A new quilter!
03-09-2026, 11:21 PM
#1
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2026
Posts: 2
A new quilter!
Hello! I’m Daniel, a 20 year old who started quilting two years ago. I’m a physics student from Chicago with very little free time, but I’ve managed to complete 2 quilts thus far! Pictures and info are below. I’m very interested in improving both my piecing technique and quilt design skills, but to be honest, I'm a little less interested in the actual quilting part. I’m more interested in making “modern” quilts, but still find traditional quilts to be absolutely beautiful.
Unfortunately, my grandmother, an avid quilter, passed before I started sewing, which means I’ve never really had the opportunity to talk to anyone about quilting, as no one else in my life quilts. I hope that this community can provide that for me and also answer questions I will surely have.
Despite being relatively new to this whole quilting thing, I find myself quite certain that it is something I will carry through my whole life to come. For reasons beyond my ken, it seems that I am simply drawn to do this. So I shall!
I have attached images of the two quilts I have made and the design of the third, which I am still drawing up.
#1 A simple mountain design very similar to countless others that can be found on the internet. I had a lot of fun making it, and think its simplicity made it a good first quilt. I do think I should have made it bigger, though.
#2 A resplendent quetzal, my brother’s favorite bird (this was a gift to him). I learned how to paper piece and so made this! It was a bit over ambitious, which, combined with time crunch, led to sloppy execution. My many design mistakes here also taught me some important lessons
#3 Art Deco! A design I drew up this last week that I am pretty happy with. I may make a post soon asking about the best way to block it out and quilt it. It will probably take quite a while to actually get it sewn.
Unfortunately, my grandmother, an avid quilter, passed before I started sewing, which means I’ve never really had the opportunity to talk to anyone about quilting, as no one else in my life quilts. I hope that this community can provide that for me and also answer questions I will surely have.
Despite being relatively new to this whole quilting thing, I find myself quite certain that it is something I will carry through my whole life to come. For reasons beyond my ken, it seems that I am simply drawn to do this. So I shall!
I have attached images of the two quilts I have made and the design of the third, which I am still drawing up.
#1 A simple mountain design very similar to countless others that can be found on the internet. I had a lot of fun making it, and think its simplicity made it a good first quilt. I do think I should have made it bigger, though.
#2 A resplendent quetzal, my brother’s favorite bird (this was a gift to him). I learned how to paper piece and so made this! It was a bit over ambitious, which, combined with time crunch, led to sloppy execution. My many design mistakes here also taught me some important lessons
#3 Art Deco! A design I drew up this last week that I am pretty happy with. I may make a post soon asking about the best way to block it out and quilt it. It will probably take quite a while to actually get it sewn.
03-10-2026, 02:38 AM
#3
Super Member
Join Date: Aug 2018
Location: Peoria, IL -- Midwest Transplant
Posts: 7,260
Hello Daniel! Is so nice to have you hear with us. How wonderful what you are doing and that you already have a style and direction to go in.
I started quilted quite early, I made my first quilt as a senior in high school to have for when I left home and was in the dorms. I've been quilting ever since (including in the dorms) and now somehow it is almost 50 years later...
Please feel free to chat with us and share your work. We understand the need to cut up perfectly good cloth and then the wonders that can be done. Or the agonies of defeat that happen sometimes too.
I started quilted quite early, I made my first quilt as a senior in high school to have for when I left home and was in the dorms. I've been quilting ever since (including in the dorms) and now somehow it is almost 50 years later...
Please feel free to chat with us and share your work. We understand the need to cut up perfectly good cloth and then the wonders that can be done. Or the agonies of defeat that happen sometimes too.
03-10-2026, 04:05 AM
#4
Super Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Delaware
Posts: 1,620
Daniel, sending you a warm welcome from Delaware. Happy to have you join us here. Many of us, myself included, have been quilting for years and have a lot of experience with things not always going the direction we planned. Just like life, quilting can take us in unexpected directions. There is so much more information available online then when I began my quilt journey. And I'm most self taught. Love what you have done so far and look forward to seeing where your quilting journey takes you next.
03-10-2026, 09:31 AM
#8
Super Member
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Northern KY
Posts: 2,041
Welcome Daniel. We are so happy when young people take up the craft. I can't wait to see how your Art Deco turns out. I have been toying with the idea of a Deco quilt for a while and perhaps you'll inspire me to actually design one.
03-10-2026, 04:04 PM
#9
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2020
Posts: 457
Welcome! So glad you've found this wonderful art called Quilting - there are as many styles as there are colours in the rainbow, and you will find the one(s) that you are drawn to. There is this group, which is a wonderful resource. There are also many groups on social media, there are local quilt guilds where you can meet 1:1 with like minded folks, and often, you will discover a fellow quilter in the strangest places too...
Enjoy and continue to explore and to share with us too!
Enjoy and continue to explore and to share with us too!
