Flashback Friday - Quilters Through The Generations

As I have spent time this week going between housework, studio time and doing year-end (monkey) business, I have been contemplating some of the "hard" that Dave & I experienced in the last half of 2024.

There were multiple losses... not all of them were shared here at MLS.  Individually, not that big of a deal... The cycle of life continues.  The news in our family Christmas letter revealed that we, along with both of our daughters lost some beloved furry friends.  Three households and three dogs crossed the rainbow bridge. :'( In August I shared in a Pieces of My Life story (newsletter, possibly?) that a grandchild had been lost through a miscarriage.  

In July I did share with you about the passing of a quilty cousin - Diane.  In November, my Uncle Forrie, slipped away peacefully and in December another quilting cousin, Mae passed away.  All three of these family members had feature stories about their love for quilts and quilting in my Quilters Through the Generations series.  

As I prepped 3" hexies for hand-stitching to pass the time during our trip to my Uncle's celebration of life service, I thought of all of these losses... and how I have been blessed by their presence in my life - for it is in the valley that we suffer, but also the place that we can see the most growth.  I offered thanks and experienced deep gratitude for the fact that I preserved some of their personal thoughts about quilting and what it meant to them.

As I sorted through an old collection of scraps and "chunks" of pink that came out of deep storage for my RSC hexies it was like revisiting some old friends!

Fabrics that were used in many baby girl quilts... and purses.

The colors of pink range from light pinks, deep fuchsia, puce, and dusty roses... some of the scraps lean toward a lavender.  Some are playful with polka dots and multi-colored.

All this to say... 

Tell those that you love how you feel.... make sure they know.  And tell them often!

Find joy in each and every day... even if it only for a small, seemingly insignificant thing.  I started a blessing jar on January 1... one small note of paper with a blessing that made the day special.

Pet the fabric and make beautiful things!

Keep Piecing,

Melva

Linking with:

Off The Wall Friday with Nina Marie

Brag About Your Beauties at From Bolt to Beauty

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

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A Memorial

In 2017 I began a series of stories and interviews with quilters that came from a long line of quilters in their family... I called it "Quilters Through The Generations" and I began at an obvious starting point for me... my family.

I included stories from two cousins, my Mom, a great-grandmother and an uncle.

One of those cousins, Diane Ashton, recently passed away.  If you read her story, you will find that she wasn't really a quilter... rather, she was a quilt collector.  She had 50+ quilts... all documented and registered with the Colorado Quilt Consortium.

Diane's brother is working to get all of the documentation of these quilts, including digital photographs, into files and formats that can be easily accessed.

Diane's sons chose to have her buried with one of her most precious quilts... a pink "Hearts & Flowers" quilt that was made by her mother and grandmother.  

Diane was kind and thoughtful person.  Our daughter, Rebecca, was privileged to live with her for a short time as she completed a clinical rotation for the Physical Therapy Assistant program she completed in college.  The rotation was with the Colorado School of Deaf & Blind, just a short distance from where Diane lived... which reduced the amount to travel time required for the completion of this rotation.  It was during the winter, and we all felt better about the whole situation.  Diane even made the 2-hour drive to attend Rebecca's graduation party.  

When my Mom had her double knee replacement surgery her rehab facility was just a few minutes away from Diane's home.  Diane made it a point to visit her several times during the 10-day stay Mom had at the facility. 

Diane will be missed by many!  May you rest in peace.

As we wrapped up the downsizing sale for Mom after her move, I am reminded of the importance of letting your family know your wishes and desires for the end of your life... BEFORE the end of your life.

I wrote of this topic almost a year ago as I reflected on the anniversary of 9/11 and the lives lost on that tragic day.

You can find a sample Quilter's Letter of Instruction at Quiltblox.com.

If you haven't written such a letter, please consider it!

If you are part of a family of quilters and would like to be featured in a "Quilters Through the Generations" story, let me know.  I would love to revive the series...

