I have sincerely loved your stories of learning to sew and then going on to take up quilting. I, like you, pretty much did the same and never looked back!
It’s late tonight but I wanted to post these photos. Our friend Vicki is a master quilt maker. Look at this picture she sent today. Such great fall quilts!
Here is Deb’s Jack!
My new stove has way too many settings! If you have a glass top stove do you also have a silicone pad on top?
It’s late tonight and I haven’t had the best day so…..
Good Night!
P.S. if you haven’t sent me your beginning sewing/quilting story, please do!
Here’s my sewing history —-
I learned to embroider at my Grandma’s cottage in the Michigan woods, when I was about 10 years old.
It consisted of 2 bedrooms and a porch, which was the kitchen, with an old fashioned ice box. This was in the mid 1940’s. After electric came along, then we had an electric stove. Before that, my Grandma cooked on an old black iron stove. She made “cottage pancakes very thin and crispy. On a rainy day, we’d sit on the beds and embroider or color or cut out paper dolls. No running water, just a pump in the yard and of course – an outhouse.
After my grandfather died, my grandmother was left with 3 young children, 5 and under – my mom was the oldest. My mother became a very good seamstress, making her graduation dress and eventually her wedding dress.
When I was about 11, my mom taught me to sew. I made a sleeveless blouse on my grandmother’s treadle machine which had been converted to electric, with a knee pedal. I discovered roller skating when I was 15, so I made many skating skirts and eventually I was in competitions, so I made my costumes – satin fabric with lots of sequins. I eventually made most of my clothes. I was a secretary in downtown Chicago and we wore dresses or skirts and high heels. No slacks back then. When my kids came along, I sewed a lot of their clothes. I always made their Halloween costumes, I never bought a ready made one.
My mom also taught me to crochet. I made a Granny square afghan, that I still have today. I also learned to knit and in the 80’s I worked 12 years at a Knitting store.
When I was 12 years old, I started sewing a Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilt, using my mom’s scraps and my template was from a cereal box! All stitched by hand. I did buy a few fabrics, I’d only get 1/8 of a yard at 25 cents a yard! I also bought white fabric for the background and solid yellow for the middles of the hexagon blocks. When I started skating, I lost interest in quilting, but eventually finished it 25 years later. My next quilt was a sampler, made in the 80’s – all shades of brown, very popular back then. Then I joined a quilt guild and my quilting career took off. I made many friends through the two guilds I belonged to. And now, my best friends are quilters – including Moe, her sisters Geri and Mary Rita. We went to Paducah 15 times, also Rosemont show and many bus trips with the guild – including two times we stopped at Country Threads. One time you made supper for our busload of 42 ladies, up in the barn.
Right now I’m up at my cottage in Michigan – 300 miles from my home in Illinois. Since I share with 2 of my sisters, we each take 2 months, switching seasons every year. My time this year is Autumn – September and October. It’s always very peaceful and quiet this time of year. Mostly weekenders. I bring my sewing machine and right now I’m binding 3 quilts and working on a feed sack quilt. I also brought crocheting, embroidering and wool projects and I read every afternoon. I mostly read non-fiction, a lot of biographies. My sisters and I trade books.
Gail – I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed your sewing/quilting/needlework story! And since I know you it was even better!! My background isn’t nearly so interesting or colorful – haha! I’ve seen pics of your cottage and can understand why you love it so much. I loved our cottage, too, but it was impossible to stay there for any length of time because of all my animals. I remember the night we,served.supper in the haymow – such a great memory.
I started my first quilt at about eight or nine, a nine patch made out of leftover fabric from mom’s clothing fabrics. She sewed for herself, my two sisters, and myself. I cut out the squares with a cardboard template and sewed them together on her old Montgomery Wards sewing machine. (That was her first electric machine.) Having not finished it into a quilt, she sandwiched and tied it for a floor quilt when I had babies. Unfortunately, I didn’t take the time to have her teach me to quilt as I worked full-time at one job, part-time at another and raised three children. After she had passed a friend and I would go on shopping trips which always included a quilt shop or two including Country Threads and I would buy things but it wasn’t until several years later that I gave up the part-time job and then working only one job I took a beginning quilting class and haven’t looked back.
The Goat Gazette gave me inspiration in those early years.
Ann – thank you for coming to Country Threads!!! And for mentioning the Goat Gazette
I have my ducks in a row. I just can’t pick them up.
My mom and grandmother both sewed. I remember my grandmother had her quilt frame set up in the living room. I still have the quilt she made me. My mom took some extension classes, and she made a away suddenly beautiful, quilted corduroy jacket. I have some of the lather buttons she used. I took Home Ec for all four years of high school. I made most of my clothes. A friend’s mother -in-law wanted to learn t quilt so she and I took a quilt as you sew class in 1985. The batting was puffier than I use now. Trying to quilt the thicker batt almost made me quit. I received a blue ribbon on it for first time quilters in our county fair. I wish I had kept a record of all the things I have made. I did finish a small quilt with wool applique from the Jingle All the Way book today. A friend of mine passed away suddenly a couple of weeks ago. Her quilts were hung over the pews in church. I keep thinking of all the projects that she was unable to finish. It makes me think of my many projects. I need to use my time more wisely. Jack takes a beautiful picture. I wonder if he is an English setter. Have a good evening.
