Pam

My mom is my quilting mentor. We started quilting around the same time, but she definately gets more done than I do and her quilts are stunning.

sweet

That is beautiful!


...and everyone here is my mentor!

trif

Ok so I have sewed little things over my years, more like fixed, hemmed and patched holes. I'm a Nurse and while at work one day one of my co-workers said she wanted to take a class at a LQS but wished she had someone to take it with and could I sew. Well seeing how I could patch a hole in a pair of little boys pants, I said I would go. We had a great time once a month making new small projects, bags, wall hangings, placemats, and then it happened........we went to Road to California!!! I was totally hooked, I wanted to make everything, my bags were heavy, my feet hurt, and my friend who taught me how to quilt was right there with me just as happy!!! We still quilt 4 yrs later at least once a week. Good times :)

mimee4

My step-mother. Although she wasn't the nicest person to me, she did give me and interest in quilting and eventually I joined the group of ladies at the church to learn to handquilt.

HeatherQuilts

Hmmm... I don't really have a quilting mentor. My best friend quilts a little, and she made my oldest a quilt when he was born. She definitely didn't make a "traditional" quilt. It was very bright and colorful, and I LOVE it! Up to that point, I hadn't paid a lot of attention to quilts, because I didn't like most of the colors in the few that I saw. When I saw that they could be different, I said, well, heck, if she can do it, so can I!! I started small, a table runner was the first thing I made, out of a beginning quilting book. I have been hooked ever since! I have taken 2 classes, but I am mostly self-taught. Now that I found this board, you all are my mentors! I love this board, and I love getting feedback/help/suggestions with my projects. You gals (and guys!) are awesome!
My grandma was a crafty lady, she knitted/crocheted and did needlepoint, so I guess I originally caught the creative "bug" from her!

quiltsRfun

Don't know if it would be considered a mentor but Georgia Bonesteel sparked my interest in quilting years ago with her Lapquilting TV series. That's what really got me going with my quilting. I think part of it was that she "broke the rules" by quilting in small pieces rather than the whole quilt. I haven't done much of that but it showed me that it's OK to do it your way.

jljack

My BFF taught me to quilt. When she and her DH and me and my DH were still getting to know each other, we went on a camping trip to the CA coast. While there we visited a quilt shop in Cambria, and when we walked in, my jaw dropped!! As I looked around in amazement, I said, "Annie, you know how to do this?" She laughed and said she did. I said (still mouth hanging!) "Will you teach me?" She said she would. I picked out a FQ bundle of beautiful teal fabrics, and a couple of weeks later we found a pattern and she started teaching me. She is a member of this board, Azam, and an excellent quilter. She is very meticulous, and I learned a lot from her. Although I am not as meticulous as she is, and I have modified her ways to suit my ways, we both admire each other's work, and I have her to thank for teaching and guiding me. Since then we have taught quilting together at our church, and had a blast doing it. She and I have both taught our grandaughters to sew and quilt, and I feel very thankful to have had that opportunity. And, believe it or not, I actually taught my 84 year old mother to quilt. And she loves it!!! AND my DH is now a quilter...and I taught him, too!! :-)

Quilt4u

I realy do not have one unless I say it was my Mom Who taught me to sew. But she never quilted. She made us girls all our dresses when we were little.

tmg

I don't have a mentor. No one in my family sews. I have learned from books. I wish I did have a mentor though.

Judie

My grandma (who we called "MOM") was a woman who firmly believed that busy hands were happy hands, and no one should spend any time at all doing something that was not in some way productive. She didn't 'waste time' and never allowed me to even sit down without something to do. I can remember thinking she was a tyrant!

Since she lived in the low desert we got up before dawn, did our cooking and heavy cleaning, then took our baths and got ready for the day. By that time the sun was up and it was already hot. There was no such thing as A/C in homes then, and she didn't own a fan. There was no TV, or any of the electronic gadgets we have today. So to pass the time she taught me all types of handwork.. knitting, crocheting, tating, hand embroidery, needlepoint and QUILTING!

There was not one piece of fabric used in a home or worn on a body that was not emblished in some way. Every kitchen and bathroom towel was edged with lace and embroidered.. every chair and table was covered with dollies, needle pointed cushions or embroidered cloths of some kind. Her beds had hand stitched quilts and those were covered with hand made lace bedspreads.

I didn't really like working on some of those things, I just wanted to play... but as I grew up those lessons have done more for my life than nearly anything else I can think of. I am happiest with a project in my hands.

I think I am healthier, and happier than most people. Learning to do these things well taught me to work hard, do every job well, work until it's done, and to do what I needed to do whether I wanted to or not. On top of those life lessons, I haven't been bored in years!

I wish she were still here to see how much those 'lessons in the desert' have meant in my life! Her lessons have now been passed to another generation, and I'm hoping to be able to teach my granddaughter as well! Thanks Mom.