Dear Geraldine,
I’m a beginning quilter and I don’t get out much. I don’t have access to a quilt guild or friends that sew.
It’s hard quilting on my own where I can’t get help picking fabrics, suggestions or feedback.
Do you have any advice on how to boost my quilting confidence?
-Struggling in San Antonio
Dear 'Struggling,'
Fear not, my friend! You are not alone!
Quilting is a wonderful hobby, one that is determined to find community!
There are so many ways to be connected to other quilters these days, especially online. Why not join a Facebook group?
In fact, you will find that the online community is much larger and more diverse than any in-person guild can be!!
Did you know that Love Sew has a Facebook group that is more that 20,000 members strong? Why not join today- we’d love to have you!
If you have a smartphone, you can easily take pictures of your progress, post those photos, and ask for comments and feedback. Be sure to give back by commenting on others’ work as well.
Another suggestion is quit kits to sharpen your skills. Kits come with all of the fabrics and instructions you need for the quilt top. Take note of how the designer pairs up the fabrics.
Try to pick kits that will let you hone a different skill each time (ie: half square triangles or curves.) If the kit comes with PDF instructions, print them out and study them before you begin your quilt.
Quilt kits are an easy ‘win’ to start out with. Sometimes, you can even save money buy going with a kit rather than buying fabrics individually. Compare and see!
I hope these tips help you to ‘get out there’ online and help your confidence.
Readers, please comment below if you have any other suggestions for ‘Struggling.’
We’re all on this quilting journey together!
7 comments
Dear Tori,
I understand about pain and spend a lot of my time in bed. I hate pain!
I have to push myself most of the time to go sew of to just start sewing on a project. I really enjoy sewing but hurt most times.
So I sew a little and rest a lot. Maybe we can cheer each other on?
Me too. I don’t drive..have no way of getting out..so I have to buy on line everything .no feed back or advice.
Kerri and Tori: Don’t give up! We are here for you. Our facebook community is super friendly and has all levels of quilters. Why not join?
Brenda- thanks for the idea! Stay tuned- I’ll feature that soon!!
XOXO, Geraldine
I am the same way as the person who posted like Struggling. I live in a small town and every time I take a class at a quilt shop I go to, end up frustrated as the projects never get completed and find it hard to get help or talk to someone about it. It is so frustrating not having any friends and especially quilty friends to help and I have reached out to a few groups on line but nothing usually pans out as most people who belong to a group, have people who they mainly talk to and the rest not so much especially if you are a beginner because most are experienced and advanced quilters and have more in common because they can do any projects from start to finish and I can’t. I feel like giving up altogether sometimes and frustrated.
I was hacked on facebook and my computer frozen. I will not be participating on FB (lost $8,000). I need a good stencil for a 60 degree diamond. Any suggestions? The one I’m using is just not right.