within a few weeks of each other and I inherited a quilt from my aunt and I loved it, no one knows who made it - I'll have to take a picture of it and share with y'all. Anyway, just a few weeks after I got the quilt from Aunt Esther, my DH's cousin offered to make a quilt for my DD - and I went with her to the quilt store a few miles from my house to pick out the pattern and the fabrics - and I was in awe of what I saw hung up and the fabrics that were there. After that she made one for my son. A few years later (and after a few eye candy visits to the quilt store) my good friend and I signed up for a quilting class and now...well, I can't get enough of it! Been at it for 4 or 5 years and can't imagine EVER stopping!

Quilter101

Well, how I got into quilting is sort of strange....
My family gets huge boxes of books, we own a book business, and there was a quilting book there and I started looking through and I was hooked. I started making a quilt, with no info whatsoever :roll:
So, there you are. My lengthy explanation.