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Hi Everyone!

I love visiting these boards and seeing your beautiful projects. You are all an inspiration for sure and make me want to learn also. Many of our LQS have closed and the local jo-ann's has cancelled the last 3 beginner's classes also.

How did you get your start with quilting please? Do you mind sharing your story?

I moved to Colorado and didn't work for a time. had to do something so i started sewing. anything. aprons, etc. Then quilting came along. mainly because I caught shows on t.v. Then started reading qlting books. The bug bit me!!

Welcome!

I took an adult education class at the local High School. I watched every PBS quilting and sewing show I could. Then when I finally got cable I started watching the quilting & sewing shows on HGTV. Also checked out books from the library.

If you can't find a quilting class, you might find a quilt guild in your area and visit a meeting to see if someone would be willing to help you.

We are all here to help in any way. The only dumb question is the one that isn't asked... Chris

My mother and aunts quilted and I saw them all while growing up. Mama did teach me to hand sew at about 10. Started with a torn piece of old sheet and some red thread so I could see what I was doing.

Learned how to use an electric sewing machine in 4H, and made my first skirt and top there. Mama's sewing machine was a treadle and I got to where I could do pretty good on it but never actually made anything on it.

Fast forward some years, I worked with a lady that made all her clothes and I was fascinated. With her help, I got to where I made all mine too. Did that for a number of years but then stopped.

After DH and I moved back to Florida, a local guild was forming and I wanted to be part of it, so I went to Wally World and bought fabric to make a quilt. The rest, as they say, is history. Only been quilting about 8 years but have appreciated them all my life. And the first quilt show I ever went to was the Sisters Show in 1996. I didn't even quilt then.

I got started by working with Patty J. She had a quilter friend, but her friend grew futher detached and then just quilt quilting. Patty J loved quilting so much, but did not have a buddy to share her passion. I asked for help with a small quilting project and the rest is history. LOL. Now Patty J and I quilt frequently and enjoy every minute. It helps that we are sisters and have the love of quilting. Sue

I had a children's sewing school and a friend said she could teach the Log Cabin made in the Quilt In a Day fashion of strip piecing. So some adults and teens took the class in my school and so did I and I made my first top = a KING log cabin. I recommend that as a good beginning pattern or a rail fence. Pretty easy.

I've always liked playing with the sewing machine and trying new things with it. Many years ago a friend and I found a place where we could buy roll ends of fake fur - made a few quilts out of that...quit sewing....got rid of my sewing machine....fast forward...bought another machine to make some curtains and pillows....saw a picture of a memory quilt in a magazine and made one for my mother for Mother's Day that year...well, not that year but close - each project takes me a looong time It still hangs in her living room, still playing with the different patterns and still enjoying it...did buy three more machines....

I have sewn from 12 yrs. old when my mom taught me how to make a skirt.....then made all my kids clothing till they were older and wanted store bought stuff LOL....when they left the nest,,,, i did some other stuff,,,, tole painting and other crafts but was not satisified, then quit my job and bought all the equipment to make a quilt. I still use the same cutting mat, rotary cutter and rulers after 20 + years. Quilting makes me happy and takes me to another place..... but not the calgon bathtub.....

It was the late 1970's and I had been intrigued by patchwork for awhile, but hadn't graduated from clothing sewing to quilting. I found 2 books about patchwork & quilts at a book store, so I tried making a quilt on my own with my wedding sewing machine, some cardboard from a cereal box, some dressmaking shears, the omnipresent 70's poly/cotton fabric, and some high-loft poly batting. Needless to say, that first quilt wasn't my best work! I stuck with it though, and watched fabric choices improve greatly and the amount of tools available skyrocket. And I treated myself to a new Bernina after 25 years with my first machine.

There is soooo much more available now for a beginning quilter...books, supplies, guilds, online help, you name it. I look back to when I started & feel as if I learned to quilt in the back of a covered wagon rolling west!

Howdy & welcome to the boards. I started sewing in Jr. High School & started my first quilt in High School & finished it about 4 years later after I got married in 1964. It was a simple quilt made with 2" squares (alternating solid & print fabric). I made it by hand as machine quilting was not done at that time. Each square was cut by hand as there were no rotary cutters/mats at that time.

In 2001 a friend re-introduced me to quilting & to machine quilting. I was just blown away to see all the new gadgets that had come along since I made my first & only quilt. It took me a while to change my thinking about machine quilting but once I started it, I loved it. Quilting is now my passion.