Hmmm … I don’t really remember when I learned to sew , but I do remember being at my mom’s sewing machine, trying to make outfits for my Barbie. My mom could sew anything. I’d show her a picture of an outfit in a magazine and she’d make it for me. I never learned that skill! We didn’t have home ec. In school, so I guess I learned the basics from my mom and fudged the rest, lol! When I sewed clothes, I just wanted to cut it out, sew from start to finish, and have it fit perfectly. You can guess how that worked out! I guess that’s one thing I really like about quilting… it doesn’t have to fit! I took one quilting class back in the late seventies, where we learned a variety of techniques (‘puff’ quilting, cathedral windows, dresden plate, log cabin, quilt-as-you-go, etc.). I wish I’d kept them all. I don’t think I had ever heard of quilts or quilting before that. I enjoyed the classes, but didn’t really get back into quilting until the early 1990’s. Now I can’t stop … I have to try to work my way through the stash I’ve accumulated over the last 30 years! I’m thankful for my stash though … have you seen the price of fabric these days (of course you have)?! This topic has sure got us talking and reminiscing, Mary!
My mother was an amazing seamstress.She made alot of my clothes and her clothes and my Barbie was beautifully dressed for every occasion (including having a lined coat) because of her skills. She taught me to sew on her Singer, which I now own.
I made my clothing too for years. When our only child passed away as an infant, my dr’s wife (friend of our family) took me to her quilting bee. Those wonderful ladies taught me to quilt, cutting templates from Manila folders and fabric with scissors..no rotary cutters yet. I haven’t stopped since..46 yrs now
I crochet, have made and sold cloth dolls at craft shows and stores when “country” was the thing.
Quilting has my heart and my house looks like a quilt museum..love making small and mini quilts nowadays…instant gratification and I can move on to the next quilt quickly..lol
My husband and I prefer to have quilts on the walls in place of pictures
I’ve had glass top stoves for close to 25 yrs..I don’t put anything on it like you mention
I am really enjoying the stories!!! I cannot remember the age I actually started to sew. It seems that I have been around people who sewed, quilted, tatted, crocheted, and knitted my whole life! My maternal grandmother was the big quilter. She lived and worked on the farm in NE Indiana. I still don’t know where she found the time to sew!!! As we got older, we would always go into one of the bedrooms at the farm house to see Grandma’s works in progress. She ALWAYS had quilts ready for the quilting frame and one ALWAYS on the frame. She quilted every one of them by hand!! My mother was an accomplished seamstress and could crochet anything from a pattern. She tried to teach me to crochet but I really wasn’t interested in it at the time. I am really furious with myself for not learning to crochet. My mother passed 10 years ago and I can’t help but think she would have been so proud of me had I learned it. One of these days I will learn to crochet. Now, I have a story about a home ec assignment when I was in 7th grade back in the early 70s, The home ec teacher assigned some fancy ass way to sew seams on long sleeves that was really hard to do. So, there I am at home on my mother’s sewing machine (a Kenmore with the knee lever to make it sew) and I’m growing more and more frustrated and close to tears. My mom asked me all about the assignment and what I was supposed to do, etc. She looked at me and simply stated, “Well that’s the stupidest thing I have ever heard! There is a much easier way to do this,” So. she showed me her way and I was so relieved. The sleeves went together and I was happy! Come to find out, I got an F on that assignment because I didn’t do it the way the teacher said to do it. I was mortified! That was my FIRST F! When I got home and told my mom about it she told me that It was OK and that the teacher could have made it simpler and not some fancy assed way! I gained a whole new outlook and respect for my mother, I miss her every day but this was a great memory for me.
Sharon G – this is my problem at any judged event –
My mother was trained as a tailor. She made mine and my sisters’ clothes, my Daddy’s dress shirts, and Barbie doll clothes, but never made quilts. She died when I was 11 years old in 1967. I learned to sew in Home Economics in high school. I also did cross stitch in my 20s. My Daddy remarried late 1968. She was a wonderful woman and she peaked my interest in quilting. She hand pieced and hand quilted her quilts. I did not start quilting until after my daughter was born (1990). Since I worked full time, I didn’t make many quilts, but I sure collected a ton of fabric! I started producing more quilts around 2010 and more after I retired in 2020. I love spending time with my quilting friends making quilts and enjoying each other’s company. Quilters are such warm hearted and kind people.
Hi Mary,
I have not had time to read all of the stories of learning to sew/quilt. Mine is pretty short. My Nana was a quilter, but neither my sister nor I learned from her. My mother NEVER sewed that I remember. She said she made all of her own clothes for too many years with too little fabric so she never sewed after she got her first job!! I learned to sew in 7th grade Home Ec. from MIss Crawford who was the MOST patient person ever! I made an apron. No idea where it is. I also made the little sampler which I will sent a photo. I made a lot of my own clothes as a teenager. With the leftovers of those clothes, I made my first quilt in 1972 for our daughter’s birth. It was just 4″ squares. I still have it and it is somewhat frayed, but I plan to fix it soon. My first actual quilt I made in 1982, but never finished until after I joined the Quilt Guild because my husband broke his neck before the last class which taught us how to add borders and layer, quilt and bind it. In 1995, some friends told me I should join the Quilt Guild so I did and I learned to hand applique and then took several BEGINNING quilt classes to learn how to make a quilt:) I love all of the beautiful quilts and photos in the past few posts.
