OMG! It's been a very long time! I'm in my 50's & I must have started in my late 20's. I know it was the traveling display of the Bicentennial Quilts that really got me motivated. I had wanted to learn to quilt but seeing those beautiful pieces was so inspirational. I still don't
get a great deal of quilting time but the friendships I have made & the joy it has brought me are such a blessing I can't imagine my life without quilting. Jill

It's probably been about 30 years, but devoted for about 20-25 years. I'm really leary of pattern directions I haven't made before. I usually make a sample block and then adjust it if I need to. Sometimes I can just look at it and tell it isn't correct. When that happens, I usually avoid all the patterns from that site.

SharonG/FL

I got my first sewing machine for Christmas in 2003. Made one quilt & quilted it on that little Singer in 04. Made another double size top in late 04, tried hand quilting but it was too SLOW! It stayed in a closet till after Katrina. I just needed something in my life that I was in control of. Ordered a New Joy frame with a Janome 1600P-DBX in November 05 & absolutely loved it! I quilted quite a few quilts with it but got to wanting more quilting space. We went to Paducah & drove a GAmmill Classic Plus in April last year. Had to have it. We ordered it in June, got it on July 15. My DH loves quilting with it & does pantos. I think it's too big & heavy so I bought me a Nolting Hobby Quilter & just got it yesterday. I haven't loaded a practice quilt yet cause I'm in the middle of making/finishing quite a few tops. I love quilting so much! Everything about it. Couldn't give it up if you asked me to. LOL

I have been quilting since 1978. I have done several large quilts but mostly wall hangings and smaller quilts. I used to sell the wall hangings but got tired of the business end of it. I would class myself as an intermediate quiter who is always in the need to improve. I am never in complete control so everything is a challenge. I love it, especially the fabric and the fun I give to others when I give them away. Jayne

I love Jayne's comment: "I am never in complete control so everything is a challenge." Boy--ain't that the truth! Even when I'm working on a quilt that should be a breeze, I can be sure that something will pop up and surprise me.

Annie

Less than two years, since I'm not counting a couple baby quilts and pillows I did years ago. I've turned out two full sized ones, have a third within days of finish and a fourth the top nearly done but put it on hold..... and am starting blocks for my fifth.

My problem with the lotto block was a large part my machine eating material at the beginning of my seams. I work ten to sixteen hour days during planting season and can only get up to the machine for a couple hours I steal around midnight. I got that situation corrected, but kept loosing the tips of the stars in the seams, and just couldn't visualise which way to press the seams when joining. I am laughing, because as soon as I did the two rejects I kept, and the two I sent, the rationale behind the pattern just hit me. I've made four more blocks since then and they just flew together with the seams spot on the money.

I also noticed, especially with the black materials that I simply could not see where I was working. The room is poorly lit, and I do have a pole lamp next to the machine, but it's ON THE WRONG SIDE! LOLOL I was working on black material in my own shadow I'll need to figure out how to put it where it actually shines on my work.

I used to work in engineering, and am comfortable with space and patterns and how things go together, but not having a lesson one, or even a quilter around to ask most of the methods I find work for me were just born of necessity. That's why this forum is such a joy. There is seldom a day go by where somebody doesn't shed some light on an easier way to do something.

Calliope: Good lighting is essential. The link below will take you to a picture from a recent quilting retreat I had at my house. You can see how the light is positioned in the foreground of the picture. It's a halogen desk lamp. In the background, you will notice that there is a fluorescent lamp lighting the work of that student. She's working at the spot where I do my FM quilting and I like a lamp that covers a larger area there. The halogens are nice for piecing because I can almost pinpoint the presser foot with them. I always make sure that my task lamp is positioned between me and the work, so that I can't cast a shadow on it.

Annie

Here is a link that might be useful: task lighting

I've been piecing for about 5 yrs. I've only quilted the smaller runners and throws. I send out my larger quilts to the professionals. I would love to have a long arm. I've taken some classes on one and it's so much fun.
Carolyn

Took my first class (from Eleanor Burns) in 1981 and made my first real quilt then.Before that my Best GF and i made a quilt from double knits(what did we know) by just sewing 5 or 6 inch blocks together.Those quilts wore like cast iron.I've been doing it off and on ever since.
Kathi

I have been sewing and quilting for about 35 years. Now I feel old!LOLO I started when I was a younger kid than I am now. I don't make as many full sized quilts any more since my family and I have more than enough. Wall hangings are easier to store and make wonderful gifts.
Suellen

Very interesting topic Annie!