I grew up in a family where sewing was done for enjoyment and necessity. I learned basic sewing in home ec. in school, made some of my own clothes, made clothes for my kids. I made my first quilt from a McCalls magazine that had a turtle quilt with patches on the top and the head, tail and feet stuck out the sides, I made that for our first baby. (She still has it!) then made a quilt for each of our other 4 kids. The first large quilt I made for our bed because we had no money to speak of, and I found the same line of floral fabric in different scale in a few Walmarts and made it for our bed. I haven't stopped yet.

I've sewn in one form or another since I was 5. But in the early 80s a friend and I took a quilting class. We each hand pieced and hand quilted a king sized quilt. I swear, I must have been insane. Anyway, after that I just slowly started quilting a bit here and there. Now I just love it.

quote:

It was the late 1970's and I had been intrigued by patchwork for awhile, but hadn't graduated from clothing sewing to quilting. I found 2 books about patchwork & quilts at a book store, so I tried making a quilt on my own with my wedding sewing machine, some cardboard from a cereal box, some dressmaking shears, the omnipresent 70's poly/cotton fabric, and some high-loft poly batting. Needless to say, that first quilt wasn't my best work! I stuck with it though, and watched fabric choices improve greatly and the amount of tools available skyrocket. And I treated myself to a new Bernina after 25 years with my first machine.

There is soooo much more available now for a beginning quilter...books, supplies, guilds, online help, you name it. I look back to when I started & feel as if I learned to quilt in the back of a covered wagon rolling west!

Well, just copy what Starry said... I watched my mom make a doll dress for me at 5, and was totally inspired to make a sun bandeau for me...("Were are you going young lady, dressed like that!" Mom made most of my clothes, after Jr. High sewing class, I made all of mine (usually the night before a test..to look pretty)until my Senior year, when I bought a few dresses. Tried to finish a full size, cross stitched purple violets quilt squares that never made it to a quilt for my Hope Chest. It was hopeless.

Made a tiny, cover-just-the bottom of the bed coverlet that was just awful. After all the sewing I had done, I thought "How hard can sewing some squares together be?" Ha!!! I learned about bearding with the thin wide spaced Polly Esther fabric and "stuffing" I made the quilt like a big pillowcase and then tried to stuff the batting in. Oh my...was completely bored by then. And I thought quilting was way too hard to do again. Took a needlework class in college...one project was to make a full-size quilt by hand!!! Never finished that one, either. In 1985 I broke my back...watched Alex Anderson for 3 years without any interest whatsoever of doing a quilt. Thought maybe I'd make "The One" sometime in my lifetime. Couldn't settle on ONE.Then I got a fabric catalogue in the mail (1998???) Some of the cutest fabric I'd ever seen in my life...thought I'd make a shirt from it...yellow paperdolls...that's actually still being made http://www.fabric.com/ProductD...96-b2ba-0b0e11e63fe5

I saw it and thought...a blouse would only last a couple of years...if I made a quilt..it would last longer...and I was a gonner. It FINALLY occured to me that I could make more than one item. Ha!

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Originally posted by nancyc20:
usually the night before a test

Oh man, I did that too in Jr. Hi. We weren't supposed to take our projects home to work on them but that's the only way I could ever finish anything before the grading deadline -- sneak it out of class & have Mom help me that night!

I also went through phases of knitting, tatting, embroidery, rug hooking, cross-stitching, needlepoint/bargello, weaving, caning, pottery, you-name-it! But I always came back to sewing, because I couldn't keep my hands off the fabric. All the colors & patterns feed some visual need I have. I was the kid who could never have enough crayons & always thought there had to be more colors somewhere -- Crayola's box of 64 was way too limiting!

Quilting lets me be creative but also satisfies the "left brain" in me -- the need to arrange things logically, find the "math" in things, follow precise steps, etc.

I, too, watched Mom sew when I was a kid. She had a machine in a big wooden cabinet, and she'd slide the cabinet over to the end of the bed in the master bedroom. She'd sew & I'd perch on the bed behind the machine to watch. So I learned to sew "backwards," by watching from behind the machine. Maybe that explains why, despite my best efforts, things still come out backwards every now & then!

Thank you Everyone!

It is encouraging to read your stories. They bring smiles with the walks down memory lane. I have an oldie-goldie machine all ready to go. Does it count if there's a little stash of fabrics too?

Thanks for sharing your story. I'll keep you posted too on the progress.

My grandmother was the one who taught me how to sew/quilt. She did it in self-defense. You see, she had a treadle sewing machine and my cousin, Elia, and I used to love to take turns sitting on the treadle and see how fast we could rock back and forth. One time, we didn't realize that Grandma had a piecing project under the needle. When she caught us rocking on the treadle, she pulled the cover off to show us the mess we had made. That's the first time I learned the art of using a seam ripper. Luckily, the quilt top that she had been working on was just for family and not one of her charity quilts, but she made Elia and I sit there and very carefully pick out each of those "extra" stitches that we had put into her work. After that, she taught both of us how to really work that treadle machine, and I was hooked. I joined 4-H when I was 10 and did sewing/tailoring projects for the next 8 years. I've been sewing/quilting ever since.

