Every single day across the continents of North America and Europe women, girls, and a few brave men, walk into quilt stores. Every hour somebody, somewhere, buys a piece of fabric, or a notion, or something in order to make a project that is contained by the wonderful word “quilting.” But the question is: Why do we quilt?
Obviously we do it for reasons that make sense to us. I thought I’d give you my humble thoughts on what motivates us.
-
Quilting is a practical pursuit
I’ll start with the most obvious reason to quilt; we tell ourselves that our loved ones need blankets, so why not make them something special?
This is the hook, the very real reason we become quilting addicts. Once you step into the shallow water of this justification, you can either go deeper or back out altogether. If you stay in these shallows, it won’t be long before you’ll be looking at more intricate patterns, more exciting colors, and cooler notions. All these things will lure you in deeper and before you know it, you’re swimming.
This is how I got hooked. I told myself that I would make each of my 3 children 5 quilts throughout their lives, from babyhood to marriage.
Hah!! 20 years, 3 grown children, dozens of quilt projects (I’ve lost count), two sewing machines, half a houseful of fabric, and this website later… Well, as you can see, I’m totally addicted.
Another reason to quilt is:
-
Quilter’s everywhere share a deep camaraderie
You can join quilting groups anywhere, walk into any quilt store, or go online, and be instantly welcomed and accepted. That’s HUGE!
-
Quilting creates something beautiful
Most quilts, of any size, are a work of art, and it’s a wonderful thing to create a thing of beauty.
Of course, it’s an added bonus when non-quilters are awed and amazed by your skill. It’s a great feeling of superiority. I always make sure that my sisters are aware at all times of my amazing skill.
-
We can show off our quilts in public
Another reason why many of us quilt is to enter quilt shows to show off our quilts and skill, and to celebrate the creativity that’s involved.
(Quilt shows are also great for finding unique, new stuff and some of the latest colors, etc.)
-
Quilting is fun
It’s a lot of fun to make something new and gorgeous and be praised and admired for it. As a matter of fact, I have to admit that I’ve gone way past addicted and am totally consumed by lust for new colors, new patterns, and new ideas and designs.
Facts About Quilting
Every now and then, I try to feel guilty about it, but then I remember Barb’s motto, and I’m good to go. I want all of you fellow quilters to take Barb’s philosophy to heart when you’re tempted to justify quilting to yourself or others.
-
We need something to keep our minds, hearts, and hands busy
Some of us quilt for no other reason than that we’re retired.
I got deeper and deeper into quilting when my kids could do most of their own homeschooling and I was left twiddling my thumbs. My friend Barb got into it once she retired from nursing and found that gardening alone just wasn’t going to fill her life.
-
We want to teach a skill to our children
I wanted my children – the girls and the boy – to be able to sew.
I had mixed results. All of them can mend a simple hole, sew a button back on, and use a sewing machine. None of them have ever sewn their own clothes, or given me any reason to believe that they will ever be able to read a pattern.
However, when I started quilting more seriously, I realized my mistake.
Quilts are much easier to grasp in concept that even a simple pants pattern, and you still learn many of the basics of sewing.
So, if you are trying to teach Home-Ec to your children, I would advise starting the sewing lessons off at the easiest level – potholders. Once the kids have learned the basic sewing techniques patterns will be much, much easier to both learn and teach.
-
We Quilt Because We’re Closet Masochists
This is my personal favorite.
Human beings are very stubborn, and enjoy a challenge, but quilting clearly shows that life is not difficult enough on its own, and my own sneaking suspicion as to why we quilt is because we’re closet masochists.
Politically correct people would say that we enjoy a challenge. This sounds very fine and noble, but I’d be willing to bet that every one of you readers has had many moments of screaming, tearing out of hair, banging your head on your machine, and throwing your project across the room.
Finally – the best reason of all!
Barb always says:
And anything that does that has got to be a good thing!
Thanks for the good writeup. It in truth was a entertainment account it.
Glance complex to far added agreeable from you!
By the way, how can we communicate?
I am really happy to read this website posts which includes lots
of useful information, thanks for providing such data.
I am in fact grateful to the holder of this website who has shared this wonderful
post at at this time.
I simply could not leave your website before suggesting that I extremely enjoyed
the usual info a person provide to your guests?
Is gonna be again incessantly in order to check up on new posts
My spouse and I stumbled over here by a different
web address and thought I might check things out.
I like what I see so now i’m following you. Look forward to checking out
your web page again.
It’s nearly impossible to find well-informed people in this particular topic, however,
you sound like you know what you’re talking about!
Thanks
Greetings! Very helpful advice in this particular article!
It is the little changes which will make the most significant
changes. Thanks a lot for sharing!
Its like you read my mind! You appear to know so much about this, like
you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you could do with some pics to drive the message home a
little bit, but instead of that, this is magnificent blog.
A great read. I will certainly be back.
I do not know whether it’s just me or if perhaps everybody else
experiencing problems with your blog. It seems like
some of the text in your posts are running off the screen. Can someone else please comment and let me know if this is happening to them as well?