My maternal grandmother, an Iowa farmer’s wife, was a dressmaker and did all the needlecrafts: quilting, hardanger, cross stitch, knitting and crocheting. My mother sewed, knitted, tatted and crocheted. She made clothes for my sister and me, including coats, and reupholstered our furniture. She made 9-patch quilts for our first big beds.
My sister and I started to sew when we were in elementary school by making simple doll dresses on a treadle machine – fold a square of fabric in quarters, cut a neckline at the folded corner and cut a curved underarm shape at the opposite corner. Sew the side/underarm seams and cut a slit at the back of the neck. I took sewing in Junior High, but already knew what was being taught. In high school, the three of us made all our clothes with Mama’s Singer 201. We’d get fabric from Newberry’s basement for 25 cents a yard.
I started quilting when my kids were in elementary school. My first project was a pillow made with the Skyrocket block from Ruby Short McKim’s book. A neighborhood friend taught quiltmaking for adult education, and started a nighttime class about 10 miles away. She asked me to take the class so she wouldn’t have to drive alone on the dark road. I had started with templates and hand piecing, but she taught the class rotary cutting. I haven’t sewn clothing for many years, but I’m still a quilter, crocheter and knitter.
It’s fun to read everyone’s stories!
First memory is of having colored in squares on a gridded piece of paper (my first quilt design?) and showing it to my mother. Mom taught me how to sew buttons when I was about 5 years old, but I don’t remember her teaching me other sewing techniques.
Learned machine sewing on mom’s Kenmore. It had a knee lever pedal instead of a foot pedal. Don’t remember mom ever using it, but she probably did. Working as a nurse and raising 5 kids, plus helping Dad with farm stuff didn’t allow her much time for relaxation. She definitely did not make any of our clothes that I remember. I was always very interested in anything crafty. 4-H was probably where I learned most of my early clothes-making knowledge.
Started making wearable clothes in junior high and never really stopped. Memorable garments include a top made out of fabric with flocked bees. And even more ambitious was matching pantsuits for me and my boyfriend. I cringe at that now, but he wore the outfit, which did fit decent, thank goodness. Despite that, I did not marry him. Later on, made a ski jacket for hubby (probably the most involved project I’ve ever made—pockets and zippers everywhere).
One of my first quilts, which is still unfinished (sigh) was an Amish quilt pattern in Better Homes and Garden. It was touted as a weekend quilt! Truly it is, but I got all hung up on how they said to use a mattress pad as the backing/batting. I did not like that idea at all, but for some reason did not just go out and buy something else for the backing and use regular batting. Must finish.
I really loved how the 1976 Bicenntennial made quilt-making popular again. However, I remember 100% cottons being nearly impossible to find in that era. So, in the spirit of using fabric scraps and not having much money, I started a nine-patch quilt using fabrics leftover from my clothes-making. I used velour and seersucker (a mistake) and anything else I had, not knowing how some of the fabrics would last forever, and some would deteriorate much sooner. My husband’s plaid college laundry bag made it into the quilt, too. I hand quilted that quilt, and husband helped (young love). Warts and all, my first quilt was finished! We used it on our bed for many years, and I still have it, but it needs repairs (darn that seersucker).
Since then, have made many quilts—pieced, applique, mini, double wedding ring, lone star, grandmother’s flower garden, strippy quilts, etc.— and collected a LOT of fabric. One of my favorites is the quilt my sisters and nieces hand quilted for my parents’ 50th anniversary. The quilt top was made by my grandmother (long since passed), who I didn’t even know had made quilts, and was stored in my parents’ house. Wanting the quilt to be a surprise, I had to sneak it out for it to be finished. The joyful and amazed look on Mom and Dad’s faces when we gave them the quilt was priceless. As an extra ‘fun’ thing, my brother was getting married on our parents’ 50th anniversary, and his wife-to-be requested a double wedding ring quilt from me and my sisters, not knowing we were trying to finish grandma’s quilt. Gah! We managed, although instead of a double wedding ring, we made a quilt that we thought would be simpler and quicker. They loved it, too. Whew.
Loved when quilt fabric stores started popping up ‘everywhere’ and 100% cottons were available in so many cute, beautiful, amazing designs. Worked in a quilt store for several years and taught quilt classes there, too. Best job ever.
One of the first purchases as newlyweds in 1979 was a Brother sewing machine. It didn’t do anything fancy, but I couldn’t imagine being without a sewing machine. Many years later was able to buy a second hand Bernina with a knee lever to lift the presser foot and a needle stop down feature—was I in heaven, or what?!
Can’t imagine ever not making quilts, and I am even wanting to get more into sewing my clothes again. Too bad my body shape is not what it used to be—ha!
Have enjoyed everyone’s stories about how they got started sewing—sew fun!
When I was in 6th grade my BF’s mom taught her to sew by starting with a skirt. When I saw that skirt I wanted to make one too and thankfully her mom taught me also.My mom had a singer and after I learned the basics I was off and running. Made a lot of my clothes and even my wedding dress and once I had kids made a lot of Halloween costumes for them. Those were fun times. Started making quilts way back in 1978 before I knew about rotary cutters and everything was hand pieced and quilted. When my last son moved out of the house I turned his bedroom into my sewing room and it is my happy place!