LindaJ52

This message has been edited. Last edited by: lindaj52,

Back in the day when you still got fabric swatches in with your catalogs, I decided to put 9 of them together..by hand. Didn't come out real well but it got me started.

By the way.. its about 4 x 4

I made a one block pillow in home ec out of purple and gold fabrics - sigh - the school colors where my boyfriend went to school - sigh - oh wasnt' life simple back then.

It was a mess. My DM made fun of it one time in front of an accomplished quilter who looked at me and said, "There's not a thing wrong with this for your first project, and I'd be pleased to have it in my home." I gave it to her.

A few short years later, SIL #1 visited with her grandmother in Mena Arkansas and brought back a pattern with instructions to share it with me so that SIL and I could use up our garment fabric remnants - waste not, want not. I started hand piecing that thing. Boring!

Oh-oh. Look at that fabric! Wouldn't it make a great 4-leaf clover quilt?! I cut my own clover pattern, hand appliqued the pieces, hand stitched everything together, and joined in the hand-quilting at church. That was this:

Then I finished the Ozark Cobblestones...

...and hand quilted it all by myself! The rest has been a love affair!

I saw a Christmas wallhanging in a magazine and made it for my Nana for Christmas. Then, I met a woman in my hometown who quilted and we started making a few things together. Wasn't long before I needed a new sewing machine.....and then made a queen sized postage stamp quilt.....and now....could never do one with just squares......

Both of my grandmothers quilted. My Mother sewed clothing, drapes, slipcovers, doll clothes etc. I had been wanting to learn. Watched Alex on HGTV. Then one time when we could do a live chat on this site with her, she encouraged me to just start. Took a few classes at lqs. Still consider myself a beginner.

If you like books, recommend Carol Doak's Your First Quilt Book, or It Should Be. She builds on skills. Another good one for beginners (or anyone else) is Fons and Porter's Complete Guide to Quilting. A class is also very good for beginners.

If there isn't a quilt guild in your area, try the American Sewing Guild. www.asq.org In our local chapter, we have memebers who do a huge variety of things. Quite a few also belong to a quilt guild too.

Have fun and remember that there isn't such a thing as the quilt police.

ETA: forgot to say that I sewed a lot of my clothes. Mom was a big help.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Strings,

I love this thread - thank you for starting it.

I started sewing on my DGM's treadle machine at about age 5. (Not supposed to be doing that but, DID!) I moved on to my mom's machine and
did clothing construction...just always sewed.
After having two boys (not much sewing for them) I went back to teaching kindergarten (no time for clothing construction) and sewed crafts and home dec items. Since many patterns and kits for quilting were available I started quilting. My mother and grandmother sewed and quilted and I think it is genetic!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: chanlady22,

Thanks again Everyone!

Your stories are interesting and it's nice read them. Thanks also for the book recommendations and quilt guilds too. I look forward to beginning this new journey.

Took home economic in high school, made my own clothes. Have crocheted, knitted, crewel, embroidery, needlepoint and finally quilting. Took a class in the 80's and learned to hand piece and hand quilt. Have come a long way with the rotary cutter, rulers and sewing machine.

I had cancer in my 30s, saw Simply Quilts, my husband got me a quilt book and fabric, joined this board. Learned quilting! I think it has been 4 years and I still love it!

I think Simply Quilts has been a pivotal point in many quilter's lives...

I married and moved from Oklahoma to the Washington DC area in 2000. I had time on my hands and didn't know anyone so in 2003, my husband encouraged me to get a hobby. His boss quilted so she gave me a lesson - the rest is history. When I first started quilting I was a hard working lawyer who put up a little table in my office to set my sewing machine on. Over the next few years, the sewing machine took over the law office and now that we've moved back home to Oklahoma, I am not even practicing law. Instead, I have a sewing room in the house and a quilting studio complete with three rooms, a bathroom and a kitchenette.

I started quilting while on my last tour of my Navy career. I was always interested in quilting but didn't know how to start. I had made some garments but that was it. I joined a quilt guild on Okinawa and took the lessons they had. After I made a few small quilts, and hand quilted them, I started making bigger ones. My husband started about the same time. He tells people that I was having too much fun, so he started quilting also.

I took an adult ed class thru our local community college because I wanted to learn how to quilt around my cross stitch patterns and make pillows and such. From there I bought some books and took classes at LQS, JoAnns and Michaels. When I have the time and money I still will try to get in a class at a LQS.