This could be a problem with my internet browser because I’ve had
this happen before. Many thanks
Perhaps this is a problem with your browser – I’ve had multiple people review this site on various platforms and no one’s reported anything like that. Please let me know if the problem continues.
I visited several blogs except the audio feature for audio songs present at this website is really excellent.
I know this website provides quality dependent posts and extra information, is there any other web site which gives such stuff in quality?
Hey! I’m at work browsing your blog from my new iphone! Just wanted to say I love
reading your blog and look forward to all your posts!
Keep up the great work!
Way cool! Some very valid points! I appreciate you writing this article and also the rest of the site is very good.
It’s really a nice and useful piece of information. I am happy
that you just shared this helpful info with us. Please stay us informed like this.
Thanks for sharing.
I got this website from my buddy who shared with me about this
web page and now this time I am browsing this site and reading very informative content at this place.
I love your blog.. very nice colors & theme. Did you design this website
yourself or did you hire someone to do it for
you? Plz respond as I’m looking to construct my own blog and would like to know
where u got this from. thanks
I used a theme but designed most of it myself.
That is a great tip especially to those new to the blogosphere.
Brief but very accurate info… Thank you for sharing this
one. A must read post!
Hi there, I discovered your website by means of Google while
searching for a comparable topic, your website came up, it seems good.
I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks.
Hi there, simply became aware of your weblog through
Google, and located that it is truly informative. I am going to
be careful for brussels. I will appreciate for those who proceed this in future.
Numerous other folks might be benefited out of your writing.
Cheers!
What’s up, yup this piece of writing is truly fastidious and I have learned lot
of things from it concerning blogging. thanks. Tottenham Hotspurs fc tröja
Hello, Neat post. There is an issue with your site
in web explorer, may test this? IE nonetheless
is the marketplace leader and a big section of people will leave
out your great writing due to this problem. Billige
olympique lyonnais drakt
You really make it seem so easy with your presentation but I find this
topic to be really something which I think I would never understand.
It seems too complex and extremely broad for me. I’m looking
forward for your next post, I will try to get the hang of it!
First of all I want to say awesome blog! I had a quick question in which I’d like to ask if you don’t mind.
I was interested to know how you center yourself and
clear your thoughts before writing. I have had a difficult time clearing my mind in getting my ideas out there.
I truly do enjoy writing but it just seems like the first 10 to
15 minutes are usually wasted just trying to figure out how to begin.
Any recommendations or hints? Thanks!
Pretty! This was an incredibly wonderful article.
Many thanks for providing this information.
Why visitors still use to read news papers when in this technological globe everything
is available on net?
Fantastic goods from you, man. I have have in mind your stuff prior to and you are simply
extremely wonderful. I really like what you’ve bought here,
really like what you are saying and the best way in which
you say it. You’re making it entertaining and you continue to care for to keep it sensible.
I can’t wait to read far more from you. This is actually a wonderful web site.
Good article! We are linking to this great article on our site.
Keep up the great writing.
That’s great to know! Thanks 🙂
Wow! In the end I got a website from where I be capable of in fact get
valuable information regarding my study and knowledge.
Thank you for the auspicious writeup. It in fact was a amusement account it.
Look advanced to more added agreeable from you!
However, how can we communicate?
I visited many web sites however the audio quality for audio songs present at this web page is genuinely fabulous.
Having read this I believed it was very informative. I
appreciate you spending some time and energy to put this article together.
I once again find myself personally spending a significant amount of time both reading and posting comments.
But so what, it was still worthwhile!
As the admin of this web page is working, no question very rapidly it will be renowned,
due to its quality contents.
It’s remarkable to pay a visit this web page and reading the views of all colleagues regarding this article, while I am also zealous
of getting know-how.
Pretty nice post. I simply stumbled upon your weblog and wished to say that I’ve really enjoyed surfing around your weblog posts. In any case I’ll be subscribing in your rss feed and I’m hoping you write again soon!
I pay a visit daily some web pages and websites to read posts, except this weblog offers feature based articles.
Incredible points. Solid arguments. Keep up the great
work.
Its such as you read my thoughts! You appear to know a lot approximately this, like you wrote the guide in it or something.
I believe that you could do with some percent to force the
message home a bit, however other than that, that is wonderful blog.
A fantastic read. I’ll certainly be back.
Woah! I’m really loving the template/theme of this blog.
It’s simple, yet effective. A lot of times it’s very difficult to get that “perfect balance” between user
friendliness and visual appeal. I must say you’ve done a great job with
this. In addition, the blog loads extremely quick for me on Chrome.
Superb Blog!
I want to to thank you for this great read!! I absolutely enjoyed every bit
of it. I have got you book marked to check out new
things you post…
If some one desires expert view regarding blogging and site-building then i
suggest him/her to pay a quick visit this website, Keep up the
good work.
Wow, marvelous blog format! How lengthy have you been running a blog for?
you make running a blog glance easy. The full glance of your site is magnificent, as neatly as the content material!
WOW just what I was looking for. Came here by searching for website
I always used to study post in news papers but now as I am a user of
web so from now I am using net for posts, thanks to web.
It’s really a great and helpful piece of info. I’m satisfied that you shared this helpful information with us. Please keep us up to date like this. Thank you for sharing.