Saturday, February 20, 2010

How I Got Started Quilting

What can I say, I am HOOKED:) I love quilting. I also knit and crochet. I have been knitting and crocheting for like 25 + years now. I am getting tired of knitting and crocheting. How I got started quilting. Here is my story.
I am the 3rd child in my family, my older sister,my older brother,me and then my younger brother. Well, one day at work, my younger brother called me and told me that my older brother was at the hospital the night before, he had fallen down a flight of stairs. I went to the hospital and saw my older brother hooked up to all of those machines. I knew that this was not good. It was not. My older sister lives about 3-1/2 hours away from us, I called her and told her about our brother. She came down to be with us. We talked with the doctors and they said this is not good, our brother would either(most likely) be on a breathing machine and most likely not know us for the rest of his life. Our brother was going to be a vegetable for the rest of his life. We did not want that and neither did he. So, we had to make a decision. It is the most difficult thing anyone has to do. So, when the day came, that morning, I remember exactly how the hospital room was. We(my sister,me and our younger brother) went to go and talk and have some lunch(none of us were hungry but we had to eat something). When we came back, we talked with the doctors again and told them that we have decided to let our brother go to heaven to be with our mom and dad. There was a quilt at the end of his bed. When I saw that, I felt like someone just kicked me in my chest. I knew then, that is what I wanted to do as a craft. When I saw that, I lifted a corner, and there was a little saying(I can't remember what it said) but I started to cry, my sister had asked me why I was crying, I told her, this quilt was not here when left this morning. This is my new craft, quilting. I LOVE IT!!!!!!!! That quilt was giving to my son. I wanted to give back to the community, like do charity quilts for the sick, homeless, the kids, etc. I guess you can say that my older brother got me started. Well, the story goes on, I was at work and a friend there also quilts. She told me about the International Quilt Fest in Illinois, I told her, I would like to go with her. So we hopped on a bus and away we went. When we got there, WOW, WOW,WOW I could not believe all of those beautiful quilts. It got worst when I saw all of those vendors and all of that fabric, WOW. I had never sewn before, nor did I even own a sewing machine. So I told my husband about all of this(with my brother and all) I told him that I wanted a sewing machine, so he told me to find out what it takes to get started. So on my little marry way I went. I went to the sewing machine store, got one. Then I went to a local fabric shop(which I love) and signed up for a beginners class on quilting. It has been history since then. I have made a sampler quilt(the one from the class) for our son. I started another greens/tans/browns quilt for our son. I have signed up for the Sylvia's Bridal Sampler which will take like 3 yrs and I would like to make a wall hanging quilt for our cabin upnorth as well as one for our bed. I also have made alot of new friends, loving people who have been quilting for years and years and their quilts are just so beautiful. I have learned alot since I took that beginners class on quilting. Now, away I go, to quilt.