Keep Piecing,

Melva

Quilters Through The Generations - Connie Mounsey

Today I introduce Connie Mounsey.  Here is what she has to say...

I was born in Lubbock Texas and now reside in NW Oklahoma. I am a longarm quilter now and have quilted for the public since 2012. I have 5 children, 4 are grown and I have a 12 year old still at home. I live in a 1907 Folk Victorian that was remodeled in the 30s and when I started quilting in 2008 the first quilt I made was a 1930s reproduction quilt. The prints are so happy. They remain my favorite fabrics to collect. 


Have you ever made a quilt? 

Yes.  My mother, Janet Bryant, taught me to sew.  I don't really remember how old I was when I started sewing. She was a home economics teacher and has always sewn. She made our dresses, even made prom dresses for my sister and I. 

In home economics we made aprons and a pair of shorts and I remember sewing a few garments at home. In the 80s my Mom and I made a bow tie quilt together. The bow tie block is my favorite block.  It was the Georgia Bonesteel quilt as you go method. I pieced it and she hand quilted it. This was her first quilt and she started making quilts after that.

She made this beautiful Leymone Star quilt my mother made. She hand quilted it. It’s one of my favorite quilts.  

Fast forward to 2008 when I fell on the ice on my front porch and had a compound fracture of my ankle. I was so bored and my mother brought me a featherweight and I made a modified nine patch out of 1930s prints. 

I was hooked. She had a longarm then and she did my quilting for me. 

I went to stay for a week during fall break and a friend and I brought quilt tops and used my mom's longarm and I was hooked again.

Did you have a grand-mother or Great-grandmother that quilted? 

Three of my great grandmothers were quilters. 

Left to right my mother's grandmothers - Esther Murray Wheeler, Willie Salome Detwiler Lockwood, and my dads grandmother Florence Warrick Armstrong McWilliams next to her is her second husband Lawson McWilliams. This photo was from my parents wedding in 1968.


I don't really remember much of my mom's two grandmothers that quilted . Mom has a quilt that both of her grandmothers contributed signature squares to. They both lived in a little town and the quilt was for my Mom's paternal grandmother Willie Salome Detwiler Lockwood. A lot of the squares are from cousins and other family members. My great grandmother Lockwood was moving to Lubbock, Texas and this quilt was made for her in the 40s I think. 

I have three quilts that my father's grandmother made. Florence Warrick Armstrong McWilliams. She liked to make difficult patterns. One of her quilts that I have I used on my bed growing up and it is so loved and worn out but I still treasure it. 

I recall that she had a quilt frame in her living room that always had a quilt on it. 


My Mom is shown here with the last quilt my great grandmother McWilliams made. The top was in my grandmother's things when she passed away and I found it. Much of the scraps are from clothes my mom made us. She had given the scraps to my great-grandmother. My mom added the red border and hand quilted it.

This quilt I inherited when my grandmother Bryant passed away. It was made by my great grandmother Florence Warrick Armstrong McWilliams.

Have you taught someone to quilt? 

I have taught my grand-daughters Tiffany Mounsey and Mary Jayne Mounsey, and my nieces, Sadie Bryant and Erin Shick.  Mary Jayne started really young... here she is on my lap and then at age 4, sewing on her own.

Here is my grand-daughter Tiffany and first quilt top.

Below is my niece Erin is proud of her quilt top...

This is the only picture of my niece Sadie’s quilt she made. She picked all the fabrics out. It was gorgeous. She already knew how to sew but hadn’t ever made a quilt before. 

Do you have a favorite quilt? 

I just love the log cabin. It is the first class I took at the local college and met a lot of real nice ladies. It was an Eleanor Burns Quilt In A Day class.  I gave that quilt to my Mom for Mothers Day. 

I had inherited my husband's grandmother's sewing room and used fabrics from her stash and my stash combined. She was a quilter up until her death at 90.  

I have made several log cabin quilts...

Do you participate in any quilt groups? 