Wow I did not realize what a "quilt baby" I am! Or maybe toddler... It's been almost 3 years for me now, I think, but there have been long stretches where work kept me out of town for months on end.

ANYHOW -- I REALLY look at patterns different now than I did at first. My first quilt was just squares sewn together w/ a 1/2" seam allowance, but my second one was the Mexican Star pattern. Which I love. But I went into a full blown rant on here about the INCOMPLETE directions because for the star point you're sewing a triangle to a square and NO WHERE in EITHER of my patterns did it mention how to align them. It just said "Sew these two pieces togheter." I WAS INCENSED when I realized about overlapping corners and stuff (after sewing almost all my blocks together...), and then perplexed when more people didn't seem to share my outrage at the BLATANT INSTRUCTION OVERSIGHT!

Lucky for me I got the quilt together pretty successfully -- to date it is still my favorite. BUT now I see books that give charts and pictures on how different triangles sould be aligned when piecing. WHO KNEW???? I guess they assumed that I did...

NOW I'm at a point where I look at patterns that use HSTs, 4 and 9 patches, etc, and can completely disregard their instructions and do it the "quickie way" or "Strip piece" way that I have learned.

I was thinking the other day that for me, quilting is like a video game is to a child -- when you are so interested in something you can learn a lot about it without even realizing some of it was pretty difficult.

Here's a link to my Mexican Star quilt -- most of you have seen it but I can't resist sharing AGAIN as it is my pride and joy to this day! (I'm actually pretty impressed looking at it now realizing how little I knew when I made it!)

Here is a link that might be useful:

I've been quilting since the early 90's with an 7ish yr break from '99-'06. It all started in college....something to keep me busy. :) I made my soon-to-be husband one of my first quilts who was being deployed at the time. He proudly took the quilt with him & we still have it on our couch.

When I first started, I was a "traditionalist". Did trad patterns, joined POM club & did quilting by hand. (ugh!) I continued to quilt on/off until about '99 when we moved & changed churches.

My quilting collected cobwebs until I realized there was a quilting group at my church early last year(another excuse to have another night out besides scrapbooking!) So, I've been quilting enthusiastically again for a little over a yr & quilting "outside the trad. box" for the most part. Now that I'm machine quilting, I will probably never hand quilt again! Yeehaw!

All it took for me to get the quilting bug again last year was swapping fabric in the mail for my soon-to-be adopted daughter's "100 Wishes Quilt". I was hooked. It went from that one quilt to multiple WIPs, WISP, & UFOs (some new & some completed from yrs ago!) & collecting fabric. I really do think quilting fabric releases some sort of pheromone. ;) Maybe it's just the sizing spray they use.

The link below will take you to my blog. A bit useless, but it's more for my personal documenting of my quilting/sewing projects.

http://crafteed2.blogspot.com/2007/08/past-quilts.html

Laura--I can see why that Mexican Star Quilt is still your favorite--it's beautiful!
One of my favorites is about eight years old and it's far from perfect because it's one of my first machine quilting attempts, but I still love it.

Annie

I first started quilting in about 1980 and worked at it on and off until approximately 1986. Then I started graduate school and working full time and I forgot I ever was a quilter. I think it was about the year 2001 when I began quilting aqain and I haven't stopped since.

Interesting thread. First started quilting about 25 years ago (yikes - can't believe I'm old enough to have done something for that long - LOL); mostly appliqued baby quilts at that time. Got away from it for about 15 years and just re-discovered quilting in the last year or so.
I'm hooked all over again, but I'm my worst enemy because I don't pick easy projects (cathedral window quilt - queen bed is the current one).

Margaret

I made my first quilt at age 13 back in 1970. I was entirely too interested (by my mother's standards) in a boy. To keep me distracted over summer vacation, she sent me to the lady up the street to learn to quilt. Every day I'd walk up there with my Sunbonnet Suzie quilt and sit with her and chat.

By the end of the summer I'd learned how to coordinate color, cut, quilt and embroider and had a wonderful twin sized quilt to give my aunt for her birthday.

I dated that same boy from 1970-1975!

