So, when I first started quilting I made one for everyone in my family. The thing I like most about quilting is what I think about when I make it. I make each one with very specific plans, I take notes in my mind of things people like, and the way they live, as I plan what fabrics I buy and the patterns I create for each one. In fact, I have never made a quilt without a specific person in mind. I find it nearly impossible because I don't have the direction of my thoughts to guide me. I also never used a purchased pattern in my early years of quilting. I would find a technique that spoke to me for that person and I would go with it. Laying it all out on the floor, and cutting, and re-cutting to satisfy my eye. Quilting is an art for me, its my self expression of the person I am making it for.
One of my first quilts was for my only sister, actually it was for her youngest daughter, Peyton. Sis send me the pocket off Daddy's Wrangler jeans and wanted me to make a quilt with it. So I began that quilt with old fabric that she had send me years before, that I had in my stash. Most of the fabric was older and very country looking. Some had cows, and old stripes, and flowers, and I immediately knew I would use them. Many of them were left over from her Mother-In-Law's dress making, they were small pieces left over from dress patterns. These chopped up pieces of fabric would be perfect for a "crazy quilt" block. So I got my scissors ready and started cutting. I liked the crazy quilt block when I started learning to quilt, because there were no rules for cutting, nothing has to be exact. I would just start with a piece for the center, and work my way around it, picking each fabric chunk based on what colors combo I liked.