I go to a sewing group on Tuesdays every week.  I go to my favorite quilt store and we have a group of ladies that get together and we sew. We walk next door to a Mexican food restaurant and have lunch together. Sometimes I have customers to meet. They drop off quilts and I pick them up or I can meet them there. 

Have you entered any quilt competitions? 

I entered the County fair and won 2 blue ribbons. One was a star sampler and the other was a quilt I made in a class I took.

This 1930s sampler quilt I quilted with free motion quilting. Each row I did a different pattern. It is one of my favorite quilts. 

Where do you get your inspiration from? 

I find inspiration on Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook

What is your favorite part of quilting? 

Sewing - I like to sew with my vintage sewing machines. I have a featherweight and a Singer 15-91 that I like to sew bindings on with. My only modern sewing machine is my Gammill longarm. I am a long arm quilter now and I quilt for the public.

I have no idea of how many quilts I have made.  I haven't kept up a count and most of my quilts are given away.

In addition to a love for 1930's fabrics I also love civil war fabrics. In this quilt I combined broken dishes block and triple four patch blocks...





I also love vintage quilts. This quilt came to me in a Walmart sack. All the blocks were pieced but not sewn together. I love all the vintage fabrics in this one. I have quite a stash of vintage quilt tops to get quilted one day.

Connie's love for scrappy quilts is evident in her quilts featured here.  She stated "I think I have more pink and green in my stash than other colors.  My pink & Green log cabin was an attempt to use some of them up."  I love the log cabin for this very reason...  It is a pattern suitable for scrap busting!  

What is your favorite "scrap busting" pattern?

Leave a comment... We'd love to hear from you!

Sew Happy,
Melva

Melva Loves Scraps - Home of the Quilters Through The Generations series

Are you from a family of quilters?  

I'd love to share your story in this series.  

Send me an email at MelvaLovesScraps@NolanQualityCustoms.com

letting me know that you are interested.

Quilters Through The Generations - Anne Sidell

In one of the quilting groups on fb there was a conversation or question about what thimble you use.  I shared that I use one of the thimbles that belonged to my great-grandmother, as did several others.  Anne Sidell, was one as well, and bravely stepped forward and said yes when I asked her if she wanted to participate in my Quilters Through The Generations series.  

She, like last week's feature, Susan Nixon, is actually not from a long line of quilters, but of proficient seamstresses and textile lovers.  Again, making my point that her love for quilting is hereditary and passed along in the DNA and genes that make us who we are.

Beyond quilting Anne has degrees in Archaeology and Cinema History, but has not worked in either field since the 80s.   After college (graduated in 1976), she took a position with the Internal Revenue Service and worked only part time as an archaeologist (weekends mostly).  

"I have held a variety of jobs and owned two businesses since leaving the IRS, but I am now retired, and loving it.   I am a dedicated gamer.  I have been playing Dungeons and Dragons (and similar role-playing games) since it came out in 1974.  I still play at least once or twice a week, usually with my husband but sometimes just with friends.   I am also a bibliophile, devastated by having to divest myself of over 10,000 volumes when we moved into our 'retirement home' a few years ago.  I'm sure the Friends of the Library loved the huge donation though.  I collect mid-century modern furniture and art as well."  

Have you ever made a quilt?  Yes, many.  

Who got you started in quilting?   

A friend wanted me to go with her to a quilting class, because she was afraid to go alone and wanted to make her mother a quilt.  I agreed, a bit reluctantly at first, but I went… I got hooked, she didn’t, lol!

Who taught you to sew?  

My mother and paternal grandmother taught me to sew as a child.

Tell me a story about your first quilt.   

In my quilting class, I started making a simple sashed block for my first quilt, which was our assignment, but that same night, I went home and started cutting up cat fabrics, which I’d been collecting for years because I love cats, and made the quilt ‘Susan’s Cats’ from the book ‘The Cat’s Meow’.  I finished that top in 3 days, made a back and started quilting it before the class quilt was even done being cut.   I still have it and still use it occasionally to keep warm while watching tv or reading at night.

Does/did your mother quilt? 



