About – Quilting

Angela Guzzo from Hello, Quilting! with a Stack of Quilts

Piper the Cat Testing a Quilt at Hello, Quilting!

Hi there!!

Resident Quilt Inspector Piper via www.helloquilting.com

Welcome to my corner of the Internet. I’m so glad you’ve stopped by for a visit. My name is Angela and this is my trusty sidekitty Piper. (Get it? Sidekick? Sidekitty? No? Ahem). I do the quilting and she does all of the quality control. Or at least making sure every quilt has been sat on at least once. Being the Senior Resident Quilt Inspector, she takes her work pretty seriously.

Resident Quilt Inspectors Thing One and Thing Two via www.helloquilting.com

I now also have two Junior Resident Quilt Inspectors, Thing One and Thing Two, who are still learning the ropes, as it were. But they definitely have figured out how to make sure each quilt gets sat on at least once. Very important.

You can read more about the help over on their own dedicated Resident Quilt Inspectors page.

As for me, my interest in quilting started when I was growing up. We had this old 1940’s boat quilt that we used for everything: forts, cars, padding… but most importantly for snuggling, especially when someone needed a little extra love. I knew when I grew up that I wanted to learn to make quilts like that.

Angela Guzzo from Hello, Quilting! with her Miniature Reproduction Boat Quilt

I knew it had been my Dad’s when he was a kid, but it wasn’t until later that it was the last quilt his mom had made before she passed away in 1949. He was 8 years old. It was the quilt he and his brother slept under and a twin to the Sunbonnet Sue quilt that belonged to his little sister.

The quilt was tattered when I was young, but now it’s fragile beyond use. In 2016 I finished a miniature reproduction to preserve it. It hangs above my sewing machine to inspire me and remind me of my connection to my grandmother, and all the other quilters who have come before me.

As a quilter I’m a study in contradictions. I love vintage quilts (and am forever reproducing them), but also thrill to the punch of modern colors and fabrics. I am adventurous and love to learn new skills but also enjoy a simple quilt that I can  knock out, playing with color or value instead of technique.

I also love making quilts for friends, for babies and children, for special ocassions like holidays and learning the lesson that beauty can come from things that would otherwise be thrown away. It never gets old.

In 2017 I decided to start making quilts professionally, and I opened an Etsy Shop. I wrote an essay about my experience at a time, Stitching Up a New Beginning, and was published in Rural Magazine. My goal is to make 1000 baby quilts, with every 10th quilt (or it’s proceeds) being donated to charity for victims of childhood sexual abuse. It’s taking longer than I expected, but I’m so grateful to have started this decades-long project.

Hello, Quilting Etsy Banner

The quilter’s journey is a joyful one, with inspiration, creativity, challenges and giving. Over the years in turns quilting has been my hobby, my therapy, my bliss, my education and my joy. The community is supportive and the people kind, and I can’t imagine a better hobby or group of people to share it with.

I love quilting, and I want everyone to have a chance to try it. That’s why I’m dedicated to making this website a resource for quilters everywhere, helping to provide both new and experienced quilters with valuable resources and tips so they can continue their journey, too.

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