​

I never really liked sewing. I got a Kenmore sewing machine for Christmas when I was in Junior High. My dad taught me how to use it. From the beginning, I knew I did not like to sew! After high school, I had an interest in fashion design. I spent 1 year at a fancy fashion college and didn’t learn much, then I went to trade school and learned garment construction, pattern making and power sewing. I worked in the garment industry as an assistant designer/pattern maker for about a year and a half. It was fun. The sample makers did all of the sewing.  Then I was laid off, it was between seasons and no one was hiring. So, I went back to the trade school and chose my next career. Landscape and Nursery Occupations. 

​

I worked doing Park maintenance in Los Angeles for 25 years. In that time, I met my husband, bought a car, bought a house, bought an industrial sewing machine, bought another car, bought property in Columbia… One of my early coworkers was also my neighbor and I became very good friends with his wife. We saw each other almost every day. She is the first person I knew who made quilts. She made a lot of quilts. They had five children and many grandchildren. When I moved to a new neighborhood, we didn’t see each other as often but that quilt thing really stayed with me.

My great grandmother made a quilt for my mother when she was a baby. When I was young, I found that quilt and I loved playing with it. It was pretty worn out. I still have it and I decided since I knew how to make patterns and I knew how to sew, I could make that quilt over again. That was about 1992. I made the little patterns. I went to the fabric store and chose the fabrics and noticed that they were offering a quilt class at the fabric store and I thought I should probably take this class since I didn’t really know anything about making a quilt. It was a three week class. She said we could make the double wedding ring quilt top in three weeks. And I did!  Took me another 12 years or so to complete the hand quilting. I took almost every class she offered after that and made many quilt tops. The teacher was a hand quilter, and at the conclusion of every class, she would gather us together and give us a demo of hand quilting. After a few classes, and a growing accumulation of newly made quilt tops, I suggested we form a group to quilt together on each other’s quilts, an old-fashioned quilting bee. There were several people interested and we started meeting every other Saturday, gathered around a quilt frame, hand quilting. Since then, the group has seen changes, some people have moved, a couple have passed away, new quilters have joined over the years. After all this time, they are still meeting together a couple of times each month and I join them when I can.

I have always enjoyed hand stitching. Remaking mom’s quilt was my first experience with hand stitching. And hand quilting, to me, is comforting. Recently, I have been doing a little more sewing than I normally would (normally I would do more procrastinating). And, this feeling has been sneaking up on me that maybe sewing isn’t quite as dislikable to me as it has been in the past. Maybe…          ~ Janet