No one in my family before me was a quilter... though my grandmothers both sewed.  My mother sewed a lot – household items of all kinds and clothes for my sister and myself.  Her name was Muriel.







How about a grand-mother?  Great-grandmother?   

My maternal grandmother, Tillie (Tanya) Simon, came here from Russia in her teens and started working in a sweat shop.  She hated it, and hated sewing as a result.    She married the manager of the sweat shop and quit.(shown in the photo)  She owned a Singer treadle and made clothes for her kids (my mom and uncle), but never sewed again for money and always hated sewing.   She was not a quilter.  

My paternal grandmother, Fanny Sidell (nee Freeman), loved textile arts.  (in photo with my Mom & Dad) She was a milliner by trade before she married my grandfather and continued to work as a milliner after her marriage.  She made all the family clothes as well, she also was a knitter, tatter and crocheter, but not a quilter.  I still have her 1924 Singer model 99, and her button box full of antique buttons.



Have you taught someone to quilt?  

I have taught several people to quilt... I used to teach at a local fabric shop.  I don’t remember all their names.  Some were friends before we started quilting together, some were strangers who became friends, and some were like ships in the night.  I treasure all the friends I’ve made through quilting.

How many quilts have you made?  

Not sure… a couple of hundred at least, I think.

Do you have a favorite quilt?  

My Woodland Creatures quilt…  It was a true labor of love and I had such a great time making it.  It elevated my applique abilities over the year it took me to make it and it has won so many awards, including a few ‘best of shows’.

Do you have a favorite block?  

Lone stars and Dutchman's puzzle are a couple of favorites, but I don’t have a single go-to block when I need to make a quilt for someone.

Do you participate in any quilt groups?  

I belong to two guilds and a very active mini-group.

One of my guilds has speakers regularly, sew-ins once or twice a year, one for charity and one personal, as well as holding retreats at a beach house twice a year.  We hold a quilt show every other year, a quilt challenge every other year as well, with a round robin project in years alternating with the challenge.  We make a lot of charity quilts as well for the local NICU, police & fire departments, women's shelters and the like.  My other guild does similar activities as well as hosting several workshops throughout the year.  The second guild is MUCH larger than the first, and holds some special events the smaller guild cannot afford.  


My mini-group meets once a week for an evening sew-in, as well as our 'business meeting' once a month, where we celebrate birthdays, talk about our quilting (and non-quilting) goals for the month, which we record and try to all fulfill before our next monthly meeting.  We make some charity quilts as well, make round robin quilts, take quilting trips (we are doing a retreat in Big Bear, CA this year), go on shop hops together, help each other with our UFOs.  One of our members is a professional long-arm quilter and he does several of our quilts for us.  We are mostly all members of the smaller of the two guilds, and currently we are making the guild's opportunity quilt for next year, working on it together.  

Have you entered any quilt competitions?   

Many… too many to elaborate on all of them, but primary among them are the Ventura County Fair, Road to California, and the Houston International... 

All Colours are of God, shown above is an example of my non-mindless piecing and was juried into Houston International quilt show

I won 3rd place for machine quilting at Road to California, First place applique at the California State Fair, and Best of Show at Ventura County Fair and also at the Simi Valley Quilt Show, 1st place in the Glendale Quilt Show Challenge 2007, 2nd place in the Ventura County Arts Council quilt exhibit.  I treasure them all, just don’t remember them all individually. 

Here is a sampling of Anne's quilts that have been entered in shows and prize winners.

Trojan Star, Under the Jellicle Moon and Spinning In Place

You can see more of Anne's other AMAZING quilts over on her blog - Confessions of a Serial Quilter

    

Have you sold any quilts? 

I have donated a few to auctions to be sold… don’t know how much they made.. I made two quilts for other people… one for $300 and one for $500… both were wall-hangings commissioned for special events. 

Where do you get your inspiration from?  

Cats, other animals, nature, books, other people’s art, anything can be inspiration.

What is your favorite part of quilting?  

