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I spend way to much on quilting but it is what I love to do.
My family dosnt know what goes into quilting and my daughter keeps throwing some woman she knows who is an art quilter at me. The stores carry slave labor quilts that are cheap to buy. It is discouraging but it is what I want to do and the pleasure you get from it is priceless. Reading is my other love and it is much cheaper. So between the two Im happy and satisfied. Just bought two kits to try out so off to the sewing room. |
Here's a perspective from a brand new quilter.
I do it because I believe it's a dying art. There aren't many people that I know in real life who quilt. The women in my quilter's guild are all easily 20+ years older than I am (I'm in my early 30s). I started because I wanted a baby clothes quilt made from my daughter's infant clothes, but didn't find anyone that I really trusted (this was before I found my guild). So I decided to learn how to do it myself...and I found that I really, really enjoy doing it. And the best part? My 3 year old LOVES to help me quilt. She will hand me pins, or put pins in the "tomato". She loves going to the fabric store with me and picking out fabric. So for me, what started as me trying to do something I couldn't find anyone else to do turned into something that I LOVE to do...and something that my daughter LOVES to do with me. I'm hoping that her love of quilting continues as she gets older. BTW...I still haven't gotten up the courage to cut up her clothes... |
Originally Posted by Lisa_wanna_b_quilter
(Post 5544742)
I have no job. I'm too lazy to clean. I hate yard work. Day time television is awful. I can only kill an hour a day at the gym.
Seriously, I sew because it is fun. I make a quilt and throw it on the pile. If someone wants one, OK. If not, the pile isn't hurting anything. |
Well, there you go! All of the above, except for the hour at the gym! I sew, knit, paint, scrapbook, or whatever because I love it. I spent all afternoon yesterday cleaning a sewing machine. I enjoyed it! Most people would hate it, but it was my grandmother's machine, and as I took it apart, cleaned the pieces and put it back together, I felt that she was with me for a while! I suppose we really do have reasons for the things we do!
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WOW! I am not alone, all of the above.
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Originally Posted by quiltingcandy
(Post 5544768)
It does keep me sane at times. Besides when I am finished I feel so accomplished.
But this past weekend this fellow I met for the first time was happy to find out I was a quilter and he asked me why quilts are no light weight now. My belief was because women that could not afford batting used what they could, one thing being old wool blankets. Especially when men came home from the service they brought these very scratchy wool blankets home. They were very warm but very scratchy, so women covered them and they became quilts. My mother did it with my father's blanket. I could be very wrong, but he was fairly sure that's what his mother did. They were also fairly inexpensive at the surplus store and often found at the second hand shops. So he wants one now because they pitched all the ones his mother had after she died. I told him to go buy the wool blanket and I would be able to do the rest. Was I wrong asking him to buy the wool blanket first? i felt this was the best way to find out if he was really serious. There is a surplus store near him that he can go to to get the blankets. I just had a feeling in my gut that if I went to buy them they would be the wrong size or not heavy enough or something. This way if he really wants one, he will be able to see before its made how heavy it will be. |
I want to be able to leave at least one quilt to each member of my family when I am gone. At the rate I am going though, they may end up with two or even three.
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Why? Well it is something I always wanted to do. As a child it looked like magic to me. It keeps me sane too. I just love creating. For the most part it is fun, except the "unsewing" part. I love making them with someone specific in mind, and then I love trying out new patterns and qulit kits...
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I'm always surprised when someone says they make quilts because they couldn't afford a ""store- bought" gift!! I'm making a quilt for a retirement gift that right now has about $500 worth of just supplies - hasn't even been quilted yet. Not only is that a lot of money, but I would never, never, never BUY a $500 retirement gift! I do this because I love it!
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I believe that since the quilt was a gift, not sold and for a group, I think you could have had the original VW logo in there. Just don't sell it. Though I have been wrong once or twice in my life..smile....
Originally Posted by Prissnboot
(Post 5544719)
Why do we do what we do? Why do we spend so much more money and time making something for someone, rather than going to the nearest retailer and plopping down $20 on a trinket instead?
