Don’t Apologise for Being a Beginner Quilter
August 5, 2015
I’ll often see or hear new quilters apologise for being beginners, both online and in real life.
STOP APOLOGISING!
You absolutely do not need to apologise for being a beginner. We were all beginners at some point. No one came out of the womb with a needle in her hand piecing hexagons.
We all at one point went “hey let’s try this quilting thing” and decided to go for it. Commend yourself for actually following through and trying it out!
I realise this is often a gendered thing, but you are in the family now, you don’t need to apologise for being an enthusiastic quilter.
I love beginner quilters for several reasons.
Firstly, they are some of the most out of the box creative quilters. They aren’t bounded in by the rules and traditions of quilting because they don’t know them! They aren’t afraid to try something new or different because they don’t know any better. They aren’t scared to tackle a challenging pattern because they don’t know that it’s considered tough.
Secondly, once you’ve caught the quilting bug, it’s a fever! You can’t get enough! It’s a compulsion. Maintaining this kind of enthusiasm is difficult over the long term; eventually your sewjo will slow down. Embrace this wonderful craving while you can.
Thirdly, they’re willing to try out new techniques. Beginner quilters are open to trying lots of new methods because they haven’t found their favourites. Read lots of blogs, watch lots of videos, check out different books and patterns, and please please please try some classes with different teachers – online and in person. You will learn so much more beyond the topic at hand.
There’s more than one way to skin a cat – try them all. The wonder of discovery is bliss.
Lastly, they aren’t afraid to ask questions. Asking questions opens you up to learning new ideas and techniques. That being said…
Google that shit first.
Often spending 30 seconds in Google can give you a variety of useful answers. It can be bothersome when beginners ask very easily answerable questions over and over.
Come with some research – “I found two different methods, which do people prefer? Quilter A recommends method B for basting, what do you use? Is there an easier way to do X technique? The pattern says to do this, and I looked it up, but I don’t quite understand what they mean.”
A little bit of due diligence can help you to get a deeper, more useful response to questions.
Congratulations on being a beginning quilter!
You only get this time once, enjoy it.
Experienced quilters, let’s try to recapture some of that magic by helping beginners on their way.
