SouthPStitches

My Mom and Aunt knitted. My Gram crocheted. My Mom sewed the majority of my school clothes. Home Ed was mandatory - cooking in 7th grade, sewing in 8th grade. Absolutely despised sewing but put the hatred behind me so that I had more clothing. Always dabbled in some form of needlework or textiles - macrame, candlewicking, cross stitchery, crewel, needlepoint, crocheting and knitting. After college and marriage, I took an adult enrichment class of basic quilting. It was taught by a very lovely southern lady and it was indeed basic. She showed us how to make our own cereal box cardboard templates, transferring the pieces onto the back of the fabric, using pencils to trace with and cutting out a gazillion pieces with scissors. This was before rotary cutters and mats. I loved the look and dimension that quilting had. Also loved that I had a domestic skill that none of the ladies in my family had. My first quilt was a trip around the world in red white and blue - queen size and every single stitch was done by hand. After that, I didn't do a smidgeon of quilting for ten years. We moved, my new neighbor saw the quilt on my bed and told me that it was a shame to have the ability to make a quilt and not continuing to do so. That was 33 years ago and I'm still at it and can still hear Mary's voice.

wifeofblacksmith

My grandma had two treadle machine and during the summers, she and my mom would sew all my school clothes for the upcoming year. My mom sewed all my clothes until 9th grade when I bought my first pair of jeans. She could sew anything, from prom dresses to suits. She got into sewing stuffed animals but she was never interested in quilting. My grandma made a quilt top for each of her grandkids, a simple 9 patch, and my Great-Aunt quilted them by hand. I made my first quilt the summer between my junior and senior year in high school. I made quilts for my kids, and when they went off to college I made a quilt for them to take with them. All of them have been tied. I am planning to teach myself free motion quilting. Wish me luck!!

canmitch1971

I took home economics from grade 9 on but I did not take up sewing until 2003. I love quilting.

SusieQOH

I never took Home Ec in school. Not sure why but it was a Catholic school. And nobody in my family sewed much.My aunts made curtains and my Mom loved to cook and bake. My Gram had a beautiful Singer but I never saw her use it. I learned to sew when my oldest was a baby. I really liked it. I loved making things for my 3 little ones- shorts, pj's, toys etc but not too much in the way of clothing. Not wild about making clothes.
In 1986 my friend asked me if I would go with her to an intro Quilting class and I did. That was her one and only quilt and I went crazy with it! We still laugh about it.
The funny thing about it is her quilt came out much better than mine. But she just didn't click with it the way I did.
We learned by hand and with templates. Glad I learned but never use those methods now!

My Mom was also a good knitter but not a teacher. The lady I babysat for taught me how to knit lol

seazteddy

My aunt was a professional seamstress,. she would be so proud of me. I figured I can sew a straight line so I can quilt and so here I am 20 years and large stash later.

Clmay

I was raised by my grandmother. I wasn't even tall enough to reach the pedal of the sewing machine. She would run the pedal and I the sewing machine. We made clothes for me. Fast forward, I divorced and had 2 children. I was board and wanted a new hobby. Mind you I also do ceramics. I then had my old sewing machine and sat down at it, remembering what my grandmother had taught me. I soon started to quilt. I am a self learner. I watch videos and read all kind of quilting books.
I have been quilting for about 30 years now.

Jordan

I have sewed ever since I can remember. I used to sew by hand doll clothes and then joined 4-H and learned a lot. Then after having 3 children I sewed clothing for them as money was tight and my neighbors always gave me their extra fabrics. Moving on to when I had more time and kiddos were much older my friend and I signed up for a 6 week beginning quilting class and the rest is history. My grandmother was a professional sewer and did a lot of alterations for people in her town so I guess I got her gene for the love of sewing and quilting. I find it very relaxing.

Thrifty Magpie

I remember that there were some lovely old quilts around our home when I was a little girl and my mother was a magnificent seamstress who made a lot of special occasion dresses for my sisters and I as well as the most exquisite Barbie clothes. I started sewing as a girl, making doll clothes and learned how to use a sewing machine in home ec, starting in 7th grade. By high school I was making myself clothes, even tailoring a coat then making a wedding dress for my soon to be sister-in-law. I continued my sewing, making curtains and household items and clothes for my little ones. Some time in the ’80s my mother started quilt making, but she did the cardboard template and hand-piecing methods that were too slow for me. Enter Eleanor Burns, Georgia Bonesteel, et. al and I caught the quilting bug, too. My first quilt was a log cabin QIAD that took more than a day...it was a gift for a retiring pastor. No doubt I would be horrified to see it now. One day I stumbled into Harriet Hargrave’s quilt shop and learned how beautiful machine quilting could be. I took her quilting class, she hired me to make some store samples, then to work in the shop. Harriet is a firm believer in having employees who are knowledgeable and she taught me how to make high quality quilts, for which I am very grateful! There’s more to the story, but this is long enough! I have really enjoyed reading everyone’s stories.

lolagrace

I tell my mom it's all her fault. She suggested "us girls" should make a quilt for our new little niece, the daughter of my youngest sister. The other 2 older sisters offered to send me fabric but that was it. I decided to do the sunbonnet sue pattern and had so much fun picking fabrics and doing the applique I've been hooked since, that was in the year 2000. When I tease my mom about this "disease" I've acquired she just chuckles & says how was she to know I'd take to it like I did. She just should have known, after all her mom liked pretty fabrics too. We both just laugh.

ckcowl

I made my first quilt when my daughter was 2 (1978) without knowing what I was doing at all. I drew on muslin squares the alphabet and pictures to depict each letter, hand embroidered them then sewed them together with some ( horrible polyester blend blue fabric- because it’s what I had) she Loved that quilt. I sewed everything- made my own clothes, my children’s clothes, made toys, made an occasional quilt when someone was having a baby. Years went by.
I had a friend who had been quilting for years who kept telling me....you should do this....I would go to the library, pull out a quilting book, browse through it, see something that appealed to me- look at the instructions which would start with something like ( cut 800 2” squares) I would put that book back and next time I saw her would say....not in this lifetime
then one day I was on the internet, and happened to land on this quilt shop in Arizona that had a picture of the most beautiful quilt I’d ever seen- I clicked on it and it was something called a BOM. I read about that- thought, now that I could do...and signed up- first block came, I put it together- it was Beautiful- I was excited. I took it to my friend and showed her- she just smiled- said, I told you . Waiting a month for another block was torture. I found a little local quilt shop, visited, signed up for a class- then went crazy
it took me over 10 years to finish that first BOM- boy, I loved the fabrics in that quilt.