I personally have two reasons: 1. My mother told me some horror stories of shopping the day after Thanksgiving, one of which involved a hurried shopper pushing a wheelchair-bound customer into a wall to get them out of their way, all in the name of obtaining the best sale items. I decided then and there that if a gift wasn't handmade by me, it wasn't getting given. There have been times when people got a bag of homemade chocolate chip cookies from me, but they were made with love. One Christmas morning, the cookies were even warm...and who doesn't like warm fresh chocolate chip cookies? I guarantee they won't end up in the Goodwill bin... 2. The second reason is that when I make something for someone, I put a lot of myself into it. I have a couple of quilt tops made and stored, things that I made to try a new pattern and now what do I do with it, that kind of stuff. But I don't have finished quilts "in stock" for a random person (does anyone else have Justin Case in their closet?). I like to personalize the item, and while I am making it, I think of things that will appeal to the recipient and incorporate them into the quilt. For example, I recently made a quilt for a Volkswagen Club, the members of which are mostly classic Beetle owners. I quilted a likeness of the VW logo in the center (not identical tho - no copyright issues), along with a script of Ferdinand Porsche, the man who engineered the Beetle. Also included was 1945 (the year it was first marketed), "flower power", the words "rear mounted" and "air cooled" which pertain to the Beetle's rear mounted engine - many fun facts were FMQ'd as the quilting into the quilt. It was interesting and fun to do, and I know the ultimate recipient (the quilt will be raffled off this weekend) will love it. (I titled the quilt "One Day in Stuttgart" because that's where the Beetle was engineered, by the way - a little fun fact for next time you want to impress your friends with useless trivia.) That's one reason I do things like this. I guess the most important reason though, is that when you do a job for financial reimbursement (and there's nothing wrong with that, we've all enjoyed paying gigs!), the money flows through your hands too quickly, but when you give someone something that contains your blood, sweat, tears, and (most importantly) your love, the look on their face when they first see it will be something you can revisit for years...long after that money is gone. It must be that time of the month or something, I'm normally not this mushy! So....why do YOU do what you do? |
You need to sit that daughter down and explain to her how you feel about qulting and show her this site. Not every one enjoys art quilting. I have no desire to go that route. Fortuneately my family and friends love what I do and get quite excited when i hand them some of my work. Simple, often with mistakes, but made with love.
Originally Posted by Rose Marie
(Post 5546872)
I spend way to much on quilting but it is what I love to do.
My family dosnt know what goes into quilting and my daughter keeps throwing some woman she knows who is an art quilter at me. The stores carry slave labor quilts that are cheap to buy. It is discouraging but it is what I want to do and the pleasure you get from it is priceless. Reading is my other love and it is much cheaper. So between the two Im happy and satisfied. Just bought two kits to try out so off to the sewing room. |
Originally Posted by Pat625
(Post 5545330)
[ATTACH=CONFIG]365932[/ATTACH]Why do I spend all the time and money instead of just buying a gift? This is why....when I gave this grandaughter her quilt, she was so happy..the next morning she called me to tell me that the quilt made her feel like she was covered in love all night long....THAT is reason enough for me!!
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One year I was hooked on making the folded quilt balls to hang on the Christmas tree. I made one for everyone I worked with (over 50 people) and each member of my family. Each person still tells me they are still enjoying the ornament I made and it was over 10 years ago. They were so much fun to make and I recently saw them at the SD Quilt Show and in a magazine.
Another year I was addicted to making crocheted angels. They were the kind that sat on your counter but they ranged from 3 inches high to 10 inches. I made tons of them - my mother thought there were adorable and so I sent 6 of them to her to share with her neighbors. She had a grand time taking them to the neighbors letting them pick out the one they wanted. Since these people were the type that would bring them (my parents) cookies and such they were thrilled by the gesture. One lady told my mom later her grand daughter saw hers and asked to keep it in her bedroom. It's those moments that keep us going. |
I just enjoy making stuff. :)
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Right on...Grannie Annie
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I quilt because I love playing with delicious fabrics and colors. I can do anything I like with them, cut, slice, dice, patch, twist -- you name it. The fabrics never complain and sometimes I even get paid to play. Neat, isn't it?
