wildyard

Making quilts has been my salvation and given me a reason to go on after becoming disabled and then getting fibromyalgia. Living with pain 24/7 can really weigh you down and make you wonder what there is to live for knowing this is going to be lifelong.
I make comfort quilts for those who are sick, in the military, etc. and knowing that I am able to bring some joy to others makes each day worth facing. I have learned to take joy and contentment in all the little steps of quilt making, and I know I am helping myself as well as the recipients of my quilts.

Beachbaby12

I enjoy making quilts and seeing all the patchwork of colors coming together. I also find quilting challenging when trying new techniques I've never done before. It takes me longer to do a new technique, but then the second time around, it gets easier, builds confidence and a sense of accomplishment! I made my first grand baby a disappearing nine patch quilt with 1930's reproduction fabric and when I finished it, I felt more confident. I didn't follow a pattern, just did my own thing. I also feel my grand baby's quilt is an heirloom. In general, sometimes I tend to over analyze things and it can make me overthink things even with quilting.

charlottemarie

You girls (or guys) are great. I can be so down I can't see daylight. I go sit in my sewing room and just look around or touch my fabric and life never fails to brighten up for me.

cathyvv

Since I retired, I am the boss of me. Therefore, I only do what I want to do. When I quilt, it's because I want to and I like to. I have learned to take breaks from it now and then, though, to keep it fresh. Otherwise, quilting starts to feel like a job.

What I wrote sounds sort of selfish, but it isn't. There are things that I do that I'm not crazy about doing, but I am either crazy about the people I am doing them for or recognize a need, so I want to do them.

Sleepy Hollow

I learned to quilt for one reason-- I have a quilt top that my great-grandfather made. So, I needed to learn to hand quilt in order to finish it. After a job/career change three years ago, I finally had more time to pursue new hobbies (there is a ton of downtime during my work shifts). I started with crochet (I wanted to learn to make a grannie square). Then I posted on Facebook that I was looking for a quilt group, and did anyone know of one. I was told there was one that met at the Senior Center every week, so I made a phone call and was told they were a "bit wild", but they would welcome me, and I did not need to be a senior. So, I showed up one day, and they started teaching me. A week later I was hand piecing and quilting a baby quilt for practice.

What I didn't know is how much I would love it! I go in phases. Sometimes I'm not motivated to pull out everything for the night. Other times I just want to "do nothing". Sometimes I finish one project and don't want to quite start another, so I don't.

So, I bake, or I cook, or I watch a movie and do nothing.

A few weeks ago I was finally able to nail my mom down and have her teach me how to knit socks. I don't really feel the need to knit anything else, just lots and lots of socks. Maybe someday that will change, maybe not.

For me, it's a mix. I had a fear of "missing my tools" (I had worked as a maintenance electrician before, and here I'm not allowed to use tools unless it's to open a valve.) I knew I was being presented with 20 years of downtime at work before retiring, and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to use that to be productive doing things I want to do. So, I've picked up those hobbies.

The only one I'm still not doing, for now, is wood working. There is a carpenter shop at work where I could use the saws, rotor, etc, if I wanted, but there is a lot more risk for getting hurt, and that would be hard to explain. So, that one will wait until I retire and set up my own shop.

I can machine quilt, hand quilt, crotchet, knit, bake, cook, and watch movies, all while at work. Depending on the duties of the day/night, and what mood I am in, I'll work on one of those projects. Sometimes it's for a need (I'm hungry, I need to repair a pair of pj pants, I need to make a gift), other times it's solely for the joy of making something and being creative (for short bursts of creativity, I love the postcard swap!)

It's made taking a pay cut and leaving behind a job I truly enjoyed (but had to escape because of my boss) much, much easier. I have the best job ever now, and it's the best because it lets me do my hobbies while I'm at work. It's definitely been good for the spirit.

