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#1
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New quilter
Hello ladies and gentlemen,
I've been wanting to begin quilting as a hobby for as long as I can remember - since about age 14 when I saw my grandmother's beautiful handmade quilts, and I'm 37 today. I don't own a sewing machine and don't know how to use one as I've never really tried. I never took home economics or had classes. I have taken art for 4 years in high school, 1 year in University, and had private lessons (including pen and ink, pencil, oil, watercolor, and basic crafting), so taking this up wouldn't be a passing fling for me but an extension of something I've enjoyed all my life. Coming from the Appalachian area in the U.S. I think I've got it in the blood. I'd like to learn to quilt and I'd like to do it like they did in the olden days if possible, completely by hand, all hand sewn. Could anyone point me in the right direction as to how to begin this art? Thanks very much, Catherine - "Cat" or "Cate" is fine too |
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#2
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New quilter
Catherine wrote:
Hello ladies and gentlemen, I've been wanting to begin quilting as a hobby for as long as I can remember - since about age 14 when I saw my grandmother's beautiful handmade quilts, and I'm 37 today. Welcome and happy birthday. I don't own a sewing machine and don't know how to use one as I've never really tried. I never took home economics or had classes. I have taken art for 4 years in high school, 1 year in University, and had private lessons (including pen and ink, pencil, oil, watercolor, and basic crafting), so taking this up wouldn't be a passing fling for me but an extension of something I've enjoyed all my life. Coming from the Appalachian area in the U.S. I think I've got it in the blood. Sounds like it! I'd like to learn to quilt and I'd like to do it like they did in the olden days if possible, completely by hand, all hand sewn. Could anyone point me in the right direction as to how to begin this art? No reason why not. Hand piecing and hand quilting are both good methods that folk on this group do regularly. I'm a mad machinist myself, though I have done a little hand quilting. It's slow, but very therapeutic. I'll let the hand experts fill you in on that side, and just ask the standard nosy questions: What is your QI status? QI's are usually 4 footed and furry (cats are real experts when it comes to inspecting quilts!). Chocolate politics: are you in the Plain Party, The White Party, or a Cross bencher of the Milk persuasion? What do you want to tell us about kids and family? You don't have to say anything incriminating! Thanks very much, Catherine - "Cat" or "Cate" is fine too -- Kate XXXXXX R.C.T.Q Madame Chef des Trolls Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons http://www.katedicey.co.uk Click on Kate's Pages and explore! |
#3
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New quilter
Welcome Catherine/Cat/Cate
I had Jinny Beyer's 'Quiltmaking by hand' for my birthday. It's really well planned, and when you look at her quilts and realise that they are all hand sewn, (apparently everything she does is by hand) it really gives you a boost. (Sorry everyone else - I really haven't got shares in Jinny Beyer - just 4 books!) Her website is : http://www.jinnybeyer.com/index.cfm Libraries are a good source of quilty books - you can always buy your own if you find you never want to take it back to the library! I machine bigger things but do enjoy hand sewing, so I do any paper piecing using 'Stitch and Tear' because it softens as you sew. Love applique too, and always hand sew it, because everytime I machine it I am never satisfied and end up pulling it out and hand sewing anyway. Happy quilting - it really is addictive and the sky's the limit! -- Sally at the Seaside~~~~~~~ http://community.webshots.com/user/sallyswin On Wed, 02 Nov 2005 10:55:40 +0100, Catherine wrote: Hello ladies and gentlemen, I've been wanting to begin quilting as a hobby for as long as I can remember - since about age 14 when I saw my grandmother's beautiful handmade quilts, and I'm 37 today. I don't own a sewing machine and don't know how to use one as I've never really tried. I never took home economics or had classes. I have taken art for 4 years in high school, 1 year in University, and had private lessons (including pen and ink, pencil, oil, watercolor, and basic crafting), so taking this up wouldn't be a passing fling for me but an extension of something I've enjoyed all my life. Coming from the Appalachian area in the U.S. I think I've got it in the blood. I'd like to learn to quilt and I'd like to do it like they did in the olden days if possible, completely by hand, all hand sewn. Could anyone point me in the right direction as to how to begin this art? Thanks very much, Catherine - "Cat" or "Cate" is fine too |
#4
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New quilter
Welcome Cat. If you're looking for courses on quilting your LQS is a great
