Hi there Calliope (suzy from the Garden Party, isn't it?),

Welcome to the quilt forum. Many of us have come to quilting in middle age, LOL. And I DON'T feel middle-aged!

I also prefer to make a pattern once and then move on. My exception is my Quilts of Valor. For them I use an easily pieced, yet beautiful pattern, one of several. Rail Fence is one, as is a Double Irish Chain. I try to make 10-12 Quilts of Valor each year. This year the wonderful people on this forum provided me with 127 quilt blocks to sash and assemble and quilt, and I'm working on the last two.

I admire you doing a Cathedral Windows and a Grandmother's Flower Garden. Hand work drives me bonkers, LOL. I hardly have patience to hand sew the bindings. But there are many wonderful hand piecers/appliquers, etc., on the forum.

We're delighted to have you join us!

Mary

Welcome Calliope!! I am always thinking about my next quilt and trying something new in quilting.
Sorry I missed you arriving have been busy quilting is that a good excuse.
Gillian.

Hi Calliope from another late bloomer! I don't think I have made the same quilt twice just because I want to try something new each time. But I suspect I will be like Mary and settle in on a somewhat-easy-to-piece Quilt of Valor that I can do repeatedly because I would like to do 5-10 QOV a year if possible. Thanks to Mary for getting me jump-started on this. Welcome to the forum!

Welcome! Unlike the others, I tend to get in a rut and make the same pattern (for different friends or family, usually) more than once. Am now on my 3rd Peek-a-Boo I-Spy quilt and have used the 9-to-4 pattern in two. I admire you for wanting to make such varied and time-consuming patterns. I've always been fascinated by the cathedral windows idea, but could never commit to all the hand work it takes.

Welcome to our forum. What an interesting intro you provided...I really didn't get deeply involved in quilting until 58 yrs....don't think of it as late either but something I now have time to thoroughly enjoy. When I am asked what am I going to do with all my quilts...I just answer enjoy them and I love them all.

You have done some ambitious projects and hope you will be able to post some pictures. I have never done the same quilt twice. As far as what I make and fabric I collect...if there's too much there when I'm gone it's not going to be my problem so I don't worry about it.

Jean

Welcome, Calliope!

I try not to think too far ahead. I just focus on and enjoy the quilt(s) I'm working on at the moment. If I start thinking too far ahead I end up with a whole bunch of UFO's (Un-Finished Objects) waiting for my attention. I don't ever write down a list of quilts I want to make. I find if the design is that great of an idea I will remember it. If I forget the idea then it wasn't important enough to make. This helps keep my must do list under some kind of control.

I have made the same quilt twice before. Some patterns are that enjoyable that once isn't enough:) But most of the time I like to keep trying different patterns and different techniques.

As for your decision to vary the patterns you make...I don't know if it is typical or not. As long as you are enjoying quilting then that is all that really matters.

I would also love to see pictures of your quilts!

Foxy.

Welcome! You are in the right place. I have a lot of fun here.

Suellen

Welcome !!! So glad to have you here! Now we want pics of course!!!

Calley Opie

or Kah lie ah p

Which do you prefer? Welcome

Thank you so much for your kind welcomes. This is a great forum and I have come here often just to look for suggestions, comments on techniques and to enjoy the banter of people who get so much satisfaction from their work. Hi Texas Mary!

Aside from the very basic principles of seamstressing, being self taught and learning with each try, I like the idea that there just isn't a right and wrong way to interpret quilting, and that's what makes it a folk art, I guess. It never amazes me to look at the pictures you all post here and see how each of you interpret a basic pattern. I'd have never even imagined some of the combinations presented.

I am still a little shy when it comes to the "quality" of my work. It's sort of Grandma Moses"ish". LOLOL. I'll never be the perfectionist quilter for sure. I want to use my work, and was so pleased to see that so far, the ones I've made have made it through more than a few machine washings. There really isn't anything more basic and beautiful than a quilt hanging on a clothesline in the sun, is there?

It's Kah lie Oh Pee, thanks for asking.

Welcome to the forum. This place and its people are the best. I've learned lots here and feel quite at home.
Carolyn

Hi & Welcome! I'm really impressed that you tackled tumbling blocks on your 2nd quilt. I still haven't tried one of those.

Welcome Calliope, glad you joined us. I know how you feel about all the quilts. I will live to a very old age if I get to finish all the quilts I have plans for.

beverly

Hello Calliope - what a great intro you provided. I understand your desire to do a new pattern each time. I have not repeated any patterns either on large quilts and juggle the ones I want to do next. However, since I do things like table runners and purses and totes and wall hangings as well as full size quilts, I get a chance to try more fabric combinations and patterns that can be a challenge of something new. Look forward to seeing you continue to post here.

Welcome Calliope. I'm so glad you're joining us. I'm new to quilting also. I admire your doing such challenging quilts. I started with a baby quilt and am now finishing one somewhat larger for a child and hope to start a bed size one soon. I have several in mind for the future and I don't think I'll want to repeat any. I've learned so much on this forum and hope you enjoy it also.
Kay

Welcome to our home and family! You will love it here. I really enjoyed your introduction. I made my first quilt shortly before my 55th birthday...that was almost 5 years ago. I am sooo addicted now. I usually have at least 2 quilts in process (4 at the moment), and the "wheels" in my brain are always conjuring up images of new projects.

You are very brave with those patterns! Sorry about your mother, but I know that you will always cherish the happiness that quilt brought her. My best quilt (an original design, floral applique) was for my mother and she cherishes it. I am so thankful that I was able to make something so special for her because she is now deteriorating rapidly.

When I first started quilting, I frequently made the same pattern twice. Partly because I felt comfortable with the pattern, but mainly because I wanted to have one for myself and give the other away. Now, 100+ quilts later, I have come to the realization that I don't need to have that many quilts in this house...and can settle for pictures of those I give away!

Please share pictures with us...we love them!!

My very first quilts were actually made when I was quite young. We were quite poor as my husband was finishing up his degree and I had to quit my job when I got pregnant. (Yes, gals, those of us over fifty remember those days when there wasn't any such thing as job security for pregnancies). I made a lot of my baby's layette and made what would be called a postage stamp quilt for him. I was so totally clueless then, and there wasn't an internet to look up how to do it, so I winged it. Each square was about and inch square, lol. I didn't figure out one could do strips and then cut them and make it easier. So..........you can picture the rest. Then when that was finished, I started an embroidered animal quilt.

Back then there were blocks all dime stores carried, with the pattern on them and you did the embroidery and pieced it. I can tell you this much, I got started on it before my son was born, and finished it in time to give it to my first grandson. rofl!!!! Did I set the record or what? I put quilting away after that until I got over the trauma of it.

I'll look around for some pics. Likely they'll be of the big quilts in progress.