Coco47

I used cereal boxes for templates and one of the first quilts I ever made had 1,500 pieces and I pieced it by hand and quilted it by hand. I still have it and it will go to my son because he remembers me sitting and quilting it with a broken wrist. Those were the days. At the time, that was the way it was done and didn't think twice about doing it.

Onebyone

I still use poly blends if I like the color. I like the content to be higher cotton then poly but they are getting rare to find and certainly not in a quilt shop. Polished poly fabrics look like silk and wear like iron.

shasta5718

My Mom used templates she made from sandpaper, they didn't slide when tracing. Worked great for her.

dorismae904

When I first cut out pieces, I used typewriter paper and pinned it on the fabric which was from my husbands dress shirts. The pattern was the Rhode Island star from a book with a pattern for evert state. I still have those blocks since I only had 11of them and could not figure a way to set them. Can not imagine cutting pieces like that now. Does anyone know who invented the rotary cutter?

Emma S

I started quilting with the pencil, cardboard and scissor method. Still fun but very, very time intensive. Recently I started a free form maple leaf quilt with all kinds of strange shapes. I cut the templates out but then use my ruler and rotary cutter to cut with. Amazing how fast it goes! Using this method I can cut out enough for ten blocks just using 2" and 3.5" strips.

rosiewell

that's what we did, we cut templates adding 1/4 seam then we drew lines onto the fabric and cut that with scissors and then hand stitched, it came out perfect but it was tedious, that's when I started applique, just as slow but I could see instant results.

Rhonda Lee

Scissors and cardboard and blisters. The love of creation has been the same. It was slower then than it is now, and more social. I think there is more pressure to finish quilts faster in this age of quilting. Also the quilting is more artsy. Then it was hold it together with pretty stitches. Now it's pretty stitches holding it together. Much easier quilting now though.

crafty pat

I was usually so tired after all the cutting out back then I didn't start the other steps for several days. Now I can cut and get started the same day. How very lucky we are today to have so many toy's that help make out hobby so easy.

linda faye

I have always been in awe about our fore-mothers of past eras and the beautiful quilts that they made with oh so limited tools! The patience and talent are remarkable.

Can you imagine their reactions and response to all the conveniences we have today?

Having said that....please don't take my rotary cutter, mat, rulers and templates away from me!

sewbizgirl

I have always loved cutting with scissors. I was a dressmaker and costume maker before getting into quilting, so using scissors is just second nature. I do love my rulers and cutters, but still occasionally trim small blocks with eyeball and scissors. Sometimes it's just quicker and more convenient than laying the thing down, lining up the ruler, and cutting with the rotary.