As so many have, my “sewing story” began very early.i It was 1960 and I couldn’t wait to become 10 to join 4-H. That was when my mom gave in to my pleas for a sewing machine. it was a marvelous New Home treadle purchased for $10 at the estate sale of an extremely accomplished local seamstress. I grew up on a farm a few miles outside Denison, Iowa. When that sewing machine came into my life, my dad carried it upstairs to my bedroom. My mom said, “I don’t want to hear any more about a sewing machine. Figure it out and don’t sew your fingers together!” I did (figure it out) and I didn’t (sew my fingers together). It had boxes and boxes of wonderful attachments and I taught myself how to use them all. I became, over the years, quite an accomplished seamstress, myself. Eventually, when I was in my 40’s, I discovered quilting. I still make some garments, all my own draperies, etc. but mostly I quilt. I both piece and quilt by hand and on my machines (yes, I have several). I hand embroider and embroider on my very expensive embroidery machine (it is the most expensive”toy” I have!). When I was little, I couldn’t wait to learn to sew. When I grew up, I truly loved my work that took me to countries I never imagined this little ol’ Iowa farm girl would ever see; but, I couldn’t wait to retire so all I had to do was sew!
I always love the dogs, quilts the beautiful flowers. I made pajamas for the family to learn how to sew. JC Penny fabric 3 yds for $1. I put rick rack decoration on them. My sister admitted years late that she hated rick rack. So for her Christmas that year, I bought a cheap pair of flannel jammies, covered them with every piece of rick rack I owned. I had made my daughter clothes, lots of small pieces left. She called me laughing from Oklahoma about the pajamas. That night they had a horrible snow storm, took out their power for a week. Those pajamas and their rick rack were pretty nice then.
I always wanted to sew, I remember cutting out squares from a cereal box and drawing around it and cutting the fabric out with a scissors. I used a very small seam. I was already frugal with the fabric. Once the top was done, Mom took me to the JCPenneys that was in town and we went upstairs to the fabric department, I got to pick out the backing, 36″ wide and lime green! All the fabric from the top was given to me. My grandma was a quilter, but I guess she wasn’t interested in teaching me to sew or anything. My mom was not a quilter, so mom says, I taught myself. Although when it came to the insides of the quilt, mom said, some people use flannel sheets/blankets. Ok, I thought, if one flannel blanket is good, two must be better, so I put two in the quilt (big mistake). My aunt said that I must hand quilt this. UGH! Can you imagine how difficult this was to hand quilt. I was only 8 years old. I did not like hand quilting it, so my mom finished most of it. That turned me off from quilting for about 10 years. Moral of the story, don’t make someone do something that they don’t like to do, that is supposed to be fun. I still have my first quilt with the lime green backing. For years, I was tired of lime green (because of the quilt), but now it is one of favorite colors again.
Thanks for the nice comments about my Hydrangea. It is called Nikki Blue. I took that photo of it in early Aug. and now it has turned to a lovely shade of green. I will take another photo today to show you the color difference. Our soils are very acid here on the Oregon coast,which brings out the color blue in most hydrangeas, but Nikki is even more intense. I have been having so much trouble sending photos with my phone, but think I have finally got it fixed. So, maybe you will be seeing more of me now. All the sewing stories are such fun to read, with basically the same thread running through them. Determined to learn at whatever age, then on to the love of quilting. I recently tried my needle at counted cross stitch. I nearly lost my eyesight because I started with way too small of a count. Never again. Back to quilting.
Jack is so regal. What a beauty he is! One last thing! My pet peeve. (One of them) I have to turn my oven off before I can change the heat setting and then back on. Stupid.
Your hydrangeas got a “Wow” from me when I first saw them! I’ll bet they are just as gorgeous as they begin to turn green. Yes, please send pictures! There is a house on a busy corner here in town that has blue hydrangeas in a side border. I wonder if there has ever been an accident due to someone staring at them and forgetting to make the turn! Kris in WI.
I learned sewi when I was about 7years old from my great aunt who sewed for herself all her dresses(house dresses in the day always wore a dress) She worked at the button factory in Guttenberg Iowa till she moved to Dubuque then worked at a company where she sewed baby layettes. When in high-school I really started making my clothes, cheaper than buying. Quilting came after the birth of my kids and much more Quilting after grandkids came along, and now that I’m in retirement that’s all I do. I love every moment of it, love learning new things .
I love reading these stories about learning to sew and craft. These women were so resourceful!! And the encouragement they got from other women and men. We had a neighbor who was so talented. She helped my sisters with all their sewing adventures. My mother encouraged us, but she had limited skills. I just had a passion for anything hand made. I’m grateful for all the books written and shared.
Love the photos today – great quilts, pretty dogs, and rural life… what’s not to love!
