Hello and Welcome to My Quilting Space!

This is Susan and I have created this site for anyone interested in learning how to quilt.  I am, for the most part,  a self-taught quilter and as a result have first hand knowledge and experience of what works and what does not.  Often, the way to learn what to do is the result of making a mistake – a lesson in what not to do!  It is my hope to help you avoid expensive and time consuming pitfalls. I will also share what I consider to be the best tools and most efficient techniques to help you turn your stash of fabric bundles into a quilted creation of your own .

The Starting Point

Sometime during my senior year in high school I happened upon a stack of fabric scraps my grandmother  had stored in her sewing room.  Eyeing those fabrics brought back memories of the many  dresses she made for my sister and I and the hours spent teaching me how to cut out pattern pieces and sew many of my own outfits.

I wanted do something with all that fabric but what?  My aunt who lived next door made hundreds of quilts in her lifetime but no one else in our family had any interest whatsoever in making quilts.

Always the one wanting to do things differently from everyone else in my family I decided to be the one to carry my late aunt’s “quilting torch”.  Here was my naive 17 year old thought process, “If I can sew my own blouses, dresses and skirts, sewing a quilt made from a bunch of squares should be easy!”

That was over 40 years ago.  At that time quilts were quite cumbersome and since I didn’t always have access to a sewing machine (or one that would accomodate multiple layers of fabric) piecing and quilting was often accomplished by hand stretched over a large round hoop or floor frame.  They took up a lot space and required a lot of time and patience to just started let alone finish.  What teen has time for that?

That quilt was never finished.  And over the next few years there were many starts and stops that resulted in too many UFO’s (Un-Finished prOjects) but nothing finished until 3 years ago.

That’s when I began in earnest to learn to quilt.  I joined a quilting group at the local hospital making lap sized comfort quilts for the patients and their families.  This is such an easy and doable size – something I should have started with many years ago.

Cutting Up Fabric and Sewing It Back Together

Probably the most important aspect of quilting is having the confidence of knowing you can complete that project and do so sooner than you think.  There nothing better than finishing what you have started and to know that what you have completed is an item that someone else would want to own.  Sure, you cut fabric into designated pieces and sew them back together but the finished product is is your own creation.

My new motto.”Finished is better than perfect”.  I bought a magnet with this phrase written on it from a local quilt shop.  It’s prominently displayed in my sewing room as reminder whenever I find myself ripping out more thread than I stitched!

But Quilting Requires a Lot of Time and Experience, Right?

Not anymore.  Yes, there is a process and some aspects are more time consuming than others but getting the basics first and getting them right: accurate cutting, accurate seam allowances, using the right tools, will save time and your finished project will look as though it was created by an experienced quilter.  There is no need to feel so overwhelmed and stressed out that you can’t take the first step!

Keys to Success

This site was created for YOU – the person who loves fabrics and quilts and wants to be able to create those colorful, imaginative, jaw dropping works of art but may not know exactly where to start.

You have other responsibilities in your life and wasting time is not  on your list.  Neither is wasting money.

I also want to show you that with the right foundation of techniques and a few tools that anyone, even you – with little time and experience – and with the desire to learn to quilt, can successfully create a quilt from start to finish.

If you have any questions, comments or just want to say Hi!, feel free to comment below!

All the best,

Susan

myquiltingspace.com