At age 9, I was diagnosed with rheumatic fever and was not allowed to do physical activity. Dad was working away from home, Mom had three other children, including a toddler, to care for. My grandmother lived across the field from us and spent a lot of time at our house helping with housework and gardening. She also helped keep me occupied. I think she read the entire series of "Little House" books to me! She cut lots of squares of fabric and showed me how to make a nine patch block. After I had enough blocks, Grandma put them together and quilted it for me - I think that was the first thing in my hope chest. My DD now has that quilt but doesn't use it because it is getting pretty worn.

That was all the quilting I did until much later. Since I retired 11 years ago that's about the only leisure activity I do.

When my mother had a stroke she gave me a trunk and in it was all quilting stuff. I found a design I had given her that she started to do. I decided to make a quilt for her having no idea how long it would take to make an hand embroidered quilt I plugged along. I didn't get it done before she passed away but the quilt has resided on my bed ever since and that got me hooked. Boy have I learned a lot and mostly due to all of you. Even though I don't ask many questions I always find the answer on here. Thank you all for the help through the years, sine 2001.

when i retired, i needed a winter hobby.
(i play in my garden in the summer).

i took a basic class at Joanns..how to measure,cut and press,read a pattern etc. then i took a rag quilt class..and i loved it! Had really never done any sewing until then.

Welcome. What an enjoyable trip down memory lane for everyone.

My mother made most of my clothes, made curtains, etc and did a lot of handwork - no quilting. I learned to sew from her, making doll clothes, then a few of my own. Over the years made curtains, pillows, clothes for the kids. When the boys were young made them each a 'blanket' - didn't know I was quilting - from old jeans, shirts and curtains and hand tied them.

Then while they were growing up, did a lot of embroidery, crewel, counted x-stitch, hooked rugs, macrame, needlepoint, etc.. After retiring - end of 2005, got to see on PBS - Alex Anderson and then found HGTV quilting shows, and also bid and won on a class and supplies from a LQS. The rest is history..

My love affair with quilting began at an early age. It started with my intrigue of watching my mom sew as I stood next to her Singer in a cabinet as she sewed.
The first quilt I remember seeing (I now know) was a Grandmother's Flower garden. It was made with the REAL 30's fabrics with white b/g...I traced the quilting with my fingers and studied all of the pretty colored octagonal pieces...I think I must have been between 3 and 4...given my grandad's 2nd wife went back to AR sometime around then and took the quilts.
My love affair grew with each quilt I saw, touched or was covered up with. It grew over the years in fits and starts and stops as I progressed down life's strange and winding path for me....
In the 80's I remember being in a quilt store my friend's MIL owned and saw a quilting book about Compass Stars...I feel in LOVE with the pattern immediately, bought the book and wanted to make one right away!!! but as I poured over the book and saw all of the points that had to come together exactly .....
....FF to 1996, I discovered Alex Anderson and Simply Quilts!!! I looked up my LQS there in Toledo and visited! They had a class to make a Cathedral Window remote caddy...I signed up immediately! It was so fun! I was hooked...

Now for you!!!! You can begin right now! Don't worry about any more cancelled beginner's classes!!! Go get a and a and GO HERE RIGHT NOW.....AND it's FREE!!!!! ENJOY!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: luvthosequilts,

luv: Those lessons are fantastic!!!

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I think Simply Quilts has been a pivotal point in many quilter's lives...

I agree. Watching SQ got me started. Convinced myself that I could make a quilt because Alex & her guests made it look so easy. I had never sewn or operated a sewing machine. I purchased a machine, gathered up some fabric & made my first quilt. The year was 2002. Since then I have made 7 more. I discovered that I love sewing.

Sadly, SQ is no longer shown on HGTV. Joining this message board and meeting (online) so many wonderful friends here is what keeps me interested & motivated. Wish I had started sewing years ago when my mom (who could sew anything) was still with us, to see my projects & also when my eyesight was much better than it is now.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Miss Lensews2,

I started about 25 years ago, had been making costumes for the local ballet comany for about 10 years. When they went professional I quit, didn't like working with the pros. I happened to see Eleanor Burns on TV, thought that looked like fun especially because she did it all by machine. So I made my first quilt, queen size, that I am still using. But sometime along the way I discovered hand quilting and that is now my preference. I am still quilting all the time and find it very addictive, also still love watching Eleanor.

Started about 30 years ago...kicking and screaming. A lady at work asked me to "go to a quilt class" with her. I did not want to...did not need "another" hobby. But, the class was already paid for...and she did not want to go alone, when her friend had to drop out. So, I went...made a Christmas Tree wall-hanging.

As soon as I opened the door to that quilt shop...and saw all the glorious fabrics...and the different quilts displayed...I was HOOKED!