Piecing is fun and kind of mindless and I enjoy it a lot… 

Machine applique is so meditative and almost like a zen experience for me, so that is probably my favorite thing to do…  I think it’s like what other people get out of doing zentangles or yoga.

Why do you quilt?   

I have ALWAYS loved working with textiles… I started sewing at age 6, making doll clothes.  My mother was very frugal in regards to buying clothes, so I started sewing my own clothes when it started being important (in late elementary school – about 10 years old).   I stopped making clothes when it was no longer cost effective vs purchasing clothes in the 70s and 80s and I didn’t realize how much I missed working with fabric.  I did a little sewing in the 90s for my son, making costumes and such.  When my friend wanted me to take a quilting class with her in 2003, I reluctantly agreed and just fell in love with it… hadn’t realized how much I missed the creative outlet.  I’d been doing cross-stitch for about 10 years, but it’s a very slow and laborious process.  Quilting is SO much faster and more fun, in my opinion! 

What do you do with your quilts?  

Some I keep, using them as wall decoration, on our beds, or saving for ‘someday gifts’… some I make for donation to charities, some I make and gift to friends, and some I make on commission for various causes and purposes.  I have to say that I do own the majority of quilts I’ve made over the years (maybe 2/3?)… I’d like that number to go down, as I’ve more than run out of room to store quilts… I just have to find the right recipients for the right quilts.  And of course several of my quilts were made to commemorate some event in my own life, and therefore have to be kept.  … maybe someday I’ll need to do a trunk show?  Lol, probably not, but you never know, but that’s not why I keep them…  I think some are just waiting for the right recipient…   It worries me that they will all end up in thrift shops when I’m gone, and I hate that idea.

Like Anne, I hate the idea that her quilts could end up in a thrift shop when she is gone! 

Do you worry that this will happen with your quilts?  Or have you made some special arrangement with another friend or family member to make sure they all find homes where they will be loved and used?

Leave a comment... I'd love to hear from you!

Stay calm and quilt on...
Melva  

Quilters Through The Generations - Susan Nixon

It has been a while since I have had a new story for the Quilters Through The Generations series. Partly because I have been busy sewing and quilting and didn't take much time to recruit quilters to be featured... Partly because I hadn't put much time into searching... Partly because we have been having a good time with camping and exploring the places on our bucket list for the summer. (It has been really fun, btw.  But we have planned a full week at home to be able to get caught up and back into a "normal" routine.)

But alas, I coerced Susan, one of my regular readers, into participating.  She didn't think that she really fit into the category of a generational quilter because she had started quilting well after her Mother and grand-mother had passed away and learned only after they were gone, that both of them had quilted.

I have long believed that the love for quilting, sewing or textiles (or any other art form such as painting or making music or even athleticism) is part of one's DNA makeup.  For this reason, I introduce to you Susan Nixon.  You will discover, as I did, she has a great sense of humor!

Tell me a little about yourself, and life beyond quilting.

There is no life beyond quilting!  You didn't know that???  😊  

Like anyone, I'm a lot of different parts.  I'm active in my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and that probably defines who I am the best.  I'm a retired elementary teacher, but teachers are like Marines - there are no retired or former ones!  I'm the mother of two sons, sometimes still a full-time job.  My much-loved husband died in March, 2010, so I'm a widow, also.  To make all the ends meet wherever they are supposed to, I work part-time for an educational company, mostly proof-reading, and sometimes proof-read for others, too.  

If I'm not involved in a church activity, or working, and I'm not quilting, a rare day indeed, then I'm probably either reading a book (sci fi or mystery or techno-thriller!) or writing as one of my 18 characters in an online Star Trek sim.  That's short for simulation.  We have a starbase (SB109), and we play one main character who would be found in the Federation (mine is Jade Lantz, owner of a Jazz Club called Orchids & Jazz, located on deck 600 of the Promenade), and whatever other characters we would like to throw in from time to time.  Most people don't have 17 of those, but due to my split personality, I can be that many.  😊  I don't know how to be just ONE thing!


