Patchwork Times by Judy Laquidara logo

Tell it to the Stars Question – Week 1

The way I think the Tell it to the Stars project should work is this:

  • Every Monday evening I will post a question.
  • You can type or write your response . . say as much as you want to say.
  • Keep these in a notebook and save them for future generations

There are so many things I wish I could ask my grandma and I so wish she had left behind a diary or some sort of chronology of her life. The Tell it to the Stars questions can be  used to document your quilting and can be left for your children or grandchildren.

You don’t have to tell anyone what you’ve written. You can write it all and burn it or you can save it or . . you don’t even have to write anything. You will not be asked to share your info or even tell me if you’re doing it. Some weeks, I will share my answers and some I may not.

If you have any questions you can think of, quilt related, send them to me and I’ll try to include them.

Question #1:   What year did you begin quilting? What made you start quilting?

My answer:

Back in the early 80’s, probably about 1982, I was working full time in Lake Charles, LA and would go shopping almost every day during my lunch hour.  I had been sewing clothes for years but had never even thought about quilting. My grandmothers had dabbled in quilting but I can’t say they were avid quilters. One day, I saw this little quilt shop – The Calico Patch. It was off a main street and I wandered in there. Norma owned the shop and an elderly lady, Ava Lea Broussard, was working. They were so sweet! The minute I walked in the door, I knew I was going to be a quilter. They offered classes and I signed up that day. I took just about every class they offered. There was a beginning sampler 1 and a beginning sampler 2, then a hand quilting class.

 

And that is how this quilter came to be!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. The year was 2004. My husband and I had experienced 7 family deaths, beginning with my father on March 28, my youngest son on May 11, and ending with his nephew, killed in Afghanistan in October. I picked up hand piecing as I had no luck matching points with machine piecing (stress??). It felt good to take scraps of fabric and make something whole and beautiful out of them, during a time when everything seemed to be falling apart faster than I could keep up.

  2. I started quilting in July, 1994. We had just moved to WV from PA and I knew I wasn’t going to go back to work, so it was time to start my “hobbies”. Quilting had been on my list for several years (I bought all kinds of quilting notions/templates when Joann’s had sales, not knowing what they were or to be used for, but, I wanted to buy them while I still worked, LOL).

    I have been fascinated by quilts my whole life (I’m almost 66) and my paternal Grandmother quilted – used to have quilting bees at her house and she had a drop down frame (from the ceiling) and it would be pulled up when it wasn’t being used.

    I loved running my fingers over the quilting stitches, loved the patterns and loved seeing patterns everywhere (floor tiles, ceiling tiles, etc.)

    Thanks for posting the question, Judy – love “reliving” the memories of my Grandmother and her influence on me.

  3. I think it was 2000. We were living in Saudi Arabia, there was a new expat in our community who wanted to take quilting classes from Joanne Norris at the Chevron compound but didn’t want to do it alone. My neighbors both were talented quilters, did NOT need lessons so they talked me, a non-sewer into accompanying her to the lessons…

    By 2001, she and I had taken almost all of Joanne’s classes and were signed up for refreshers when 9/11 hit and we stopped going anywhere. We all left in late 2002 and everything I had started remained unfinished until a new Sister-in-law, another skilled quilter, wanted to check out local guilds. I went to two open meetings to check out one guild, joined (because she was going to) and have been in the guild ever since 2010 (she never joined!).

    Can’t say I’m a quilter yet but I do crazy quilt!

  4. I think it was about 1999 or 2000 … we had just gotten married and relocated with our jobs to Pittsburgh, PA. No family/friends in the area and I decided to stop at a quilt store to see if they had a beginner’s class. They did and I signed up. Unfortunately it was a 10 week class that tried to teach you everything from cutting by hand using templates to drafting your own designs and, by the way, you couldn’t use a sewing machine … you had to piece by hand. I was overwhelmed and almost dropped it but someone told me about ANOTHER quilt store. A visit there was the start of my addiction … they were most helpful, understanding and I could actually LEARN from them. The rest is history, as they say … I recently retired and the BEST part of my retirement is the ability to quilt when I want, whenever I want, for as long as I want … pure heaven!

  5. I started quilting in 1980..had made other attempts at it but didn’t do so well. But I joined a group in 1997 and really started getting into it. My grandmother was a quilter. I’m lucky enough to have one of the last quilts that wasn’t ‘LOVED’ away. It hangs proudly over the bed in my guest room. I love fabric. I hand dye my own fabrics but won’t walk away from a batik, they’re my favorites!

  6. Oh I love this question…I learned to quilt from a lady of ill repute! It was 1962, or thereabouts – I was around ten years old. Down the street from the house was a small bar and grill – yep, beer-drinking kind of bar… and in the afternoons after school the nice lady who owned it would give us a Coca-Cola and let us play the pinball machine with a magic token that came back over and over when you put it in the machine.