Most women in my family sewed in some form or another. Grandma L often had a quilt frame set up in her dining room; Grandma N showed me how to piece when I was around 4 yo, plus she made me some dresses and a pair of pajamas (for my tonsillectomy recovery) on her treadle machine. I don’t remember how old I was, but my Christmas present one year was a red, metal toy sewing machine from Sears; I still have it! My mother and sisters sewed as well – one sister became a home economist later; one made my first wedding dress. Mom’s Singer was in a cabinet that sat in the living room, then the dining room – the big dining table made an excellent cutting table! I sewed my first real garment, a simple dress, when I was in 4th grade, around age 9 or 10. I had watched enough garment making and played with the sewing machine enough that Mom just turned me loose – it was a success. Later I sewed in a 4-H club for several years (along with cooking projects in another club) and finished with a tailoring project when I was a senior. I made my prom dresses, graduation dress, several school clothes – it was indeed cheaper than buying all my clothes. I continued sewing for myself into marriage and motherhood – maternity clothes, baby clothes, doll clothes, etc. I made a lot of school clothes for my kids – they were “lanky” and it was easier to fit them myself. I made curtains, pillows, slipcovers, and eventually prom and wedding dresses. (The year I made 3 black prom dresses for my daughter, her friend, and our exchange student was a nightmare…)
I was lucky enough to land a job at a local “dry goods and crafts store” when my kids were older and really caught/renewed the quilting bug there. (I also sewed for the store – gift items, appliqued shirts, and lots more.) They even stocked Country Threads patterns – I’m sure I still have some! Although I could figure out the patterns pretty well myself, I learned a lot there and took a couple of classes through the store. I have really enjoyed some family quilting “retreats” – ya can’t go wrong with a combination weekend of sewing, chatting, laughing, eating, and seeing progress on a quilt! I added counted cross-stitch somewhere along the way and still enjoy that as well as quilting. Let’s not talk about my UFOs and WIPs….
I was a 4-H advisor for several years and helped a few gals with sewing projects; later I mentored a girl who envisioned herself as a fashion designer when she was in Cloverbuds, about age 8. She came back year after year and we delved into all kinds of projects – from the beginning sewing projects to making a lined pigskin purse to a wool coat to a t-shirt quilt (which won the category at the state fair). She went to college for fashion design and is now a designer for a major retail chain based in NYC – talk about a kid who knew what she wanted and stuck to it! She outgrew my ability and now I can call her for advice!
Boy, this got long – sorry! But thanks for the opportunity to trip down memory lane for a bit!!
I learned to sew from my mother. She made a lot of my clothes as I was growing up. She was not a quilter but the first thing she taught me to sew was a quilt for my doll carriage. We had an old treadle machine on the landing at the top of the stairs that I used to make the doll quilt. I think I was probably 5 years old. I still have the crooked little quilt! I didn’t get into quilting until the early 2000s but did sew crafts and garments before getting into quilting.
My start of course was in school with Home Economics, I remember making a bag and a dress. Then after I got married in 2000, I asked my husband for a sewing machine for Christmas, he found one that had an embroidery module with it and that started a small embroidery business that I then turned into a quilting business. My first quilt was for my mother-in-law, it had all of her family members (siblings) listed plus the parents and included quotes on the blocks as well. Shortly after that I do remember taking a beginning quilt class at Country Threads.
It’s been a good 20+ years of quilting, love all the steps usually of the quilt making process.
I have a glass stove top also, and if I had it to do over I would get a gas stove. I hate all the cleaning of it and it scratches easily. The only nice thing I can say about it is that it’s a flat surface to work on. I have never heard of a silicone mat, but would love to know about it. Another thing to remember is you can’t use a water bath canner on it. Get an electric canner. Keeps the house cooler too.
I love the hydrangeas, such a beautiful color.
I started quilting in the early 1990’s. I had learned sewing in 4H and dabbled with Babie clothes as a young girl but quilts captured my heart. I took quilting classes from local quilt shops and never looked back. Quilts “fit” everyone. No adjustments, no altering. They fit for every occasion. Weddings, babys, recovery, graduations, new homes, accomplishments, fund raisers, I love you, absolutely everything! I love making quilts, finding quilts at garage sales, at thrift stores, in Etsy shops, anywhere and giving or finding them a home. No matter what age, everyone loves getting a quilt. What a great hobby we have found to enjoy!! Have a great day everyone. And, again, thanks, Mary!!
I just turned 67 and when I was a child Imy mother made our clothes and clothes for my Barbie doll. However, she never allowed me to sew as she felt i was too young, i would hurt myself or i would break something! I did somehow learn to embroider and needlepoint. I still remember those two profile Hobbie Hobbies in embroidery hanging in my wall. Fast forward to age 22 and my first job as a Recreation Assistant in a Nursing Home. My Director and some of her staff buddies included me in their lunchtime fun…knitting, quilting…you name it and creativity was encouraged. Knitting, i tried it n oh my, some very weird scarfs were produced! I moved onto quilting and enjoyed it. But sure enough a marriage, a child, a divorce and single parenthood put those needles and fabric away. They weren’t touched again until around age 40 when my second husband and i opened a bed and breakfast. A nurse at another Nursing Home quilted and i purchased one for our B & B. I was hooked and never looked back! I took up cross stitch along with quilting during the pandemic. While I enjoy it, quilting remains my first love. And, that very first quilt, well it saw a finish about four years ago! I swear, I will never lay needles and fabric down again…joy and relaxation in retirement!
I started sewing for my Barbie doll on a hand crank toy machine. My mother sewed reluctantly. She started sewing a dress for my older sister, but by the time she finished it, the dress would fit me. She showed me the basics of her sewing machine and I figured out the rest for myself.
