Hi Y’all! Let me introduce myself….

What better way to start out than to introduce myself and share a little bit about my quilting journey and what led me to where I am today! This is a bit of a long story… So buckle up! To start with, why don’t I share what led me to buy my first sewing machine and the experience that led to be part of the quilter that I am today…

I feel like I have always had a bit of a creative streak. Throughout my childhood, I always seemed to try a little bit of everything… crochet, knitting, drawing, painting, even basic hand sewing, but nothing ever really STUCK. Sure, I would get inspired and make a new craft or try something here and there, but soon my spark for it always faded. As I got older and moved off to college, most all of that went away all together as time seems to get busier when you enter a new chapter of life and enjoy all of the experiences that come along with that.

My sophomore year of college, I transferred to Mississippi State University and really started to feel like I had found my “place”; I met some of my dearest friends, my now husband, and loved the atmosphere so much I still call the area home to this day!

Towards the end of my sophomore year, I remember having a late night chat with one of my closest friends, Megan. We often found ourselves talking about cooking, home décor, our mutual love of country boys (our at the time boyfriends, both our now husbands, who had been childhood best friends and brought Megan and I together as well), and each and every thing in between! This particular night, I remember telling Megan that I needed some new bedding and asked where she found hers because she always had the cutest styles! I can’t remember where exactly she said she bought it, (TJ Maxx or something of the sort I am sure!), but I remember her saying she loved having a quilt on the bed, because they were always the most cozy! Well, I always had a comforter on my bed and thought “Megan must be on to something! I’m looking up cute quilts to buy when I get home!”. So I did like most college girls did at the time, and took to Pinterest for inspiration! Soon I started seeing blog posts on how to make your own quilts. Before I knew it, I had gone down into a rabbit hole reading post after post, and seeing picture after picture of these beautiful quilts people had made. I knew this wasn’t anything like what I had seen in stores before, and I felt that creative flicker start to come alive in a way I hadn’t felt in quite some time. The more I read, the more I convinced myself this was something I could learn! Surely it wasn’t too hard right? And with the internet at my fingertips, I felt like I had all the resources I needed. But, I had no sewing machine, no supplies, absolutely nothing to get started. I really felt like from the moment I began researching quilting that I was going to stick with it, so I decided that if I was going to invest my time, I was going to invest a little money and buy myself a decent machine. I researched where the closest quilt shop was to me, and at the time it was a shop an hour and a half away from me (that is no longer open). I remember telling Garrett (my now husband) and my dad all about my new ideas. I was working a part time job on campus at the time and began saving up all of my extra money with the goal of driving to up there and buying a sewing machine to have in time for summer break.

Well May rolled around, and I began to get pretty impatient waiting to save up enough money (SHOCKING for anyone who knows me, right!? ), and I somehow convinced both my dad and Garrett that I just needed $100 each, and I would pay them both back, but I could go get my sewing machine that very day after classes! They both (somewhat willingly lol) agreed and loaned me the money. I may have never actually paid them back… But I have promised to keep making them quilts, and so far that’s been a good enough arrangement for them!

I didn’t know exactly what machine I was buying when I went to the quilt shop that day, I just knew I had at least enough money to get A machine. I remember going into this store, which at the time felt HUGE. It was full of beautiful fabrics as far as I could see, and in the back of the store was every sewing machine I could imagine.

I went into the store and felt so excited to finally meet a quilter! I had read blog posts and looked at pictures online, but felt excited to talk to someone who actually knew something about it in person! But do you know what sticks out the most to me about that day? I smiled and walked around the store, but no one spoke to me. Finally a lady did walk up to me and asked if she could help me with anything, and I was very excited to tell her that I was here to purchase my very first sewing machine! I am sure the lady meant well and really was a truly sweet person, but I vividly remember the shock on her face when she said “oh!” and just looked at me like this young college aged girl would not be interested in sewing. I just smiled back at her, still proudly saying, “I want to teach myself how to quilt!”. She began to ask if I knew anything about sewing or if I had even tried it before, because there was a lot more that went into quilting than what it seems. I tried to not let the comments bite back on my excitement that I had felt on my drive to the store, and told her that no, while I had never sewn before, I really was committed to teaching myself and had even watched a lot of things online about quilting.

Since my budget was pretty limited at the time, I remember telling her that all I had money for was the basic, entry level Brother machine that they sold in the store. I remember her looking at me and saying, “Well you can’t quilt with that machine, there’s no way you could make anything bigger than a wall hanging with it”.

I think out of everything that day, I remember that comment the most. It was as if someone had tried to put a bit of a damper of the joy and determination I had been feeling for the past couple of months. These people online had made it seem like ANYONE could quilt, but here I was meeting my first quilter in person, and it felt like I could only learn how to quilt if I did or bought these certain things… I had been so excited to proudly save up my money that day and buy what I considered, my first “real” machine and start this new exciting hobby. But here I was being told that I could maybe learn how to sew blocks together, but I wouldn’t really be able to make a REAL quilt on my own from start to finish. So, she showed me the next machine up, which did have a bigger throat space and I now know would have been MUCH easier to quilt on, but at the time just simply wasn’t something I was able to afford. I smiled and told the lady working that no, I think I will just try it on the other, smaller machine. She tried to persuade me once more that that machine just wouldn’t work for quilting and it wasn’t something that was easy to just learn on your own.

I can’t lie when I said I felt pretty discouraged by her comments. Looking back now, I am sure that she meant well by what she told me, but at the time I remember how much it hurt my feelings. It felt as if the first “quilter” I had met wasn’t too excited to share her hobby with me at all, and really not unless I had all the bells and whistles that were out there. I didn’t feel encouraged to create and learn in whatever way I was able, instead it almost felt like it was some elite club that one day I would be able to work my way into.

But even with all of that being said, I had came to the store with one goal in mind, and despite the conversations, I knew I wasn’t leaving without a machine. So I purchased my very first sewing machine, a Brother that faithfully served me for the first five years of my quilting journey and went on to make quilts from start to finish all the way up to a large throw size! Every time I started a new quilt and thought “I’m not sure if that quilt is too big for this machine…” I would remember the words I heard the day I bought my machine, and felt more motivated to prove the comments wrong. While some of those larger quilts were CERTAINLY an arm workout, and quite frustrating at times, I proved to myself that it is indeed possible to quilt on WHATEVER machine that your ability and budget allows!

As I have grown as a quilter, one thing that has become a passion of mine is to share this love of quilting I have with anyone and everyone who is interested! Whether you have never sewn a stitch in your life and just love to look at quilts, or if you are someone who wants to quilt but doesn’t know where to begin, or even if you are a seasoned quilter with years of experience under your belt, I hope I can share some creativity, inspiration, and maybe a few tips and tricks along the way.

To me quilting is something we should be sharing with the next generation of quilters, no matter how young or how old they are; no matter how much or how little experience they have; no matter how much or little time they have to devote to the hobby; or any other factor; if you know me, you know I will talk your ear off about quilting if you let me

I hope this space is just that for you, a place to visit, to feel welcome, and to read and chat about all things quilting! (and maybe a few other things here and then!)

Thankyou for popping by to check out my story! I’m so happy to have you here, and I hope you stick around!