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My friend’s pregnant with her third and I’ve made quilts for her first two. Her oldest will be about 4.5 when the new baby arrives. What’s something I can sew for him so he can have something special for himself when I give the new baby his/her quilt?

Bear with me for two minutes, and the point will arrive. I launched into quilt-making two years ago, because I wanted to do more paintings but with cloth. I made some crazy quilts by hand, then got a machine and started learning. I can do lots of patterned blocks now, but recently after finishing a top with 141 blocks in it, I realized that wasn’t what I wanted, so I’ve gone back to my “art.” Putting things together just the way I see them fitting. And I ran across this wonderful website about a terrific group of women. I’ve been reading their short biographies as a kind of inspiration. Their quilts are beautiful in various ways. Some are truly art, like, you just think wow, I’d buy a ticket to see that. Some are pretty and sweet, some show keen minds for color, others for design, most simple, some complex. Just as it might be with any group of people. Some loners, some more outgoing, all survivors. Their lives were so hard. But nearly every one of them just worked and worked and worked, making these things either as a respite or purely for need or because they were expressing creativity the way we all need to, using whatever material they could obtain. I don’t much care for the word “privilege” tossed around the way it is these days, but when I compare these women and their lives to the Duggars, well. I mean, I live a very privileged life compared to many people. Lots of it is hard, but that’s mostly invisible to an outsider. And I could have it so much worse. I have had it much worse, that’s partly how I know. I do not take what I have here for granted. It won’t always be this way, but I’ll be okay. And the chasm between Jim Bob Duggar's carelessly broad view and the strong women of Gee’s Bend, Alabama is something to wonder at. And the idea of Michelle visiting them and calling them precious, which just popped into my head, makes me a little ill. And their missionary son-in-law... Scroll down and click to read some of their biographies. When people talk of the tapestry of life, of this country, for good and for ill, they surely mean all the threadwork and weaving, not just the scene viewed from a distance. It's all just stories to most of us, but we should still be learning from them. Here's the wikipedia page with references, etc. http://www.soulsgrowndeep.org/gees-bend-quiltmakers

I have always wanted to do this but want to do small blanket type quilts as a beginner but need either a half decent website or something I can download or even read. I'm UK I don't mind if I hand sew or machine but it does have to be small to begin with of course. So someone take pity on me and help me out here.

@Maggie Mae

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa24 ... a2490b.jpg

Ahoy, fellow quilters! Do come in, we have a fresh pot of coffee and some chocolate chip cookies. I can't really call myself a quilter with a capital A, but I started several quilts, have finished some of them, and am epically stuck on a ginormous queen-sized log cabin that took me two days to baste but needs quilting. On to my question: my old hand-me-down Kenmore is not doing too well. The bobbin tension is all over the place and I would like a newer machine. Which good basic models can you recommend that come with a walking foot and can handle larger quilts besides basic sewing projects? No fancy embroidery or a gazillion stitches required.