Snooze2978

I love making quilts from the start of deciding which pattern to which fabrics, preparing the fabrics for cutting all the way up to quilting it. I get a reprieve in the Spring as that's when I need to go outside and tend to my gardens whether flower or veggie. Then in the Fall when things wrap up outside I get back inside and get down to business with sewing again. And yes, I do get time daily most times to sew and/or quilt a little each day so its not all sewing/quilting with nothing in between. As I've been trying to get caught up with my quilting, I haven't had as much time to sew but just went to a quilt retreat this past week so got to sew continuously for 4 days. I'm usually working on 2-3 projects at a time so I don't get bored with the same thing day in and day out too.

bearisgray

My Mom made the comment that she "finally learned to 'sit losse'" when she was in her 80s.

She had been brought up to be busy busy busy -but she finally learned that it was okay to just sit and 'be'

Rose_P

I make things, including quilts, for the rewarding feeling of accomplishment when something is completed and not too shabby. Like you, over the years I've tried a number of different things. Just in the last few years I've finally begun to narrow down my focus to two main hobbies, quilting and making scale miniatures (which I do only occasionally.

For years I hoarded a stash of counted cross stitch supplies and patterns until one day it hit me that I really did not enjoy doing that at all. I finished only a few things that were worth doing, such as a little framed design commemorating my brother's wedding in 1988. I remember that it gave me something fairly mindless to occupy my hands while I sat around in a hospital quite a bit with my DH who was recovering from a post-op infection after his appendectomy. That was two full years after the wedding I was commemorating, but at least it did finally get done and still hangs on the wall at my brother and SIL's house.

I enjoy baking, and continue to do it even though I'm not supposed to eat those kinds of things. Family and friends always seem to welcome them, but they're no sooner created than consumed. Quilts stay around a bit longer!

In 1974 I made one macrame project and found it to be an absolute ordeal, so those supplies were abandoned early on. Unlike many hobbies, at least that one was cheap.

I made quite a few knitted items over a period of 40 years, some of them okay, but I really never became a good knitter and didn't enjoy that much. So finally a year or so ago I donated a lot of yarn and some knitting needles, etc. (But I kept a few, just in case I want to make a hat or some other small project.)

I like to do thread crochet, and once in a great while I go back to that, but I know it will never again be a dominant force in my life. It's something I used to do in the evenings while watching TV, which I don't do regularly these days. Truthfully, as a gift, a doily or crocheted Christmas ornament or the like is just not generally received with an outburst of joy, and I don't have the patience for much bigger projects. Also, for the last 20 years I have spent much more time at the computer than the TV, and on the computer my hands are occupied with clicking and typing. Crochet fell by the wayside, I suppose because it's not something that's done in a dedicated part of the house away from distractions.

Just looking at my quilting room gives me a feeling of creative purpose that helps to define my days. Sometimes I hit unpleasant snags that result in disappointments or time spent kicking myself while I pull out stitches, but for the most part it's a pleasant way to spend time.

At the end of the day I have something to show for my efforts. Also, there's the wonderful feeling when you give a quilt to someone you care about that they have this item that speaks to them every time they use it about Mom, Grandma, Sis, MIL or Aunt Rose or their friend who cared enough about them to to make this just for them. At least, I have to hope they look upon my humble efforts in that way.

Thanks for posting this question. I enjoy reading about everyone's thoughts on their hobby/hobbies.

Countryneedle

I began quilting while still in college and then let it go for many years when life got in the way(kids, jobs, etc.)And then again when my second husband said he would like to have a double wedding ring quilt and was amazed at the prices for a hand quilted quilt. It took 15 years to actually get it completed, again life just got in the way. Then it became a way for me keep going when I was going through chemo(breast cancer) I could still feel like I was doing something while I was off work and I had accumulated quite a stash by then, from my grandmother, my step mother, my girlfriend's grandmother, yada yada yada! I've always stayed busy with some kind of needlework, knitting, crocheting, counted cross stitch; but found returning to sewing was my first love; I have the quilt my great-grandmother made before she married in 1881 and the comforter my grandmother made in the 50's.

sprice

I'm very tactile--get joy from even petting my animals. And I love the fabric color and the challenge of making something pleasing to the eye. I read recently that people aren't taking up hobbies because they don't think they are good enough at it. That's pretty sad. Quilting makes me happy. That works for me.