I started sewing I in home ec class, required of all girls in 7th grade as I recall. We made an apron which I still have somewhere. My grandmother was the sewer in our family. She did all kinds of hand work, making me a basket quilt by hand for my 10th birthday. She had said she would do one for all her grandchildren. I was the first and the only one who received one. Ha! She gave her two daughters state of the art Kenmore sewing machines, the ones with the cogs in the top for decorative stitches. Neither one of them sewed and I inherited my Mom’s machine. I went to Iowa State where nearly everyone sewed their own clothes and made pretty basic wool skirts and dresses for myself. I always admired quilts but didn’t try one myself until my nephew was born in 1976. I used a Better Homes and Garden pattern for a quilt of multiple gingham squares with hearts in them, which I somehow managed to machine appliqué in place. Not sure how I did it without stabilizers and hand tied it. When I moved to Maryland in the late 70s, I met a woman from Iowa who taught hand quilting. I was smitten because she had made a wall quilt version of Grant Wood’s Stone City which was one of my favorite paintings. We made cardboard templates and learned quarter inch seams. I found several local quilt guilds and quilt shops and started making quilts by hand but gradually shifted to the machine. The first real quilt event I attended was The Continental Quilt Congress in Virginia organized by another Iowan, Hazel Carter, who had worked in Senator Jack Miller’s office. A lot of Iowa connections got me into quilting and I’ve been at it ever since.
Karen Cyr
Maryland
Mary, I have a glass stove top and do use a silicone pad if I am placing anything hot on it. (But then I would probably also wear suspenders if I needed a belt to hold my pants up.). If I should burn anything on it I use Affresh cooktop cleaner but – of course – see what your manufacturer suggests.
Vicki never ceases to amaze me with her quilts. What a wonderful quilter she is. I am so happy she continues to share pictures of her creations with us.
The dog and hydrangeas are beautiful as was the cute kitties yesterday in that post. How I loved reading Kris’s story of sewing in your last post. Your blog is such good reading with fascinating stories of sewing. It made me remember the Bicentennial in 1976 and a quilt class I took on making cathedral windows which I never finished as it was too tedious. Now that is one old UFO but I keep it in an old store box that has long gone out of business just for the memories.
Kathy, thanks for the kind words. Reading the stories about how we began our sewing/quilting lives is another reminder of how important it is to share with those younger people in our lives. 4-H, Home Ec and an adult willing to share her time and knowledge have opened the door for most of us!🍀
Jack is gorgeous. The hydrangeas are stunning. I have a glass top stove and hope to never own another. What is the silicone mat you are asking about? What does it do? Did it come with your stove? Can you give us a picture of the mat?
Jean – I’m going to order it – and I’ll take a picture. I think it will keep it cleaner with fewer scratches. I tried to buy a regular electric stove and they didn’t even have one to sell me!!!
Oh gosh Mary but thank you so much! I have not heard about a silicone pad. ANYTHING that will help keep this stove top clean I want! Yah I’m not sure they sell the kind of stove that we both would prefer and that lasts forever. When my mom passed I wanted hers stove so badly but I live 1600 miles from her so it wasn’t feasible.
I come from a long line of non-sewers. My grandmother was very glamorous but didn’t sew. My mother was the only failure her sewing teacher had. I loved sewing. My father had mistakenly given my mother a sewing machine when they were first married. Not sure where he got the idea she would use it! haha. Well I begged to sew. My second grade teacher taught me how to sew during the winter months when it was too cold to play outside. The other students were 8th graders and my mom begged the teacher to take me, the teacher was skeptical that I could keep up, I was 7. I learned hand piecing and machine piecing. My poor teacher thought my mother could show me how to roll a hem. That was funny. I made all sorts of items. Pillow covers and aprons and a quilt! A one patch cut out with a cardboard pattern piece! I still have it!! My mother was not going to waste money on matching fabric so it was scrappy 🙂 While my mother didn’t sew she certainly encouraged me in all my crafty endeavors. I just finished a scrappy 4 patch for her bed. AS for my teacher, every time I sit down to my machine I send up a little prayer to her for the wonderful gift she gave me. 50+ years ago.
Bridget – I love your story!
I remember making a small patchwork purse when I was in 10th grade. My grandmother and mom sewed and mom made my prom dresses. In 1976 my mom and I took a quilting class and made our first quilts using scissors and cardboard templates. That got my mom hooked and I picked it back up in the early 1990s. My mom made many small and large quilts for family and friends and visited many quilt shops throughout the US. She is in heaven now but her quilts live on. I continue to love quilting but my mom was the queen.
I learned to sew in 4-H. My mother was one of the 3 mom’s that led our group of over 20 girls. That was when you sewed your own clothes as it was too expensive to go and buy ‘store bought’ clothes. Especially since there were 6 children in my family. I continued to sew ‘clothes’ for me after my marriage. But attending a local auction changed my priorities. They were auctioning quilts that were made by 3 spinster sisters. And I thought I’d like to have a quilt. The quilts were over 40 years old and in pristine shape because the sisters’ never used them. They quilts sold for astronomical prices (hundreds of dollars) which I could not afford. I was so disappointed. Then I thought about making a quilt myself. One of my friends told me of a local Mennonite Store where they gave quilt classes. I signed up and purchased my fabric from that same store. The beginning was using cardboard shapes and cutting with scissors. I enjoyed the class. Made my blue and pink quilt. And then discovered the local quilt guild in my town. I attended the guild for 3 years just sitting, watching and learning and making nothing. Then…… I took off and I have never looked back. I love making quilts and especially Country Threads quilts!! One of my first quilt books was ‘Make Warm Clothes’ Thank you for making my quilt journey so very fun!!! (and rewarding and satisfying).
