I remember it very distinctly.
I was wandering the rows at the International Quilt Festival in Houston my junior year in college. I had made my first quilt a few months prior, on a whim, and my mother thought it would be fun to check out this quilt show that was just a short drive from their house.
If you've been to the festival, you know the quilt gallery is huge! Aisles and aisles of masterful quilts, organized, more or less, by styles. I've never been good about sticking to a straight path-- I'd walk up a row, spot something pretty a few isles over, head over to that, turn around, walk up the next aisle. All of a sudden, after about 30 minutes of meandering, I spotted a quilt a couple aisles over that I had to see closer. I bee-lined to it and gasped.
The vibrant color, the texture, the intricacy-- I had never seen anything like it.
It was a garden scene with a bench, a stream cutting around the bench and down the quilt, a tree in the background full of leaves, and a fiery, spiraling sun overhead. I didn't know of the technique at the time, but it was all done in raw-edge appliqué. I could not stop looking at it. I got really close, put my hands behind my back so I wouldn't be tempted to touch -- those women in the white gloves walking up and down the aisles looked ready to scold a handsy college student.
I stood in front of this quilt for at least 20 minutes, trying to figure out how the quilter made this, and marveling at the movement and life she was able to create with fabric!
My mother looked at it for a reasonable amount of time, then moved on to look at others. She came back a while later, insisting we really needed to go, they'd be closing down soon, and she wanted to beat the rush out. She had to practically drag me away.
This was the first time I saw that quilting could be an art form. It could be expressive and evocative. It could be as detailed as a painting, but no painting could ever match a quilt's texture. It went beyond inspiration. My heart was beating quickly, I had a dozen ideas spinning in my head, I could not wait to go buy some more fabric and begin playing.
That quilt changed everything. I had fallen head over heels in love with this craft.
I wish I could find the picture I took of the quilt, or knew the quilter's name, but I am eternally grateful for that piece of art, because it inspired everything I've done since.
What was it for you? What made you start quilting? What made you come to love this craft? Leave a comment below-- I'd love to hear.
P.S. If you think you might know the quilt I'm talking about, I'd love to try to track down the quilt/quilter to thank him or her. It was around 2006.
50 comments
My grandmother was a quilter and made a beautiful poinsettia quilt for my husband and I when we married a few days right after Christmas 1972. It was appliqués and quilted by hand. I love that quilt and all the love she poured into it. Then in 2004, my husbands company moved us away from family and that move occurred a few months after my son and his wife separated. I decided to help with summer child care by having the kids, 7 and almost 4, in Michigan at our first annual Camp Grammy. I decided to make quilts for them that did two things: interpret their self portraits and write the message “always kiss me goodnight.” Here is a picture of my grandson’s quilt. I made mistakes but still accomplished what I set out to do. Now I make quilts for gifts, never for myself! Yikes, I can’t post a picture, so I’ll describe it. He drew himself as a stick figure, so I duplicated it 5 times and used black thread to paint on the fabric, copying his drawing. Those were rectangles so I the added plain rectangles, sashing, and borders in the colorful fabrics I chose. Then I hand quilted the whole thing. Hope they always treasure them.
I remember my grandmother letting me help her with a doll’s quilt when I was about 4 or 5 years old. It was a simple little quilt of half-inch pastel squares surrounded by a small border. I loved that little quilt and it was a prized possession for many years. Now that I am retired, the memory of that little quilt has encouraged me to learn how to quilt myself and give back some of the joy that quilt gave to me, by making quilts for Project Linus UK. Happy quilting!
My love for quilting and sewing came from my Nana Joyce Hill. I’m one of the older grandkids and I wanted to be able to learn a skill from her and I’m by no means a baker which she is also good at which is also what my sister inherited but I was able to learn how she reads patterns and figure out designs and such for quilting and other small sewing projects. My grandma on my mom side passed away and I inherited her sewing machine. I had never really paid attention when my grandma would do it so I had asked my Nana Joyce if she would show me how to use it and it was smooth sailing from there. I remember being so nervous cause I didn’t want to break it. now I’m more confident and doing many projects I never dreamed of doing before. I’m glad I was able to have both my Grandma’s in one way or another help me clear the path to what I’m able to do today and what I continue learning about!
My great aunt Florence, in the 1930’s & 40’s made several quilt tops. Because my mom liked to sew, my aunt gave them to my mom in the 1950’s. My mom kept those quilt tops in our garage, where I came across them. (It was years later before I actually opened them up and really looked at them.) I took a big interest in quilts, when in my high school American History class we were all assigned a final exam project. I asked the teacher, “If I make a quilt will you let me keep it?” It was the policy to forfeit your project to the teacher. He agreed, so I made my 1st quilt when I was 16. I have collected scraps of fabric since I was very young. I used these fabrics and some my mom had leftover from dresses she had made me and my 2 sisters. It was 1976. I wish I had known that it was also the beginning of our country’s quilt revival! I made another 4 quilts by the mid 1980’s. One of them is still only a top. One I gave away, & the other 2 were each baby quilts for my 2 babies. That was over 30 years ago. I became an all in quilter in the early 1990’s. One of these days I would like to finish my favorite aunt’s quilt tops. A few years ago my mom gave me all of those quilt tops as well as some beautiful appliqué blocks my grandmother (mom’s mom) made all by hand and embroidered around all the edges with blanket stitches. I’d like to make those into quilts someday as well.
I only started sewing to do craft and gift items. I wanted to make something special for my mother’s 70th birthday and my best friend introduced me to quilting. I took a class at a local quilt shop to learn the basics. My first completed quilt was for my mother’s 70th birthday and she loved it – she has been using it ever since and this year she has turned 90. I continue to quilt and share the completed quilts with my friends and family.