Since then I made quilts for all the brides in the family. When I returned to college in 1993, I stopped because of time constraints. Only in the last two years have I taken it up again. I realized after all the years and quilts, I didn't own any myself. Now, I'm keeping them!

I found this forum and it's wonderful to share ideas, patterns, questions.

Started about 10 or 12 years ago. Never sewed anything before that. Like to pick patterns, choose and buy fabric, and piece tops. Then I lose interest. I dread machine quilting and have to push myself to do it and I am getting better at it. But I wish I could afford to get someone else to do it. Like hand quilting for relaxation but it's time consuming.I'm trying to use up my stash before I buy any more. I haven't bought any new fabric since Dec. 2007-- just making do with what's on hand.
~Geraldine

(just found this forum...been obsessing over on the tomato forum all this time....Glad I found you)
I have been quilting for 12 1/2 yrs. My great Aunt Peggy and I talked about me learning for yrs, just never seemed to have enough time......The day we planned to start (had the material picked out and ready) she was gonna babysit for my 2 little ones for a couple hrs and then I'd hang out w/ her and start my first........Never happened, she died suddenly that mornin' before we got there..........Learned a hard lesson that day, lost a great teacher, fabulous Auntie.........Now every quilt I make I think of her, sometimes At my most frustated, I swear, I can hear her chuckle........... ;o)

I've been quilting for 6 years. Aunt Net from here on the forum called me after my husband died and invited me to go to a quilt show with her. I have sewn since I was in the 7th grade (I'm 50 now, so that's a few years) but I had never made a quilt. I was overwhelmed with the quilts I saw and knew I had been missing something. I jumped in, not really knowing what I was doing but having a great time. I made two memory quilts from t-shirts of my late husband, a quilt for both of my boys,and a christmas quilt all in the 1st year. I've slowed down alot and have taken some classes and have gotten involved with the birthday blocks. Looking back I did alot wrong but have learned alot along the way. Quilting is a stress relief for me, even when I have to rip the seams out more than once.

I started quilting in 1971. I copied old quilts that were given to me as gifts, but not until I joined a quilt guild did I realize the old quilts were not quilted with any expertise--there were probably three stitches to the inch. I came to quilting more from an art background and my favorite pieces are pictorial quilts. When I went into editing and writing for magazines, I could no longer do the eye work in the evening and stopped quilting. I would like to take it up again now that I'm retired, but with lymphodema I'm not supposed to get any pin pricks in my left arm. I was never one to quilt with a thimble on the underneath (left) hand, so I may have to take my chances or learn to do it differently. My main interest in quilting was in experimenting with non-traditional materials, which was a natural choice as in the early years of the quilting revival, there was a poor selection of material even for traditional style. One of the things I learned was that polished cotton is a bear to quilt.

Carol--You need to explore machine quilting/thread painting, especially with your interest in art quilts and non-traditional materials. There is a great article on Laura Fogg and a tutorial on using unusual fibers and materials in pictorial quilts in the March issue of Quilter's Newsletter. I've included a link to some of Laura's work below.

Annie

Here is a link that might be useful: Laura Fogg

Damascusannie, for me quilting is about the handcraft-- so machine quilting has no appeal. The actual quilting design has always been part of my pictorial quilts and wall hangings. In my Zuni Sunrise, the figures are appliqued, but the sunrise design is done only in quilting.

Thanks for the heads up on the article. I haven't taken the Newsletter for years, but always loved it--I started getting it when it was a newletter for real, before the magazine. Do you know if she has written a book? I haven't seen anything on pictorial quilts since Mosley's book.

Carol:
I used to feel the same way, but then I actually tried free-motion machine quilting. My work is completely hand guided, done without drawn patterns 95% of the time, and worked on a treadle sewing machine, so I don't feel that I've lost that connection with the quilt that handquilting always gave me. I actually feel like I have more freedom of expression as the process is like drawing. It's also very challenging to do well and I like a challenge! I'm not trying to talk you out of hand quilting, because I love doing that, too. I'm just suggesting that machine quilting might be a little different than you remember. Google "Hollis Chatelaine" and I think you'll see what I mean.

As far as books on pictorial quilts--It's a hot trend in quilting and there are dozens of books on the subject now. I'm including a link for you to look at, but be warned, it lists dozens of books on the subject of pictorial and art quilts, plus books on embellishments, new techniques, etc...so you are going to want to allow yourself a couple of hours to browse through it.