    She had a sewing machine set up in one of the corner booths, and was sewing blocks for a “Trip Around the World” quilt…. and I found it interesting, so she let me sew some blocks, and then later took me to her house to see her quilting frame that hung from the rafters in the attic.

    My mom didn’t like me going to that Bar, even if I was “learning to quilt”. I found out years later that the woman I knew as “Mrs. Chappell” wasn’t a “Mrs.” anybody – and was thought to be “loose” by the good ladies of the neighborhood.
    But , god love her, she taught me to quilt. And I haven’t stopped since. Thank you, “mrs.” Chappell !

    Kathleen

  7. 1974 …the year I graduated from high school. I was a mother’s helper in a suburb of Chicago and had brought my sewing machine with me. I had a magazine with a grandmother’s flower garden quilt in it. I made a cardboard template and hand pieced it. Some of the fabrics are cotton, some are rayon, and some a poly-cotton blend. That is what was available at the fabric store at the time. It took me many years to complete that quilt…I had completed college, married and started a family. My sister helped me hand quilt it and I consider it a treasure!!

  8. My MIL introduced me to quilting shortly after the birth of our first daughter. That was in 1983. I found a newly opened quilt store and signed up for their beginner quilting class. The rest, so they say is history.

  9. 1976 – I had been to the grocery store and picked up one of those magazines at the check out. There was an article about quilts that were made for the 1876 Centennial and quilts were being made for the 1976 Bicentennial. I dug through my fabric scraps, made my templates from cardboard and sandpaper, traced the templates, cut out the pieces, and hand stitched and quilted blocks, made them into pillows and gave them as Christmas presents that year. I still have a few of those first blocks to remind me of have far I have come.

    I continued on this way until the early ’80’s when rotary cutters hit the market. At that point my abilities began to change and also my love of quilting. In 1985, my aunt (who was 80 years old) wanted to take a quilting class, so I said I would take it with her. The real trick……she sewed on a treadle sewing machine and I had to teach her how to sew on an electric machine. Luckily, the quilt shop where the class was being given provided machines for the class – a room with 8 Featherweights…..wow! This was great for her. Fast forward 20 years, she died at age 100 and I got her quilt she did in that class and in typical quilters fashion…..just the top, never been quilted! It is in my stack to be quilted.

    Here we are 38 years later: 6 sewing machines, 1 serger, 1 embroidery machine & 1 longarm machine, many classes (student & teacher), retreats, shopping trips, quilt shows….I still love quilting as much as I did when I read that first article.

  10. The late 60’s. Not real sure of the exact year. A neighbor’s Mother came every winter to stay with the family because she lived on a farm quite a ways out and they didn’t want her there in the winter alone.
    She would spend the winter doing postage stamp quilts. Yup 1″ finished squares–all cut and stitched by hand. There were 8 kids in the family so she would go to her room and sew in the evenings.
    I would see what she was doing and wanted to try my hand at piecing. She started me out with a nine patch block then added triangles and odd shapes.
    I started researching blocks and bought a couple quilt magazines. Back then they were mostly published at home. Then started trading patterns with people. While my kids were small it was hard to find time to sew.
    Then quilt books started to come out. Oh yes got hooked on them too.
    Couldn’t find any one that was interested in quilting, so decided to approach the local fabric shop and asked to start a quilt class. Finally convinced the owner to at least try a class. The first class filled and more classes were scheduled.
    In one class a girl had an emergency come up so she wasn’t able to get to the first class, asked if a friend could take it for her and then pass the information on. Well that friend came and then signed up. We became good friends and one day decided to see if we could start a quilt club. Put out ads and we had 30 people show up. That was over 30 years ago and the club is still meeting twice a month.
    Over the years I’ve taught classes, made quilts, experimented with design and even entered a few contests. Had a few projects published in magazines and then decided to try to write a book.
    Did that too and was shocked when it was actually published.
    I still try to quilt most every day, take in quilt retreats when possible, try to get to at least one major show every year.
    Oh yes, don’t forget collecting fabric–grin

  11. Started sewing in 3rd grade with Barbie doll clothes by hand, 4th grade graduated to Grandma’s Singer FW(which I now have).
    1980 – Wanted big floor cushions with quilted designs on them, primary colors. Finally decided to make them. They were poly/cotton blend calicos, machined pieced, 30″ square, hand quilted with big stitches, LOVED those but really did not get into quilting until about 1989, mostly wallhangings and other decorative accesories. My I have come so far…and so has the world of quilting. lol

  12. I will go by the decades starting in the early to mid 1950s when my grandmother taught me to quilt on frames that hung from the ceiling. In the 60s and 70s I did mostly garment sewing but started buying quilting magazines. By the 80s I had made a few quilts and even hand quilted some. I retired in 2008 and loved being able to piece and quilt until the wee hours of the morning because I didn’t have to worry about getting up early any more! Grandchildren started arriving and they both have many quilts from their Mimi. It makes my heart feel so good to see how they love the quilts that I stitched. Of course along the way, I started buying fabric and have more than I will probably use in my life time.

