After retiring, decided to try sewing again after a 25 year absence, to see if I still liked it. I did! Then looked for a way to connect with like minded people, visited the local quilt shop, took a class (rail fence) and was hooked. Joined a quilt guild, bought a Janome 6600, and now just don't have enough time in the day to do all I want to do. Satisfied all my needs...creative outlet, new friends, places to go, people to see, ....new ways to spend my money! lol. What more could a person ask for???
Murphy

Pretty much self taught. I took a sampler class back in the mid 80's and have watched a lot of quilting shows on TV. Since the internet, have really honed my skills by using tips and techniques from other quilters. The education/experience continues. @:)

SharonG/FL

My mom taught me to sew clothes when I was pretty young and she quilts, too. I think I kind of tried quilting on my own, but I was still teenage & living at home.

I guess I'm mostly self-taught, though I do like to take classes to learn new techniques and often just for the exposure to the professional person teaching the class.

Donna

My mother taught me to sew when I was young. I didn't get interested in quilting until 1999. I bought a couple BOM kits at Joann's to make pillows and I was hooked! I ended up searching for all the discontinued BOMs and made the entire quilt.
I signed up to take a quilt class and told some friends. They suggested that we start a quilt group at church and it has grown from there. I am now a member of a quilt guild in the city and a small group at my church. I have made several new friends because of the quilt group.
Linda OH

I took a class at my local fabric store and made a twin size rail fence quilt and got interested. Shortly after that I took a log cabin class (also from the Elinore Burns Quilt in a Day book) and was hooked. After that I was largely self taught. That was back in the mid 70's. Since I retired in 2003, I've taken several more classes and I feel my skills have really improved. Aside from the forum quilt retreat, I find quilting a rather solitary hobby.

When I was a new mom, the lady who taught our Bible Study also worked in a quilt store and offered to show anyone interested how to make the Quilt in a Day Log Cabin. So another friend and I did it together and I was hooked. That is the only class I've ever taken although I've wanted to take many over the years.
Karlene

I am pretty much self-taught. Started sewing/quilting in late 1990s because I had to leave my job and I got bored at home. I started working again..part-time...but couldn't wait to get home to do my quilting. I bought a lot of quilting magazines because I had no access to the internet. Learned a lot from them but now I use the 'net to get quilting information/tips/techniques.

~Geraldine

I had sewed for years and hadn't thought of quilting till I was accompanying my mother on a gambling trip. I don't gamble and killed time by walking next door to this lovely little quilt shop and was hooked. There were so many things hanging on walls and lots of beautiful fabrics and I decided I would enjoy trying that myself. I already owned several sewing machines and had time on my hands so took a class when I got back home and have been quilting ever since. Still can't get Mom interested but she follows what I do with interest and says that's close enough for her. She is only 91 and hasn't time in her busy social life so I'll cut her some slack.

I have been sewing since I was a teen but it wasn't until my children had left and my 1st. GD was on the way that I started quilting. The time was right, the quilting revolution was on and a sampler class was offered at the extention service, quilting has taken over the last 35 years of my life. I feel that the learning process never ends and I try to take advantage of different opportunities.

For quilting, definitely self taught! My mother and my Great Aunt sewed and even made some quilts but every quilt they made was a scrappy Trip Around the World. That's what I made too, until I stumbled upon the Jinny Beyer website in 1992. I was instantly enchanted with the idea of more complicated patterns and it opened up the world of quilting for me. I still love her fabrics!

Then I discovered this forum and everything else I've learned about quilting styles, patterns, techniques, thread, etc I've learned from you all. See why I love you all so much?!?

Kate

Awwwww...shucks....thanks K8!

I went to the Folk Center near Asheville back in the 80's and saw a Sunny Windows quilt that I just loved. After the boys and I moved to Greensboro, I took a beginners' quilting class at the local quilt shop and made several blocks toward a sampler quilt. This was in the Dark Ages, dontcha know, and we used cardboard backed with sandpaper to make paper templates - rotary cutters and mats hadn't been invented yet! That first quilt was so awful it's a wonder I stuck with it.

But I did prevail and next made my own Sunny Windows quilt with 3 fabrics - 2 blue prints and 1 yellow solid. It now hangs in my bedroom and I still love it, even though the poor thing is so plain.

I don't get to take as many classes now as I once did, but I want to take more classes maybe when I retire....if ever.

Teresa

Short answer - for a long sewing life....:)I taught myself to sew anything & everything. Now I am fortunate enough to have the time and live in an area where I can attend workshops. I bought a new sewing machine a few years ago when I took my very old workhorse in for repairs. I signed up for my very first ever class- it was a sampler, BOM, quilt as you go project. I found this forum--asked a lot of questions, read everything I can, and I am proud to say I am a quilter! I am still learning and hope to spend everyday learning something new.

I'm totally self-taught, but I knew how to sew. I've never joined a guild or taken a class, and probably never will, LOL.

I was a member of GardenWeb long before the quilting forum came into being - so this is my quilt guild.

My mom started me hand quilting on a "quilter friendly" baby panel 25+ years ago. I already knew how to sew & took a couple classes when I was first starting out. After that it was mostly self-taught - reading books, magazines. I did join a neighborhood quilting group in the late 90s. Gosh, that seems like a long time ago!
I have learned a lot from everyone here on the forum & am really thankful for the opportunities offered here.
Sue

I found that the local quilt shop was having a class for hand applique. So, I signed up. I was instantly hooked! And haven't stopped since.

I grew up making clothes, so I already had a handle on sewing and already had an embroidery machine. I've since upgraded to a better embroidery machine, bought a quilting machine and so many other toys, I've lost track! I bought a table top quilting frame at the AQS show a few weekends ago, so now I'm working on getting the table to put it on and get it all set up. I'll post more when I have it operational.

Robbi

All self taught, no one in my family (as I recall) quilted. I purchase some Gloria Bonesteel books and didn't understand the instructions so I started a whole cloth quilt. Quilting patterns now are much more beginner friendly than in the past. I don't have access to quilt shops or classes so I use the Net. I am taking a class now on EQ7 from Quilt University.
Rosa

My great grandmother was a quilter, but she passed away when I was very little so the influence to learn to quilt was simply because she did - not that she taught me or that I had a memory of her sewing. I took two classes at our area technical college to get myself started. In the first class, everything (even all the seams joining the pieces in the blocks) had to be hand stitched - thank goodness it was only a wall hanging. When I got to the second class, we could use a sewing machine - ah - instant improvement!
Jeanne