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I quilt, play, try out ideas with fabric because it is creative. I rotate between designing clothes, painting pictures and working on designing quilts, embellishing the fabric that goes into the quilt. Sometimes a child or two gets something as a gift; sometimes a child or right now, a church . requests a painting on a specific subject. sometimes a grandchild wants some clothes designed. I do because I enjoy the "doing". When it is no longer fun I will quit.
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I am on a mission to make every family member a quilt. I have done all the ones for the immediate family, am now working on nieces and nephews. I would like my tombstone to read: "My two greatest contributions to this earth are my son and daughter....and a few quilts"
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Keeps me sane too, and besides I get a kick out of cutting up perfectly good fabric and re-arranging it into something I have created. Makes me smile when others do. I just like to create, I even love embroidering tea towels because they look neat.
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I do it more for me than those I give my quilts to. It feeds the creative need and I love seeing my skills improve over the years. =)
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1. I love the creative aspect of it all.
2. Besides my brain would go to mush if all I did was watch TV when we quit farming. 3. You meet so many fun people. 4. Echoing what's said before, I feel we've put something of ourselves into the gift. |
Let me start by saying that this is the first thread that I have read the entire thing since I don't know when. I agree with so many of the answers. The overall theme to me seems to be that quilting saves sanity and I know it has saved mine. I'd be sewing right now if it weren't 4:00 a.m.
I started getting interested in quilting when I got a job at Walmart working in the fabric department ... I grew up knitting and crocheting but was almost 50 years old before I tried quilting. I can do a little bit of it all ... the cross-stitch, crewel embroidery, plastic canvas. Only thin I can't do is scrapbooking 'cause it just don't make sense. |
makes sense to ask him to buy the blanket. you just met the man, remember, this way you'll know if he is serious and you'll know how heavy he wants it, since blankets come in different weights.
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i quilt because i am an artist when i choose colors and layouts. as a photographer, some day, i hope to do landscape quilts from some of my photos. i relax when i'm quilting, it seems to be an excusable way not to keep at the house all the time. My DH, just laughed and told his buddies at work, that he could tell when i'd been quilting by how much stuff was piled up in the sinks. My kids really appreciate their handmade quilts and those who haven't gotten theirs yet are clamoring to be next.
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Originally Posted by BellaBoo
(Post 5544751)
I make items for myself. I enjoy shopping for the supplies and creating something. I won't give a quilt away that I spent months making. I save those for my beds or to display in my quilt racks. I give away the fast block quilts and baby quilts. The fast quilts I have no emotional ties to and couldn't care less if they are used or tossed aside. I haven't given up cleaning or having pretty flower beds yet but I have given up day time tv.:)
DD & I are getting ready to put a "winter" quilt on the frames - since we hand quilt, our output is not as great as those who machine quilt, but we enjoy just being able to sit down & quilt for a few minutes between "chores". This top is a log cabin made probably 5-6 years ago - lol. We usually quilt 2 quilts each winter. hugs Shirley in Indiana |
Originally Posted by quiltingcandy
(Post 5544768)
It does keep me sane at times. Besides when I am finished I feel so accomplished.