  13. I started quilting “roughly” around 1997. My Aunt was a “quilter” at the time, so I got my initial inspiration from her. My very first quilt (still have it) was just a bunch of 9-patches. I got some hideous fabric and cut huge 6.5″ squares (with scissors). These 9-patches are HUGE! I didn’t sew the blocks together until roughly 1999 or 2000. I finally had it “professionally” quilted (those threads are popping like crazy now – I’m surprised the quilt is still in one piece between the 3 layers!) in 2001.
    After that, my serious inspiration came from my friend (who later introduced me to her brother, so now she’s my SIL!!) who taught quilting classes. That was in late 2000. I haven’t made (finished) tons of quilts – maybe 9 or so? However, I have 7 more that need to be quilted…
    I’m happy to have sewn more in the past year than I have in the past 10 years!!

    🙂

  14. I learned to sew when I was eight years ols. My Grandma bought an old treadle machine for my birthday. I had learned hand embroidery from Grandma before I started school. I made my clothes all through school and made some for Grandma too. I got interested in quilting after taking in a demo class at a sewing expo. The class was taught by Harriet Hargrave, one of the earliest teachers of machine piecing and quilting. I was fascinated by the new rotary cutting tool! I’ve been a quilting maniac ever since. I’ve made well over 200 quilts, wall hangings and other quilted items. Quilting is my therapy, an island of calm and pleasure in a sometimes crazy world. Thank you Grandma for starting my lifelong passion!

  16. I started quilting in 2004.. and that’s when I met you Judy! My husband was the one who wanted to learn to quilt, not me. He bought a really nice sewing machine and I was terrified to even thread it. But I got over it :). At the end of 2004, we sold our sheep farm and lived in our RV for the next 4 years, and that’s pretty much when I became a quilting fanatic. I didn’t have much else to do, so I sewed a lot!

  17. I started quilting in 2006. I had sewn garments for over 30 years for our 5 kids. I had even tried sewing some quilt blocks together a few times, but quilting never stuck. That is, it never stuck till our youngest moved out. I went from taking care of 7 to just us two. I needed something to do. The empty nest mama thing about drove me crazy. My hubby said to find a hobby I was passionate about and go for it. LOL So I typed in ‘quilting blogs’ on the computer. That started me on this wonderful road to quilt making. I am in a slump at the moment, but I know I will get back to my love eventually.

  18. I started in 1987, when a cross-the-alley neighbor and her mother got me involved. My grandmother was a quilter and my father had even sewn one when he was a young man and had been sick in bed for a while, so I was aware of quilts. I have several of Mawmaw’s quilts, even the polyester one I asked her to make for me. That sucker is heavy! I had no idea what I was asking of her! Quilting is a hobby you can drop and then start over again. I quit in 1995 and re-started with a vengence in 2000. Now that I’m retired, the only thing that keeps me from quilting is reading, so I do a lot of both!

  19. My great grandmother, Nancy Jones, started a Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilt for me when I was born. I was her 1st great grandchild and was named for her. She died the month before I turned 3 (I actually remember her). Then my grandmother pieced it up to twin bed size but never finished it. When I became engaged, my grandmother pulled it out and showed it to me. So, sitting in dorm meetings, I took it and the rest of the hexies and added rows to make it fit a double sized bed. My grandparents then took it and had it made into a quilt for our wedding gift in 1962. My next venture into quilting was when I became pregnant in 1969. Using coloring books for pictures, I embroidered about 107 4″ blocks to be made into a twin sized quilt. I hand quilted it using my own designs for the plain blocks. The rest is history. I started sewing when I was 8 so I didn’t even have to think twice to start a quilt. Ignorance is some times bliss:)

  20. About 2008 or 2009. I am Bi-polar depressive and began quilting as a way of relaxing and de-stressing. I have been an avid sewer for many years, but this just hit a note in me and I have been doing it ever since.

  21. I don’t remember the exact year, just that it was in the ’90’s. My husband had a disease that affected his kidneys and they finally failed so we went to dialysis 3 days a week. Dialysis takes 4 to 5 hours every time he went. I sat in the waiting room or shopped during that time. Now you know you can only shop so much so I decided to make a quilt for one of my close work friends new baby that was due in about 6 months. Somehow that became 6 of my close friends having babies within about 3 months. All those new babies got quilts when they were born and I became a quilter! It cost quite a bit in the beginning but now I think I could sew for the rest of my life and never run out of fabric! My husband passed away about 5 years ago but my love of quilting, among other things, has given me a reason to keep on goin’!

  22. Judy, I am super behind in reading your blog but I have every intention of reading every single post! I love, love, love, your blog. Ok, that is out of the way. I am writing because I think I am going to love Tell It To the Stars!!! I saw a nice journal at Michael’s with an “R” on it that I will record your questions and my answers. I am going to really enjoy this project. Thanks for all you offer the quilting community!

Discover more from Patchwork Times by Judy Laquidara

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading