New Question :-)Why do you quilt and how long have you been quilting?
I decided to take the plunge into quilting because I needed another outlet for my passion for a needle and thread. I'd been a x-stitcher for approximately 20 years. I've been quilting since October 1999 but had been a quilting wannabe for many, many years. There was a tiny quilt store in a cute cottage across the street from my corporate job and I used to spend many lunch hours browsing and dreaming. I'd look through books and patterns; pet and caress all the beautiful fabric but didn't believe it was something I could do. In the Fall of 1999 I visited every quilt store here on the Surface of the Sun and explained that I was a beginner and asked about classes, etc. Most just pointed me toward the classroom and told me that the samples were in there, except one store owner she took me by the hand and showed me the beginner quilt that was being taught. Then she showed me the other classes I could take to continue to enhance my skills.
I made the quilt in the picture sometime earlier this year with charms.
Thank you for visiting!
In Friendship!
16 comments:
I have been quilting for 17 years though I did cross stitch before that. I really like the feel of a needle in my hand...if I had to machine quilt, I wouldn't.
AND, though the fabric is expensive (I can be a quilt snob), I find it saves thousands in therapy!
I've been quilting for almost 13 years now. I couldn't even sew a button when I started, and I bless the angel who showed me the way to my first quilting class... What was intended to be " a craft to focus on", while I was deeply depressed, became a passion. Today, I couldn't imagine my life without quilting. Even if the fabrics prices are constantly increasing in Europe - reaching about 25US$/yard - I'm still in heaven, and those prices help me to use my stash.
LOVE your questions AND your quilts !
Hugs & smiles, my friend !
NADINE
I have been quilting exactly 20 years this month! I made a baby quilt for my little brother in 1987. I can't believe he's about to turn 20! I just did a few projects here and there until 2003 when I started quilting in earnest.
I love shopping for fabric when I visit my family in the US, but I'm determined to use more recycled and thrifted fabrics in the future.
I started quilting because I had inherited an old quilt top made by my great grandmother and I wanted to quilt it so I took a class. I have been sewing for 46 years so that part came easily. I have been quilting for almost 20 years now and I quilt because I need a creative outlet and I love fabric and all the stuff that goes along with quilting - patterns, books, friends, history, something warm to snuggle under - I love it all.
I sewed clothing for children and grandchildren for years but I retired at much the same time as the grandchildren were becoming fussy teenagers and less fun to sew for. A friend got me started on quilting (I thought it was too fussy for me) about 3 years ago and now I am totally hooked. I gave her a quilt as a thank-you. I don't know what I'd do without quilting now.
I think I originally became interested in quilting for a couple of reasons. First off, when my sons were very young, I wanted something special for their "big boy" beds and plunged into quilting. Secondly, I fell in love with the idea of hanging quilts on the wall as art with my steady diet of Country Living magazines, back in the 70s!!! I have always loved fibercrafts and have dabbled in ALL of it--weaving, embroidery, crossstitch, macrame, sewing clothing, crochet and knitting, and on and on. Quilting is the constant.
I made my first quilt when I was 21, so that's 30 years ago.. boy that makes me feel old, but I've always been a sewer, from the aghe of 9. Made all the clothes for my kids and myself... Didn't pick quilting up again for a very long time. My mum bought a fabric store and I helped manage it so got involved in the quilting side of it, took class's made a great friend with one of the other students, and several years later we received a government grant for a quilt exhibition.
I love to see a design come to life in front of me, whether it's with the actual patchwork or with an embroidery needle, it keeps me sane...ish...lol.. Plus I adore to give handmade gifts to loved ones.
I learned to sew and embroider when I was about 5. The sewing was mostly to make clothes (back when it was more affordable then buying clothes). I made my first quilt in 1975 for my first niece and continued making quilts for each niece and nephew as they came along. I cut (using a template and scissors) all the pieces for 72 bear paw blocks in about 1975 but they didn't go together nicely so that got put away for 30 years!
I did lots of embroidery, crocheting, cross-stitching and other crafts over the years.
For about 3 years I was sort of overwhelmed by life and didn't sew at all but in 2001 I started quilting in earnest and haven't slowed down since.
Quilting is my therapy. My family has learned that if Mom isn't quilting, Mom isn't happy!