place to begin. There are lots of books out there to guide you (as was mentioned in a previous post). If you can have access to an sewing machine it will help you decide what features you are looking for in your own sewing machine (if you choose that route) as you learn to quilt. I started to quilt using my Grand mother's machine and within a year I new what features I wanted in a machine. However, that is no guaranty that you wont want another machine. lol - You will have to tell us about your QIs etc... -- Carole Champlain, NY http://photos.yahoo.com/ceridwen_rhea Fine style does not make something true, nor has a man a wise soul because he has a handsome face and well-chosen eloquence. Aurelius Augustinus (354-430) "Catherine" wrote in message ... Hello ladies and gentlemen, I've been wanting to begin quilting as a hobby for as long as I can remember - since about age 14 when I saw my grandmother's beautiful handmade quilts, and I'm 37 today. I don't own a sewing machine and don't know how to use one as I've never really tried. I never took home economics or had classes. I have taken art for 4 years in high school, 1 year in University, and had private lessons (including pen and ink, pencil, oil, watercolor, and basic crafting), so taking this up wouldn't be a passing fling for me but an extension of something I've enjoyed all my life. Coming from the Appalachian area in the U.S. I think I've got it in the blood. I'd like to learn to quilt and I'd like to do it like they did in the olden days if possible, completely by hand, all hand sewn. Could anyone point me in the right direction as to how to begin this art? Thanks very much, Catherine - "Cat" or "Cate" is fine too |
#5
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Hi there Catherine and welcome. I smiled at you nicknames as I am
"catsatararat" on Yahoo (thats cats at ararat - Ararat being where I live). Would you be interested in trying a very old form of quilting that is done completely by hand? I was taught Manx Quilting by a lady from the Isle of Mann in Britain, and both of us are keen to see this method preserved, so she teaches in UK and I teach in Australia - LOL! It is the early form of Log Cabin and very well suited to scrap quilts. If you are looking to make elaborate art quilts this is not the method to use. But if you are looking for a creative outlet that gives an almost limitless number of design options from the Log Cabin style block, try Manx Quilting. There are class notes and pictures on my Webshots page that can be printed. http://community.webshots.com/album/421953688HTZElL BTW - I agree with Sally, the Jinny Beyer book is excellent. Given your art background are you interested in Applique at all? If so, do you have a preferred style or method - buttonhole, needle turn, etc? Or am I talking double Dutch to you - lol? Leap in and try whatever takes your fancy, and feel free to ask lots of questions. I think you will find this group very knowledgable, and more than willing to share and help. -- Cheryl http://community.webshots.com/user/witchofthewest cawaitesATnetconnectDOTcomDOTau PS Re the other posts in this thread - They are serious about the chocolate - VERY serious. I can say that because I don't eat it at all, but they guard their stashes of chocolate almost as fiercely as they guard their stashes of fabric!!! LOL "Catherine" wrote in message ... Hello ladies and gentlemen, I've been wanting to begin quilting as a hobby for as long as I can remember - since about age 14 when I saw my grandmother's beautiful handmade quilts, and I'm 37 today. I don't own a sewing machine and don't know how to use one as I've never really tried. I never took home economics or had classes. I have taken art for 4 years in high school, 1 year in University, and had private lessons (including pen and ink, pencil, oil, watercolor, and basic crafting), so taking this up wouldn't be a passing fling for me but an extension of something I've enjoyed all my life. Coming from the Appalachian area in the U.S. I think I've got it in the blood. I'd like to learn to quilt and I'd like to do it like they did in the olden days if possible, completely by hand, all hand sewn. Could anyone point me in the right direction as to how to begin this art? Thanks very much, Catherine - "Cat" or "Cate" is fine too |
#6
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New quilter
Sally Swindells wrote:
Welcome Catherine/Cat/Cate I had Jinny Beyer's 'Quiltmaking by hand' for my birthday. It's really well planned, and when you look at her quilts and realise that they are all hand sewn, (apparently everything she does is by hand) it really gives you a boost. (Sorry everyone else - I really haven't got shares in Jinny Beyer - just 4 books!) Her website is : http://www.jinnybeyer.com/index.cfm Libraries are a good source of quilty books - you can always buy your own if you find you never want to take it back to the library! I machine bigger things but do enjoy hand sewing, so I do any paper piecing using 'Stitch and Tear' because it softens as you sew. Love applique too, and always hand sew it, because everytime I machine it I am never satisfied and end up pulling it out and hand sewing anyway. Happy quilting - it really is addictive and the sky's the limit! Hi Sally, The Jinny Beyer page is bookmarked and I am investigating that as I write. Thanks for the tip. By the way, I have to comment, your picture gallery is wonderful. I just spent 30-40 minutes looking through it. The quilts and embroidery are lovely! And Rachel's dress is so elegant. (I know that's kinda off-topic but I couldn't help slipping that in there) What a beautiful couple! ~Catherine |
