QUILTING MATTERS BECAUSE.....

I just read several responses to the above on a blog referenced here on the forum and I thought it would be nice to do one for ourselves and see how far we can go with it. Please share why quilting matters to you....

Quilting matters to me because the women in my family seldom were seen without a needle in their hand and I am part of them. Quilting connects me to the quilters in my family who have passed and will connect me to the future quilters of my ancestry. Quilting gives me peace...it gives me a creative outlet...it gives me another way to show love...it gives me something to be passionate about that never diminishes....it makes me feel connected....it gives me joy!

This was my answer on the Stitch This question:
Quilting matters to me because I have found THE thing that I really enjoy doing and that I want to learn more about. From the start of my first project I knew I was hooked. Even though I am still fairly new to quilting I’ve learned that it is great therapy. The creative side…the planning and figuring that goes into a quilt helps keep you occupied in stressful situations. I’ve looked at so many quilts online from different quilt shows and I constantly amazed at the creativity and talent that goes into them. Quilts are important to me because they can inspire, give comfort and warmth, touch a viewers heart with their message. I’m gong to my first International Quilt show later this year and can’t wait. I think quilts bring me joy……the joy I have received from giving one as a gift and the joy I get from just looking at what others have created. I have lost count of how many times I have said "that’s the prettiest thing I have ever seen"……and then I see another one!

Quilting is my relaxation, my time to put aside the problems of everyday life. I can go to my little sewing room, close the door and just be in a world of my own.

Quilting is very relaxing to me. I hand quilt and find great comfort in it. I also find comfort in creating something that someone else will enjoy and appreciate the time and effort that went into it. An aunt of mine quilted and I remember seeing the frame she had set upstairs at her house. I sure wish I was interested when she was alive.

Quilting matters to me because it has brought me to this forum and I now have wonderful friends who share the same passion as I have.

QUILTING MATTERS TO ME: I picked up quilting when I had my knees replaced and could no longer make the trek to the woodworking shop as I was healing. I wasn't new to the craft, but had never pursued it in earnest. Right around that same time I inherited several quilt tops that my maternal grandmother had pieced and I knew I had to learn how to preserve them. I have always been a fabricholic so adding to my stash was not difficult. My intention was to use quilt while I regained my leg strength and then go back to woodworking . . . I've never looked back.

Quilting for me is a very good form of therapy and meditation.....I see God everytime I create something....when it doesn't turn out the way I think it would I figure God must have wanted it this way.....it has connected me to many different people; this forum and it is a creative outlet when I didn't think I had a creative bone in my body....it is a connection to my daughter who taught me how to quilt.....(I know - backwards) but that's okay too....it is my lifeblood now....even when I am in a funk I know it is there waiting for me to get over it and back to the things I love....quilting for me is a very physical sign of love...whether for a child in the hospital; a vet overseas or injured...for loved ones as a gift that is a part of me....I quilt for many reasons...but for the most part it is joy!

Quilting to me is finding something I never knew I had but always wanted. It started as a hobby but is so much more than that now. It is a way to make others happy, and that makes me happy. When I was growing up my Gramma sewed all our clothes. My sister inherited that ability. I never had it, nor have I had many other hobbies in my life that I could put out there and say "look what I just did!" Quilting gives me that. I was always a Wife, Mom, PTA volunteer, classroom volunteer....always found a way to feed the "giving junkie" in me. As life settles down others need you less. Nothing compares to that feeling of pride and joy when you give a quilt to someone who really appreciates it. I LOVE that feeling and have become quite addicted to it (along with fabric and notions!)

Boy, all of you have hit the nail on the head. The satisfaction and joy I feel when creating is what keeps me going. The bonding with other women (both on the forum and in the neighborhood) is what fills my soul. Great question, Barbara and great answer......
Cynthia

Quilting matters to me because it allows me to do something significant for others. I ask what there favorite color is (without them knowing why) and down the line I can make one with their favorite color(s). I enjoy when people look at ones I've made and I can see that they really love it. Not just because of the quilt, but because someone cares enough about them to do something like that. I also enjoy being able to teach others how to quilt and seeing the look on their faces when they realize that they can make a quilt and it's pretty. : )

Everyone has said it all....I love quilting for so many reasons. The creativity, the joy of it all coming together, the fun in giving it away, the peace of mind it brings when you get lost in a world all your own. I am also enjoying being able to teach my daughters something that they will have with them forever to pass down to future generations. It gives me so much satisfaction to be able to say that I have created something so unique, because no matter what pattern and fabric is used, every quilt is different and unique in its own way...and usually has a story to go with it...lol I feel blessed to have been given the ability to do something that brings joy to so many. Quilting has also helped me to find all of you here which is great all in itself.
Thanks Barbara for reminding all of us how lucky we are.

Quilting is the only way I know to pass along a big ol hug to those who are far away from me. I always include a note saying. "Everytime you wrap up in this quilt, just think it's me giving you a Big Hug."

Hope to "Hug" alot more family and friends before I have to give up sewing altogether...

I have all the same feelings expressed so I won't repeat them. I will mention a very basic reason why I quilt. It's the sewing activity I find most enjoyable to help keep my fabric stash under control. Hahaha! I went to the 2012 Quilt Festival in Birmingham yesterday! I've never been to one of these extravaganzas before. I was like an alcoholic in a liquor store!!! All of those vendors selling fabrics and sewing notions was so exhilarating. Especially seeing batiks by the hundreds, every style of fabric that's on the market, rulers and threads galore!!! It made me a bit dizzy just seeing it all. I must've gone through the whole place several times. I only stopped to have something to eat and to watch the awards at the end of the day. I've never seen so many women in one place at one time. All of us there for one common interest - the love of quilting. There were around 1,000 quilts entered in the competition. I'm amazed my battery didn't run down on the I-phone taking pictures of all that beauty!!! By the time the doors closed my legs felt like two-ton weights! Now that was an excellent day!!! All I can say is quilting makes me happy. (Bless you Mom, for getting me started on this path.) When my girls were teens I had been a stay-at-home mom since their birth. I'd ask myself what I was accomplishing in my life. While doing some mundane chore, I'd think, "I really don't want my tombstone to read - she really knew how to clean a house!" That's when I started my sewing business and also got heavily involved in quilting. Hopefully that tombstone will say something more along the lines of "She was a creator that warmed our hearts and our souls!"

I almost forgot to mention that I met the woman who developed the curvemaster foot. She was demonstrating it's use. I'm getting ready to make a quilt with lots of curves. I tried a sample and just used my regular 1/4" foot. I tried the method I've seen on U-Tube with no pins or clipped seams. It worked just fine but after seeing her demonstrate the foot in person and explain why it works I decided to pay the price. I'll let you know if I think it's worth it. The reason it is supposed to make the job easier is because the front of the foot is much shorter and closer to the needle.

Quilting has given me the opportunity to carry on a craft that I watched my mom do as I was growing up. I didn't appreciate it then like I do now. It's a way to do what I enjoy and create something that will last for someone I care about.

I read recently that you die twice, once when you actually die and then again when the last person that knew you personally dies. With a legacy of quilts the life you lived continues with the quilts you made.
I never met my DH grandmother but knew her because of a quilt she made along with my MIL.

Quilting matters to me because: Although my Mom never quilted she was a beautiful knitter and did amazing embroidery. The first quilt I ever made was one that I had embroidered little animals one and quilt the blocks together for my first daughter. I found I was good at it. I feel so free and creative when I am at the sewing machine. Not everything turns out great, but I love the act of creating.