Art quilting has come a long way in the past 20 years. When Caryl Bryer Fallert won Best of Show at the American Quilter's Society Show (the most prestigious show in the world) for a machine-quilted art quilt in 1989, the judges received almost universal criticism from the main-stream quilting world, but the precedent was set and now such quilts regularly win at the major shows.

There are several art quilting forums on the net and you might want to check them out--they are going to know much more about the subject than I do.

Annie

Here is a link that might be useful: Index to pictorial and art quilt books

Carol:

I got to thinking that hand quilting tools have changed a bit in the past 20 years, too. One thing that has been developed are several systems for protecting the bottom finger as you quilt. They are not thimbles and I've heard good things about them from hand quilting friends. Here's a link to just one site that carries a variety of these. In fact, if you do a search for "quilting thimbles" you'll find a lot of possible solutions to your dilemma.

Annie

Here is a link that might be useful: source for finger protectors

Damascusannie, In looking through some of my quilt supplies, I discovered some stick on ovals that are meant to serve as protectors, but I don't recall trying them. I'll start there.

About the books, thanks for the link. I'll have to find the actual books though to see what is inside. I don't need any how-tos and although I enjoy many modern approaches to piecing--especially Nancy Crow and Carolyn Muller, it is not what I am imspired to do at this time. About the machine quilting--I've never seen any that didn't look like machine stitching. I prefer the look of handcrafted stitching and being retired, I have the time.

I would love to go to the big competition in Kentucky; I did have a piece in it one year, but couldn't get away. I have no interest in competing now, but just enjoying the work. Have you been? What kind of quilts do you like?

This has been such an interesting read. I started
quilting in the very early 70's. I still like
traditional and scrap quits. I'm more of a piecer
than a quilter. I have well over 50 tops that need
to be quilted. 3 years ago I bought the Grace frame
and Juki to use on it. I turn out lots of small stuff
on that. When my ship comes in I want to buy a mid arm.
Mayme

I started quilting about 18 years ago. It took me a very long time to finish my first one. When the kids were small, I didn't have very much time to work on quilting, and I didn't have a very good place to work. Now I have a sewing room, and I go in spurts-sometimes I am very productive, and sometimes I get in a rut and don't quilt. I'm trying to get out of a rut right now.

Interesting topic.

I've been quilting for about 16 years. I was bored one day, sitting home with my young son. The DH and I were transferred to this city, but my skills and experience didn't translate as well as his did. Also the day-care stunk - no way was I leaving my baby with what I could find.

So I made a quilt. It was ugly. My son still liked it. I made more. They were better. I grow in experience, and so do my quilts.

I lean toward unique twists on conventional patterns.

While I enjoy and admire them, you'll probably never find me making a pictorial or landscape quilt. I adore the regimented geometric qualities of traditional quilt patterns, and I'm much more likely to play with colors and values and block settings than I am with free-form.

Carol: While my own work is highly traditional, I love hand applique for instance, I'm a great admirer of the work being done in all fields of quilting now. Long gone are the days when there was just one "right" way to quilt. Today, almost anything goes and I think that's a wonderful trend. I think it makes quilting so much more appealing to new generations of quilters. I don't have a lot of pictures of my own quilts, too many head out the door before I have time to take pictures and I lost many of my shots in a computer crash a year ago. You can see a few examples of quilts I've finished for others, quilts I've made and actually gotten pictures of, and a couple of UFOs that I'm working on via the link below. Some pictures of my sewing machine collection are there, too. Feel free to wander around!

Annie

Here is a link that might be useful: Annie's webshots albums

Annie, I agree. I have no problem with machine quilting winning contests. It is no less a skill than hand quilting. When I headed up a show years ago, I displayed some quilts that I thought were ugly, but soon heard two older ladies recalling fond memories of quilts like those. Ours was not a closed members only show, so we had a great range of styles, quilting quality and tastes included and that is what quilting has to offer. I wrote a letter to the Newsletter because we had gotten some criticism about the "quality" of the show. The point I made was that there is no one right kind of quilt or quilt show.

Annie, I only get a blank page when I try the link.

Carol--I don't know why it's giving you a blank page. It does a take a bit of time to load, but I tried it and it opened just fine. Weird!

Annie