#7
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New quilter
Kate Dicey wrote:
Welcome and happy birthday. Thank you! What is your QI status? QI's are usually 4 footed and furry (cats are real experts when it comes to inspecting quilts!). Hm. No four-footed furry inspectors at the moment, although I do have a 6' two-legged one who gets pretty furry if I don't keep after him. Add to that a claw-footed, tuft-headed, feathered inspector - a thus-far-nameless new addition to our family - who shows great QI potential. Chocolate politics: are you in the Plain Party, The White Party, or a Cross bencher of the Milk persuasion? I tend toward the fresh cream-filled Belgian Party, living so close to the country's border. I can't tell you exactly how they make it, but I have my suspicions God is involved. Since milk figures so highly in the equation, does that make me a Cross bencher? What do you want to tell us about kids and family? You don't have to say anything incriminating! Well... I'm married to the aforementioned furry QI, three children, one of which is teetering on the fence that spans "go to University of Iowa" and "join the Air Force", one of which is perching precariously on "getting ready to enter high school", and one who has just learned to walk and is busy taking our entertainment center apart. |
#8
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New quilter
Hellok and welcome, Catherine! If I were you, I'd dive right in, right
now, with 4 squares of fabric, all the same size (like 3 inches) and sew them together to form a sqare with 4 quarters, called a 4 patch. Just remember that the standard quilting seam allowance (the distance from the edge of the fabric that you sew your fabric pieces together) is 1/4 inch and every 5-8 stitches do a single backstitch. You'll be surprised at how much you learn just be starting a simply project like a single block. And the 2nd block you will find yourself improving on it. Musicmaker |
#9
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New quilter
Welcome Catherine
I applaud your wish to work by hand. I'm sure I would be far less stressed by the quilting demands I make on myself, if I had chosen that path g You might not be able to find many classes on 'construction' by hand, as very few people do and teach that nowadays. You should be able to find handquilting classes relatively easily, though. On the construction front: As Sally said, Jinny Beyer's work is legendary. When looking for books, you might well do better to look for historical (ie older!) books in the library (or, to buy - but library is a good place to start). They will almost certainly include simpler construction, which might be easier for a beginner hand maker; and also wholecloth quilting, which would be fine for you to perfect hand quilting. There is a lovely method of hand piecing which I haven't seen mentioned yet, and that is English Paper Piecing. You might have seen examples of this, when looking through quilting books, as joined hexagons. Well, of course, the shapes don't have to be hexagons. They can be any shape which will tessellate (regular shapes which can be joined together without any other shape) - or, indeed, as you progress, two or three different shapes which join together perfectly. The fabric is sewn around accurately cut papers (envelope grade paper, or thin card), and then the shapes are sewn together with a 'whip stitch' along the edges - from the back. I have done a little bit of this and like it very much. Others in the group have done more than I have and may well chime in with pictures of what they have made. This is probably enough for now! But I hope you will come back and tell us how you have got on with starting and what questions you need answering next g .. In message , Catherine writes Hello ladies and gentlemen, I've been wanting to begin quilting as a hobby for as long as I can remember - since about age 14 when I saw my grandmother's beautiful handmade quilts, and I'm 37 today. I don't own a sewing machine and don't know how to use one as I've never really tried. I never took home economics or had classes. I have taken art for 4 years in high school, 1 year in University, and had private lessons (including pen and ink, pencil, oil, watercolor, and basic crafting), so taking this up wouldn't be a passing fling for me but an extension of something I've enjoyed all my life. Coming from the Appalachian area in the U.S. I think I've got it in the blood. I'd like to learn to quilt and I'd like to do it like they did in the olden days if possible, completely by hand, all hand sewn. Could anyone point me in the right direction as to how to begin this art? Thanks very much, Catherine - "Cat" or "Cate" is fine too -- Best Regards pat on the hill |
#10
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New quilter
Welcome Cate, It is never too late to learn. I started sewing in Jr High,
but did not start quilting until 2 years ago. I did make some clothing over the years, but many years passed without sewing a stitch. Now I have the time to really enjoy it. Linda in Tx |
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