Or I might be napping or eating Lindt's Truffles.

Have you ever made a quilt?   Many!

Who got you started in quilting?  

I suppose you could say it was the woman who babysat for my older sister’s children.  I don’t think I ever told her, but she had a profound impact on my life because she introduced quilting into my body of knowledge, and she also introduced me to people who brought the answers to religious questions I had.  She was sitting on her sofa hand piecing basket blocks, and it took me all of five seconds to fall in love.  I was 17 then, and I’m 71 now, and in all the years in between, I’ve called myself a quilter.

Who taught you to sew?  

I learned in homemaking classes at school, because my aunt didn’t have the patience to teach me.  She did let me sew on her 1935 Singer 221 – the Featherweight.

Tell me a story about your first quilt.  

I started several between 17 and 24, but didn’t finish any of them because I didn’t know how, and there were no books except rare out of print ones, and no quilt stores, and no quilt teachers.  People learned at home, or they didn’t learn.  Teaching myself was tricky!

The first one I completed was started for my son.  I read half an article by Jean Ray Laury in Better Homes and Gardens, called my best friend, and we never did read the whole thing, which caused a lot of mistakes and self-teaching!  Jean’s article was about making a sampler quilt of blocks which were based on a multiple of a basic number – 2, 3, etc.  We missed the math of it and simply started making blocks of whatever size, mostly appliquéd, but some pieced, too.  

At the end, I had some odd shapes to fill in, so there’s a little train going around a corner between some mis-matched blocks, and many other oddities.  Another problem was that we backed each block with flannel and quilted it by hand, all the while saying we didn’t see why people said getting a small quilting stitch was so hard.  LOL!  It wasn’t until later that we realized we were supposed to put the whole top together, put the batting and backing on and THEN quilt it!  Both of us finished a quilt, but they were definitely not like anything Jean Ray Laury had envisioned! 

We did finally figure it out better when we bought some antique quilts from a place called America Hurrah! in Manhattan.  

At the time, America Hurrah was a seller of antique cameras, equipment and photographs, but sometimes when the owner bought such things in a lot, there were also antique quilts.  Eventually, he moved up from the basement in an area of rowhouses to 5th avenue and had an amazing quilt gallery and sold only antique quilts.  His prices went way out of my range then!  But the quilts we bought really helped us understand what quilting was about.  

My friend bought a grandmother's flower garden pieced in the 1920s of pink and white, not scraps, just pink and white solids.  The flowers were about the size of a dime, and it was a full-sized quilt!  I bought a late 19th century red, blue and white pattern that took me a long time to identify.  The closest I can come is Bachelor's Puzzle, but it isn't quite right still.  (Sadly, it is in storage and not available for pictures, but here are a couple other antique quilts that are in Susan's collection.)

Eventually, I got to take classes from some amazing people, (Laurene Sinema, Margaret Miller, Sharyn Craig, Kimiko Sudo, Eleanor Burns, and so many others whose names are only heard in quilt history now),  but I was well ingrained in a lot of bad habits by then, and I still am.  




What did you do with your first quilt?   

It was for my son, and included a robot drawing he had made and I traced and embroidered, as well as a bat with the word Batman embroidered on it – two of his favorites when he was 6 and 7.  He still has it, well over 40 years later.






Does/did your mother quilt?   

My mother died when I was nine, and she did quilt, but I never knew it until my grandmother died and my sister gave me a quilt she knew my mother had done.  It is a snowball in bright 30s colors and tied with embroidery floss.  Her name was Ada Adear Abner, later adopted as Dorothy Elizabeth Wilbanks.

<<< Mother and Grandmother with my oldest brother, about 1936

How about a grandmother?  Great-grandmother?  

My Paternal Grandmother, Carrie Belle O'Mary, also quilted, though I never saw her do that, either.  I do have a coverlet she crocheted from fine thread, but no quilts.  Beyond that, I don’t know, but it’s likely.  

