My first quilt

I too grew up with a Grandmother who made quilts. Mom sewed, but she did not quilt. She is a fine artist with paints instead. I can remember taking art as a child, and coming home with drawings that did not meet my expectations of what they should look like. Of course, I never told Mom why the art ended there! Therefore, I took up crocheting, embroidery, counted cross stitch, and any other craft.
I didn't start quilting until DH and I moved 200 miles away from my family. I was unable to find a teaching job right away, and when I did, it was only part time. I told DGM that I wanted to learn to quilt. A few weeks later, a Grandmother's flower garden top, queen sized, showed up in the mail. I had previously cut and matched the pieces for her, because her hands could no longer handle cutting large amounts of pieces. I quilted that one by hand, using the stab method, on a floor hoop. No one had ever showed me a real quilting stitch, and that way I could get the stitches the same size. I decided them that I didn't want to hand quilt another large quilt.
Then I pieced a top out of scraps. Again, I had been sewing for years, but no one gave me any hints on how to put it together. I did get a book and read, so I knew about 1/4 inch seams. The top actually looks OK, but there are creases on the back where I quilted it on the machine without getting it properly stretched and basted. I also sewed on the horizontal sashing in one long strip, so the squares don't exactly line up...
After that, I was well and truly hooked. I took some classes. I really like the piecing of the top. I never did get to liking the quilting process...
Laura in Alabama