Quilting is for old ladies?

Quilting has NO age limit! Quilting has no NO age limit~! Quilting has NO age limit!

Say and believe it!

It is true!

Quilting has no age limit what so ever!

Today we are so used to being instantly gratified, that we forget the true meaning of quality over quantity! There is no app for quilting to make it happen faster, there are a few to help you figure out questions, answers and where to shop on a trip, but NOT one that makes quilting easier, faster, or better!

I am not going into history of quilting here for many reasons, It can be a bit boring, and NOT one book will agree on any aspect of quilting in a manner that makes sense to you or me! But, in the days of yesteryear quilting was not an art it was a necessity. Crewel, cross stitch, and other needle arts were the arts of the years gone by. Quilts on the other hand were not an art form, they were utilitarian for the most part; however there are some quilts from the years gone by that will absolutely BLOW YOUR MIND!

What is a quilter? Who is a quilter? Where did quilters come from? WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?

All those questions up there; yeah I get em regularly...

What/Who is a quilter - well lets answer this one for all of y'all to know for sure. Quilters are men, women, children, grandmothers, mothers, aunts, sisters, brothers, fathers uncles and whatever other identity you want to place up on yourselves. One thing is sure we are artist, we are are every age, color, gender, and religion. We are people who make things that make us and other's very happy and very warm and loved all rolled up into one!

Where did quilters come from? damned if I know the real answer but quilts date back to a time I know not much about! It's history not my thing, but I am glad they came about because I love to do it! They were a way to keep warm in cold winter months, they were a way to give comfort to those who were ailing, and they were a way to express creativity in many ways.

What is a quilt? Well there are a few forms of quilts. Three layers put together with the middle part being the warm part. Two layers put together for a less warm or heavy effect (summer) quits were big in the south. Quilts are pieces of fabric; found, bought, given to, or re purposed into a top and back. Quilts can be art, wall hangings, lap covers, bed covers, baby warmers, and soothers of the soul.

WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT? Well, duh. I enjoy the process. I love the out come, and LOVE LOVE LOVE all the fabrics available to us today! Truth be told people don't get why we take perfectly good fabric cut it up into small pieces and then put it back together again.

Well it makes sense to wonder that.

But the outcome of all those pieces form a piece of art that is its own one of a kind creation.

Creating patterns from pieces of fabric is therapy for me.

I don't care about who made the original pattern, I don't care about who changed the pattern to make it their own, and sure as hell don't think it is cool to complain about a person not getting credit for work they did when the blocks are over a hundred years old! I SAID BLOCKS! Not the pattern itself.

But seriously, you can not take credit for the 9 patch and call it your own! It is NOT, now the colors you put together in your particular quilt yes that is yours, but the nine patch is just that. Guess what it wasn't really a quilt block to begin with it was a floor tile! Yep threw in some history there for ya! Then it was a door panel, then finally a window before it ever was put into a quilt block! WOW! yes I did research on that bit of info there! It was the window that became a quilt block! A young woman looked out her window while sewing one day, and then thought I could use that in my coverlet, and she began to stitch pieces of colors together and viola! a quilt formed out of it! TA DA!

Now the age thing! Really! Seriously you have to be old to quilt! Are ya freakin' kiddin' me! HELLLLLLLO! How old was Davinci when he first painted ?

In 1466, at the age of fourteen, Leonardo was apprenticed to the artist Andrea di Cione, known as Verrocchio, whose bottega (workshop) was "one of the finest in Florence" He apprenticed as a garzone (studio boy) to Andrea del Verrocchio, the leading Florentine painter and sculptor of his day (and would do so for 7 years). He did paint the Mona Lisa until he was 57, BUT, he was quite young when he first painted it is actually unknown the age he first painted--THE point being, he was NOT OLD when he did his first. https://www.biography.com/people/leonardo-da-vinci-40396

Now I digress here, but my point is this: You do not have to be any age to begin the process of quilting, sewing, making and or creating! You are your own person, and you control you, no one else. I say this because I have heard it too many times and bit burns my butt, when someone says quilting is an old lady thing! Art is art is art in any form!

For those who think its for old ladies well you have no idea and I will tell you this from my own experiences, I am much more calm, less stressed, and more pleasant person when I quilt! It is my form of therapy, it is for me the one thing that makes life's little[ism]'s more tolerable! I still use my colorful words when quilting; but hey it's my studio and it's just me in there!

So, the next time you are told quilting is for old ladies - just smile and say okay you go on and believe what you believe, I know for me what it is!

Don't let others dictate your life!

Don't let others take away from your joy.

And Do NOT ever let anyone tell you your creation is not good! It is a work of art! I can tell you this, I would NEVER pay for a painting with a red blotch on white background on it because someone else called it art! I will however continue to buy fabric shred it, cut it, piece it and manipulate it into things that keep others warm, give immense pleasure to me and those who receive them, and I will always say this!

I am a guy who is almost 50 and I quilt!

Now go cut some fabric up to put back together! It will be gorgeous!

Peace out peeps, til next time!

T