But this past weekend this fellow I met for the first time was happy to find out I was a quilter and he asked me why quilts are no light weight now. My belief was because women that could not afford batting used what they could, one thing being old wool blankets. Especially when men came home from the service they brought these very scratchy wool blankets home. They were very warm but very scratchy, so women covered them and they became quilts. My mother did it with my father's blanket. I could be very wrong, but he was fairly sure that's what his mother did. They were also fairly inexpensive at the surplus store and often found at the second hand shops. So he wants one now because they pitched all the ones his mother had after she died. I told him to go buy the wool blanket and I would be able to do the rest. Was I wrong asking him to buy the wool blanket first? i felt this was the best way to find out if he was really serious. There is a surplus store near him that he can go to to get the blankets. I just had a feeling in my gut that if I went to buy them they would be the wrong size or not heavy enough or something. This way if he really wants one, he will be able to see before its made how heavy it will be. Like most of you here with my crafts, including sewing and quilting. So many times friends and family suggested I should mass produce for money. I tell them my works are all labors of love. If I am forced to make something, I have already lost interest. I love the creative process. I am also very judgemental about my work. I never feel is is good enough for retail nor the price that I would have to charge factoring in materials and time. I am terrible at FMQ, but still love doing it. Funny, I am not judgemental about other folks work...just mine. Some of the folks here do such phenominal work. When I grow up, I want to be just like them! |
I have also had people tell me I should sell my creations. First of all, no one could afford to buy at the price I would have to ask. Second, as soon as you start selling, it becomes a JOB, and I retired because I didn't want to WORK any more. I used to sew for people, home dec stuff. I got so sick of dealing with their ignorance of what goes into making drapery and bedcovers, etc. that I just stopped doing it. Now I find so much more satisfaction in doing quilts for various charities. If I can go to bed at night knowing I made one person happy, that is all I need in my life.
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I quilt and knit and whatever because it gives me such pleasure. I have a very loving DH, 3 dogs and 1 cat who give me pleasure too. But whenever I spy fabric, my mind starts thinking about what I could make from it. Certain colors call out to me and I am excited as a 3 year old with a new toy. I especially like quilts with color and have a lot of white in them, I enjoy seeing them on my bed. I buy vintage quilts, vintage quilt tops and vintage quilt blocks. I repair and clean them and I love them. I change my quilt on my bed each week so I can see them. For the first time in my aging life, I do something entirely for me. I only make quilts that I love, if I choose to give them away, that's OK, but I made what I love. I do not sew anything for others, did that once and it turned out to be a disaster. Lesson learned. I do make quilts as gifts but they are always my pattern and my fabrics. This is my hobby and I love it. I am in bliss when I sew a quilt, God has blessed me with this wonderful gift of quilting.
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Originally Posted by nygal
(Post 5544724)
I only Quilt and Knit because it gives me pleasure and I find it rewarding and relaxing. It doesn't mean that I have stopped buying knitted things or quilts!! I still do both.:o
But also, I like the idea that when I'm gone, the people in my family will have a memory of me that is positive. Each quilt has been made especially for each person and none have been made with a pattern (except what I, or the recipient made). Right now a dragon is on my quilt wall for an "almost" grandson. We went out together to buy the fabric (ALL the ladies in each LQS we ventured into fell in love with the college aged lad... I had to interrupt to ask a question! That adds to my memories and his!). I like the idea leaving a legacy of quilts throughout the family. Also, I have worked with several grandchildren, male and female, on quilt making. More memories..... And, yes, I do love the creative process, like making a design or picture that will fit the person for whom it is intended. I love trying out new techniques. My technical sewing isn't that good, but it is organic and I guess that shows. |
I love the process, from finding a pattern I want to make, buying the fabric, (well, maybe not the cutting so much), putting blocks together, seeing how the design comes together, hand and machine quilting. I usually make the quilts for me-something I like. I hope my children and grandchildren will one day enjoy them as much as I love having quilts in my home that were made by loved ones now gone. I loved the idea of having a quilt party and letting each family member choose their favorite. I did design a quilt for my grandson that he is getting for high school graduation next Spring. I have purchased fabric when I see something that just calls out that it "suits" one of my children or grandchildren, but usually I like to have a pattern before I choose the fabric. I love fabric stores, my LQS is my favorite, but I also go to a LQS in my hometown 75 miles away. I get great satisfaction when a quilt is completed. I tell my grandchildren that their Nana is crazy, she takes perfectly good fabric and cuts it up into tiny little pieces just to sew it back together again. I just made a doll quilt with my 6 yr old granddaughter. She picked out the fabric from the stash and stayed with me every minute of the process. She liked choosing and setting the decorative stitches we used to machine quilt it together. Maybe I have another generation quilter coming up - that would be wonderful.
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I've always enjoyed receiving and making gifts - even as a kid.
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I handmake all my gifts (not limited to fabric) because I want the recipient to know that they are that important to me. Especially my Treasures (grandchildren). No one can or will make the gifts for them that I do and that makes them special.
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Originally Posted by GlitzyMe
(Post 5550018)
I handmake all my gifts (not limited to fabric) because I want the recipient to know that they are that important to me. Especially my Treasures (grandchildren). No one can or will make the gifts for them that I do and that makes them special.
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I am a craft fiend.:) That said, I love to share my talents with others. It's not just the physical gifts that I give but I try to share my knowledge as gifts, too. The reason I do what I do!?! It's my gift! If I don't share it with others, who will? I have created new ways to do things, that no one else has thought of. Why shouldn't I share those with others? Besides, who wants the same thing that 50,000 other people have when they can have a one of a kind?;) My children would rather I create something for them rather than to receive anything store bought. They both have the very first quilts I ever made them as babies.
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i'm an artist. i am driven to create and right now i create with beautiful fabrics. i have little else to do and it makes me happy to be surrounded by beautiful things. and i love giving them to others and seeing their surprise, and sometimes, delight. i'm new at this so i still have the thrill of passing the challenge!
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The closest that I have on-hand just in case are raq quilt squares. I use my accuquilt and cut and assemble a lot of different blocks so that when I need a gift it's a matter of picking out the right blocks and sewing them together and it's done.
I like to make home made gifts for the ones I care about and I know they appreciate it. None of people I give them to make what I do so I know they'll like it even more. I can't buy it cheaper because if it's quality then they'll pay more for it than what is sold at KMart. Even my 6yr old grandson loves anything that I make him so the rewards are great. I raised my kids and my daughter is now raising hers that in order for their name to be on any gift they have to either help make it or pay for it. If you go out and buy a gift and let them put their name on it without doing anything then that's the same as cheating. I was really proud when I saw my daughter picking up this tradition and passing it onto her own kids. I know that I did it right. |
Originally Posted by TanyaL
(Post 5550146)
How old are your grandchildren? 2 years ago I made both of my greatgrandsons quilted duffle bags out of racing car fabric with their names appliqued on them to load up with toys when they traveled to their grandmother's house. Tney were preschool age and their comments were "I wanted an electric remote control car." Their mother's comment was, "Well, you didn't get it." Next year the whole family got a check. I just quit sending out gifts unless someone asks me to make them something. I can't make remote control cars.
All the other gkids love their quilts and drag them from room to room, make hide-aways, wrap themselves in them to watch TV for their limited time in the eveings. Sometimes divorce can be a good thing! The mama is nicer now and the kids and our son are happier, too. Isn't there a saying, "If mama isn't happy, no one is!" The other gkids have mamas who love getting the quilts (each is designed for that particular child) and their attitude is a reflection of their mamas. One boy made a tree quilt with me some years ago, and he asked for a specific quilt just before he left for another country to go to school for a year (at age 14!). If the parents have no respect, the kids won't have any respect. |
Originally Posted by nygal
(Post 5544724)
I only Quilt and Knit because it gives me pleasure and I find it rewarding and relaxing. It doesn't mean that I have stopped buying knitted things or quilts!! I still do both.:o
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I love the creative process and having something that is solely for my pleasure. When I create something for a gift, you can bet the recipient is someone I care for who will value the gesture. There are those people in my life for whom store-bought is exactly right...not an indictment...just a fact!
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I can remember embroidering a set of pale yellow bath towels, one for each member of the family, for my third son. His bathroom was so bland(pale yellow and white) and he was in such dire need of new towels that I thought it was the perfect gift -plus it was the first Christmas that I had my embroidery machine. So each towel had a different exotic bird in vivid true to life accurate coloration. It would be the only bright spot in his bath when the towels were hanging. About 6 months later I asked him if he used the towels and he said, "Mom, they are so gawdy!" My batting average on gifts is very low. LOL.
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