Shirley – Wear Warm Clothes is one of our best and one of my favorite books! Glad you liked it, too!
I love reading everyone’s sewing stories. My story started with a toy Singer sewing machine from Santa Claus. I sewed clothes for Barbie. My Mom had a Sears Kenmore and made a few dresses for me over the years. We even had matching dresses in a groovy orange and pink floral. In junior high, our home ec teacher had us make jumpers out of heavy cotton, since stretchy polyester would be too challenging for beginners. Mine was lilac denim with a zipper in the back and a hem using hem tape. We also made onion rings and learned how to put out a grease fire with baking soda. Ha! Quilting didn’t start for me until about 1992. Country Threads offered a class in the evening for a small wall hanging using a rotary cutter. One of the fabrics I used had sailing ships, celebrating the 500th anniversary of Columbus’s voyage. That’s how I know it was 1992. I’ve made each of the kids a queen size wedding quilt but now stick to smaller projects like lap quilts and table runners. I will forever love the Country Threads style. Thank you Mary and Connie.
I learnt hand sewing at school, starting in grade 3 aged 8. We also learnt some basic embroidery stitches for a pot holder, and cross stitch on gingham, for an apron. My mother made clothes for my older sister and me, and in high school I learnt to make my own clothes to fit my skinny self.
While I was a stay-at-home mother, I taught dressmaking at the local fabric store. When my children were 3 and 6 years old, we decided to build a bigger home on a flatter block of land. We had to live in a small rental unit for a year while it was being built. For my sanity, I went to quilting classes at the fabric shop: hand pieced and hand quilted sampler quilt. This was in 1987. We made templates from sandpaper, and it still sets my teeth on edge remembering cutting through the sandpaper with scissors.
A few years later I joined a local quilting group with a friend. We learnt all about rotary cutters and there was no looking back! Quilt camps, classes, mystery quilt days, and great friendships and mentors.
Now in retirement, that same friend and I run 3 retreats each year in a country town 2 hours away, on the banks of the River Murray. We stay in an old restored building that used to be a pump house, sending water from the river to a rural city half way across our dry state. I also belong to 2 quilting groups, and a lot of our quilts are made for gifting to the local hospital, oncology unit, dialysis unit, nursing homes, and local churches who look after needy families etc. The joy for me is in the making, and messing about with fabrics and colour – mostly scrap quilts. Oh, and getting lots of ideas from quilting blogs like yours. Thank you all for so much inspiration 🥰
Pauline in South Australia
Pauline – thank you for such an inspiring story! You should take a picture of the building you use and send it to me? I would love to attend one of your retreats!
Most all the women in my family sew. My grandmother’s, aunts, mother, sisters all are needle workers of various forms and degrees. My mom sewed a majority of our clothes (4 girls and 1 boy) with the exception of my brothers trousers. We have pictures of matching outfits and my brother with a matching shirt when we were very young. She taught us girls to sew and encouraged us to take home ec in high school to learn new skills. She took a tayloring class as an adult. Her teachers mantra was “make it look hand made not home made.” I started quilting when I was a young, mother to be. I traced coloring book pages on to muslin, hand embroidered them and alternated yellow blocks as back then no one knew the gender of the baby until it was born. I had two sons then a daughter. As soon as I got home from the hospital with her, I made 5 little calico dresses with left over fabric and eyelet lace scraps. I had made corduroy, long and cotton, short overalls for the boys. All 5 of my children have had clothes and quilts I made for them. I have made untold number of quilts and “Grammy jammies ” (pajama pants) for family, friends and fosters over the years. I am fortunate enough to have a work shop over our garage to house all of my machines, sewing, serger, embroidery and long arm that I have acquired over the years. At 76, I can go up to my shop and leave all the stress, troubles, worries and even pain at the door. I am amazed that quilting is an analgesic for my arthritic knees!
I really enjoy your blog along with dog, cat and barnyard animal adventures. I know it is a lot of work for you and appreciate you sharing your life with us. Be well!
Bonnie – I feel the same way about my large sewing room – it is my escape! The blog sometimes feels like work but now I feel like I couldn’t be without it! I would lose track of all you ladies and I have loved all these stories about everyone’s early sewing days. I can’t wait to get up and make my coffee and sit in the porch and read comments!!
I learned to sew at school. They still taught us in 8th grade how to use a sewing machine and had to sew something for class. I loved the sewing part, but not the project part. We didn’t have a choice and had to pick a garment to sew following a pattern. Then we had a similar class in high school. I enjoyed that garment sewing project a bit more and decided to buy my own sewing machine. I was going to sew garments, but never did and just used it to hem stuff and create some curtains out of sheets. Then I met my husband and his mom quilted. She invited me to a quilt guild sewing weekend and I have been hooked since.