I started quilting in the early 80's...oh so long ago. I didn't take a quilting class because I didn't know there was such a thing. Some of my first projects were done with out the rotary cutter...can you imagine? I did a Debbie Mumm tea cups with out a rotary cutter....aaahhh what a disaster. I persevered and here I am today still quilting. I can't be without my needle and thread or rotary cutter...LOL
I've been quilting since the mid-70s. I don't even want to think about how many years that is! I recently pulled out one of my earliest efforts to use as a little dog blanket for Ozzie, and naturally had to wash it after a week or so. I had made the quilt (a wall hanging really) in a log cabin pattern in red, muslin, and a light blue. When I washed it, the reds all bled into the muslin. I doubt that would have ever happened with today's fabrics. That just shows you how far we have come in 30 years. Whoops, I said it, didn't I?
First of all, I love your charm quilt!
I have been quilting now for about 6 years. Before that we joked that DH was the seamstress of the family, I sewed absolutely nothing. I enjoy quilting because it soothes and relaxes me. Quilting always gives me something to do and something tangible and useful from the time I have spent unlike some other hobbies.
I've been quilting for 6 years now. Or is it almost 15 years now? You decided. ;)
Since I was 7 years old and learned how to crochet, I've always loved to make blankets.
When I was 10, I cut a bunch of squares and sewed them into 2 doll sized quilts. I didn't have the concept of batting back then. Or all-cotton fabric. Or a quarter-inch seam. I was just having fun with my mom's sewing machine. ;)
When I was about 13, my mom started to make me a quilt, using Eleanor Burn's Log Cabin in a Day method. She got most of the blocks done, then the whole project was put aside. I wasn't active in that project.
Then when I was 18, my grandma died, but 3 weeks before she died, one of her dearest friends gave her a lap quilt. Somehow my mom ended up with the quilt and I spent many hours studying it. I loved looking at the design and trying to figure out how she made it.
So I dug up the log cabin quilt and set off to finish it about 6 years ago. I still sleep under it now. :)
So I've been officially quilting since I was 19 and see no signs of stopping! :)
I made my first log cabin block in 3rd grade (I'm 30 so you do the math *lol*) which was sewn into a cushion. After that I borrowed my mom's old Singer and made lots of little doll quilts and quilts for my collection of My Little Pony (the big thing among us girls!), using old shirts and cut offs my mom and aunts had saved over the years (none of them quilt). Changing schools, any type of "girly" handywork was not "fashionable", so I put it on the shelf for many years. Changin schools again, I did some other things, though... knitting, embroidery and made some clothes. The winter 2000/2001 I started doing some quilting again, and in the summer 2001 I was at the summer house getting ready for summer school in England, and my Mom brought my attention to a pattern in a magazine she had brought with her - a Dresden plate quilt (it's on my blog Aug. 10th). I cut the pieces and brought it with me to England, and I was bitten by the Q-bug *lol* - so here I am! And loving it!!!
I have been quilting off and on for about 25 years, but only really got into it about 15 years ago. I used to sew clothing and dolls, and like you, did a lot of cross-stitch and embroidery. Quilting was something my aunt did, and it looked like a lot of work to me. My aunt showed me the basics of quilting when I was newly married, and I let it percolate around in my brain for many, many years, thinking I didn't have the aptitude for it.
When rotary cutting came along, I decided I could definitely do that, so I made a quilt (very simple) here and there, and gave them as gifts. Everyone loved them(thank goodness!), and I discovered I loved making them, and I was hooked!
Your quilt is lovely, by the way! Thank you for the question - everyone's answers are a great read.
I've always had an affinity to making things myself (but not sewing *yuck*) From childhood, I started with embroidery and have worked my way through macrame, crewel, counted cross stitch, knitting, tole painting. I always wanted to make a quilt, but feared the sewing machine. Finally Hubby sat down and figured out how to operate the machine, fill a bobbin and thread it . . . then gave me my first stress free lesson. That was 8 years ago and the days have been so happy since.
I've been quilting for about six and 1/2 years now. I did post a bit about how I started on Oct. 9th this year -- but that was only the beginning. I had a friend who quilted and I saw a pattern I liked and kind of just took the plunge. That first quilt is horid (I've posted pictures -- trust me on this) but it was so much fun I just kept at it! I'm primarily self-taught (books, etc. I'm good at following instructions -- most of the time) and I've enjoyed the entire journey so far!
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