I have a picture of a block which a pioneer ancestor, Caroline Little Luce, made for a 14th Ward Relief Society quilt given to an outgoing Relief Society president.  This was in Utah, in 1857, so I know that at least one side of the family quilted.  However, I never saw any of it in my growing up years.  My aunt taught me to crochet. Homemaking taught me to sew.  I remember watching my mother do fine intricate embroidery when I was little and from that and written directions, I figured out embroidery on my own.

Have you taught someone to quilt?  

Too numerous to name!  Almost every friend I’ve ever made had to become a quilter.  LOL!  There are also many classes I taught for either parks and rec or in my home.  Students include Fran Regos, Cheryl Congrove, and Stacey Trumble, as friends, over the years.  I don’t think I can say I taught my friend, Antonia Adamiak, because we learned together.  I led her into many dark holes we had to back out of!

How many quilts have you made?  

I can’t begin to count, but I know it is over 200.  My favorite blocks... Yes, Sister’s Choice is #1, Churn Dash #2, Log Cabin #3

Do you have a favorite quilt?  

Usually, the last one I finished for my own bed!  But here are several...

This is Desert Rose (Calico Rose pattern by Deanna at WeddingDressBlue; quilted by Sue Nebeker of American Hero Quilts)

Above is my only truly modern quilt designed by me.  

It was quilted by Bree Gilbert for a charity.

Do you participate in any quilt groups?  

I have belonged to guilds and bees over the years, but now it’s only an unofficial group of friends, The Thursday Quilters, who come to my house on Thursday mornings.  

Our work includes piecing, appliqué, embroidery and walking foot quilting.  We each bring our own projects and work on what we want.  We don't often make a group anything, though when our bishop moved to Salt Lake, we all took part in making blocks for a quilt and putting it together.  Each of us has our own causes we prefer - QOV, Project Linus, American Hero, Sunshine or whatever.  Sometimes we are working on one of those, sometimes on our own, but there's no group involvement in any one of them.  We just quilt together on Thursdays, talk about spiritual things (we are all from the same religion, though not the same congregation of that religion), talk about families.  Sometimes we do shop hops together, or those who can go will.

Marla's little helper holding a tin of pins is also shown below with her first quilt, made on her own at age 6, from FQs she collected from the time she was 3 and went "pop hopping" with us.

Have you entered any quilt competitions?  

No, I don’t do competitions.  That’s never been why I was interested in quilting Some of the quilts I did freehand on the longarm between 1995 and 2005 were entered in quilt shows in various places, and a few won ribbons, once I even got a ribbon because the show gave ribbons to the maker and to the quilter.
     
Have you sold any quilts?    

A few times, usually to men who wanted something special for their wives.  I think the most I ever charged was $450, including fabrics.

Where do you get your inspiration from?  

Everything around me in the world.

What is your favorite part of quilting?  

That’s a hard question, but I can tell you that my least favorite part is the binding – the machine part of the binding.  I don’t mind the hand sewing part.

Why do you quilt?  

It satisfies a deep artistic need I have.  I can’t draw a picture or paint a sunset.  Even my photographs with a great Nikon camera often come out blurry.  But I can design and put together a quilt.  It also connects me to the past, my family and women from other families, as well.  When I read about a quilter from long ago, I feel I know some part of her, because we’ve worked the same work and enjoyed the same process.  I also make quilts to give comfort to those who might need it.

What do you do with your quilts?  

Most of them have gone to other people somewhere along the way, but I do have a dozen or so that are mine, and I have invested in about the same number of antique ones, going back into the mid-1800s.  I love beautiful quilts, and I always want them around me.  There is nothing so wonderful as a chilly winter night under about 5 quilts I made myself.

Susan   is a self-taught quilter... 

Are you also a self-taught quilter and experienced "many dark holes" you have had to back out of?  

Leave a comment and tell me about some of your beginning quilting mistakes and how you learned from them.

Susan happens to be a fellow blogger as well and you can catch up with her and her various projects over at Desert Sky Quilts.

Keep calm and quilt on!

Melva