CajunQuilter2

Wow, what wonderful stories. I only wish mine were as interesting. Although my dads mother quilted my baby quilt for me, my moms mother & her sisters were awesome sewers I did not have that interest growing up. I took home ec and for one 6 weeks period we sewed and I made a skirt. My mom does not sew,there was never a sewing machine around. in her later years she started crocheting, I tried once but was not that interested in it. In my mid twenties I picked up a counted cross stitch pattern. I loved it and did that for 20 years.
Then I met my BFF 7 years ago. She quilted. First she got me into doing crafts, we made fabric baskets. I could not sew a straight line, so I would cut out everything and then I would watch her sew. Then we moved on to quilted purses. Since I am a visual learner after awhile I thought "I can do this." So off to Sears my friend and I went to buy my first machine, a Kenmore. I only paid 250.00 for it but was all I could afford at the time. I love that machine. As my confidence grew she introduced me to actual quilting of quilts. We went to the Houston International Quilt show and I was hooked. We get together once a week on average and have a play date, either shopping for fabric, patterns, etc.....or we are sewing.
Thanks for the thread Eddie.

rismstress

I have sewn since I was 4 - my grandmother was a professional seamstress- self taught- and as soon as she could put me in front of the machine I was off and sewing. I made actual wearable clothes at the age of 6. I didn't make my first quilt until I had my first child. I was in a needlepoint shop buying canvases and saw a sampler quilt on the wall. The saleswoman told me I could do that. So I spent $12 on the pattern and went home, and made it out of the fabric left over from sewing. Not all cotton- who knew- and no instructions. And even then, I put in my own touches and reworked things I didn't like from the pattern. But for a first attempt, it turned out great. I handquilted the whole thing- double bed sized.
Now I quilt for the pure enjoyment of it-- and the most important thing-- no need to apologize for the amount of fabric I have. I love the whole process- even those hst's.
Cheryl

bearpaw

Great topic!

I learned to machine sew in home ec. I started mostly sewing clothes. My first machine was this HEAVY green singer in a white plastic case. It was sitting in a closet and I asked my dad if it worked. That machine is a work horse, but I could never get the tension right. My boyfriend (DH now) bought me a brother for Christmas one year. I started watching Simply Quilts and thought - hey, I can do this. I bought her beginning quilters book and off I went. I love all fabrics, especially the repros. I tried cross stitching, but for me, it was too much work for something sooo small! Also tried to crochet, was ok at it, but the yarn made my eyes itch!

ChristineD

I love everyone's stories. I don't have a great family story. I just have always liked the way quilts look.

I have always been more of an outdoors person, biking, hiking, things like that. Due to health problems I had to give up my usual activities for something more subdued.

I decided to take a hand quilting class and found I really enjoyed it. I am very, very slow about finishing things though. I have a very short interest span, problems with my hand, and a back that is pretty much done for the day by the time I get off work. But I am plugging away slowly at what I have started. Thanks for sharing your stories.
Chrissy

MadQuilter

That's a guaranteed tear jerker!

But it also gave me the idea of doing a memory quilt for my niece. She just turned 18 and I have a stash of pictures waiting to be scanned.

....that's the other part about "quilting" - there are sooooooo many new techniques to learn, and try. It keeps me young and keeps me going!

Harmony

My grandmother was incredibly creative--she could cook, sew, paint, play piano. I've always felt a need to be creative, but didn't have the skill. Years and years ago a friend and I took a quilting class, back when we used templates and cut out each piece individually. I was always frustrated because I couldn't get anything to look like I wanted it to! About 3 years ago I decided to try again using the newer methods, and there's been no looking back! I love the feel of fabric. I love going up into my little sewing room and doing my own thing. And I love the look and feel of quilts. I love the history of them, and I feel like there's some kind of tie to women generations back who did the same thing. I love being able to produce something beautiful and giving it to someone special, because I think every quilt is full of love and comfort, and what wonderful gifts they are to give!

Sounds to me llike all of you feel pretty much the same!

Rhonda

When I was in college I had a job as a companion to an elderly lady. We would sit and watch tv all evening til it was time for me to go. She would not let me turn the channel so alot of what she watched didn't interest me. I got my first crewel kit and learned to do crewel while I sat with her. I went on to learn more embroidery and other needle arts.
When my kids were little I was tired of staring at 4 walls and I saw a book on tv about quilting. We couldn't afford even a candy bar at that time but I knew I had lots of clothes that we didn't wear anymore so I cut up old clothes and I made a cardboard square and I traced each square out laboriously!!!. I did a lot of applique then because it was easier.
At this same time I answered an ad in the paper to make a quilt top for a lady. I had never quilted!! She gave me a pattern for a bear's paw in cream and browns and she gave me the fabric. I made that top and it wasn't too bad for a beginner!! But when I went back to get paid for it she and her husband had seperated and she was gone. So I ended up with that top.
I continued over the years learning by trial and error. I love color and patterns and just kept trying new things. I like to challenge myself or I get bored!
My billfold fell apart at work one day and I decided to make myself one. My coworkers saw the one I made (just squares not minis) and they wanted one. I made one for the wife of a guy in the nursing home where I worked because she had such a hard time with her DH and I challenged myself to make the blocks really small. She loved it and I started making them for the people I worked with.
I have just messed around and done things by trial and error and when my daughter was looking through an antique and gift shop in Kalona Iowa( a big tourist atttraction that concentrates on quilts as the marketing theme) she showed a keychain I made to the owner and I started selling to that shop. I have been selling to her for 11 years now.
I decided I wanted to pass on some of my ideas to people so I got into teaching classes and then into the internet web arena.
It gives me so much personal joy to create something that to me is a picture and I do think of them as a framed picture. I agree they are like putting a puzzle together and i love that aspect of it too!!
My favorite thing to do is to play on my EQ5 and design. Love to see what happens when I think what if.........

quiltswithdogs

Thank you everyone for your stories!

Unlike the majority, I had no exposure to quilting growing up, in fact I only have one cousin who even sews at all and that was mostly children's clothes. My grandmas did not quilt but I don't know about their mothers so I don't think there was a quilting gene like someone here wondered. I taught my nieces to make a nine-patch potholder and one of them won a prize at her county fair! Neither went on from there, but that's ok, they learned the effort involved so appreciate quilting more, including Aunt Cathy's.

High Schools and Colleges offer courses in Art Appreciation and Music Appreciation in which they teach the history, equipment and techniques, but the student does not have to do it. I think they should also offer, for credit like the others, a Quilt Appreciation course! There might be a textile class for those registered in those programs but it should be open to everyone as a single course, like when I took a basic music appreciation... wow, I learned so much and it changed my listening forever. Imagine how many unexposed-to-quilts next generation might then really look at a quilt, be thrilled if given one as a gift and maybe even give it a try!

OK, that's not really about my story, just my reflections.

Esqmommy

I learned to quilt from my friend Jeannie. She had quilted for years and made such pretty quilts. She taught me all the basics, and then I started taking classes and just quilting my heart out. It's very relaxing for me, and I feel like it's the only time I have any ability to do "art" or be creative. I'm also a huge fan of giving gifts and love to my family and this gives me an outlet for that. lastly, my job is extremely stressful and often very negative. (I'm a divorce lawyer and deal with some very intense custody cases) Quilting takes me to my "happy place" and that's worth it's weight in gold.

I love hearing all your stories. Common thread seems to be a love for the art. :)

Lisanne

As you say, Eddie, why I quilt is a combination of several reasons.

I love needlework and crafts.

I love the work of it, every stage except maybe pre-washing in the sink.

I love color, love to design, have come up with a pile of designs to quilt.

I'm unemployed and needed something new to do for my sanity. I was trying to make an art out of doing housework, but that just wasn't working, lol. (I still clean my house, but now I tell myself it's exercise.)

I found a beginner's quilting class that started when I needed a class to start. I'm always ready to learn new things in the spring and summer, which is just when most classes stop meeting. Had I found a woodworking class instead, I might be doing that now.

I had this idea that quilting would be an affordable hobby. It might be, if I stop buying fabric for anything but my current project. OTOH, a rotary cutter is more affordable than a rotary saw.

Along the same lines, I live in an apartment with carpeting. Picking up loose threads is easier than getting wood shavings out of carpet. Plus, you can't saw wood in bed (go ahead, laugh!), but you can quilt there.

Everything kind of came together to get me finally started quilting. I'd actually started a handpieced quilt top years ago in college but couldn't get my square esges to match and gave it up. This spring, I came across Jennifer Chiaverini's Elm Creek Quilt novels and read them all, one right after another. In the first book, the process is described when Sylvia teaches Sarah to quilt. It sounded so doable, and I knew I wanted to learn exactly that way. So I took the only beginner class I could find to get some basics, and am now making a sampler quilt by hand, where my goal is to learn how to do each technique rather than to rush to finish it. Once I do, however, I have lots of other quilting projects I plan to do.

I'm enjoying everyone else's stories. Hope to see more!