I learned to sew at a young age. My mom did not sew, in fact she wasn’t really “crafty.” I was probably in 6th grade and I wanted to make a special dress for Christmas. One of our neighbors was a dressmaker and she helped me make the most beautiful (to me) red velvet dress for Christmas. From there on I was hooked! I learned quickly that if family gave me money to buy clothes, I could get way more if I bought fabric and made them. I was also on the tall side and thin and it was a challenge to find clothes to fit and sewing my own solved that issue. In my early 20’s I started to quilt…… fell in love with quilting. One of my first quilts was a sampler quilt using the Georgia Bonsteel quilt as you go method. I made it for my son’s bed — he was maybe 5 — he’s now 46 and still has that quilt! Told me it’s his favorite of all the quilts I’ve made for him.
Jack the dog surely knows what a beauty he is!!!!
I thought there would be some ladies sharing their and/or family members quilting with their Church Ladies Quilting group in the basement of the church building.
I was interested in sewing from a very early age: I started with those cards with the big holes in them that you could ‘sew’ yarn though, and with sewing on buttons! My mother could knit, and I taught myself how to do that from a book, and she had a sewing machine and could sort of garment sew, but she didn’t have the patience to do things accurately so the results were never great. My father on the other hand could sew clothes beautifully – he had been taught by his mother how to machine sew – I remember him making shirts for himself and evening dresses for my mother on more than one occasion, with al sorts of fancy overlays of fine fabric and that sort if thing. He also made two tents for us to go hiking with and later two down-filled sleeping bags for himself and my brother to use when up in the mountains. So he taught me the basics of machine sewing (accuracy!) when my grandmother died and left me her sewing machine (an old green Elna) when I was eight. I learnt to embroider (Danish cross stitch) from a family friend when I was nine and have been doing that ever since. I did garment sewing at secondary school and with our equivalent of 4H and I made all my own clothes until I finished college. I also sewed all the curtains (drapes) in my parent’s home. I learnt to spin and weave and crochet from another family friend, as a teenager, but I really wanted to know how to quilt too. I had my first patchwork and quilting lessons from one of the ladies in the local quilt guild when I was fifteen, and never looked back. Been patching, quilting and cross-stitching ever since. The first thing I made was a patchwork and quilted cushion cover, the first quilt I made was a puff-patchwork quilt for my own bed and the second was a king size nine-patch quilt for my parent’s bed. I gave up making clothes in my late twenties (not enough time with a full time job) as I preferred to spend the sewing time I had on quilts and cross stitch, but I have made all the curtains (drapes) in all our houses. When I turned 21 my parents said I could have a party or a gift – so I chose a gift, my first Pfaff sewing machine. Still got it, but also treated myself to a newer Pfaff about 20 years ago! Both still going strong.
Fiona – seems like it’s not much different in Europe than in the US. This has been an eye opener for me in so many ways – most quilters had mothers who taught them – like I said my mom would have gladly taught me to golf!
Hi Mary, I’ve taught my sister-in-law to quilt and she has become very keen. But my mother, not interested at all in textiles. If I’d only had my mother I think sewing on a button would have been about it. I am very grateful to the ladies of the quilt guild in my childhood village who were prepared to teach me and others how to patch and quilt. It was a wonderful gift. And when I now see my sister-in-law going on quilt retreats and apping me photos of her latest quilt I know how those quilt guild ladies felt: it is very satisfying to pass in a skill that gives someone else so much pleaseure and a hobby for life.
Those hydrangeas are so beautiful. Jack is beautiful too!! I’ll send my sewing story tomorrow. I’m going to bed. We are having dry lightening. I hope it doesn’t start any wildfires.
My mom had a Montgomery Ward sewing machine but she didn’t really sew. I started taking sewing through
4-h and eventually started sewing my own clothes. In high school I took home ec and learned to sew more difficult garments. With my first summer job that was more than picking strawberries and beans I went to Sears and bought myself my own sewing machine that did more than what my mom’s machine did. I sewed on that machine for over 30 years until I bought a new one. Three years ago I passed it on to my son in law. In the 1970’s I decided I wanted to learn to quilt. So I bought a book and that book said unless you sewed the quilt by hand you were not really quilting. I cut out some triangles with templates I made and started to sew them together by hand. I may have gotten one finished and decided that was not for me so I put it aside. I did continue to make a few clothes for myself and my kids plus home decorative items . In 2011 when I was no longer working I started reading quilting blogs. That was when I realized there were rotary cutters and few people were sewing quilts together by hand. I started with an online BOM and have never looked back. I love every aspect of quilting and am thankful to all the people that were willing to write blogs and make videos that have given me so much good information that helped me improve my skills. I now have a group of friends that I go on a quilting retreat with once a year. Life is good!
Judy–Aren’t you glad we finally got over the idea that a “real” quilt had to be hand-sewn and quilted? I have 36 hand -pieced Dresden Plate motifs that never got appliqued to their foundation blocks. They are nearly 50 years old now. Another memory from those Bicentennial days! I do appreciate the tenacity and time it takes to stitch and quilt by hand, but I now feel free to use the sewing machine. I look at it as just a different skill.
Great collection of quilts and those hydrangeas are amazingly beautiful.