Quilting--It's A Passion

Welcome to my quilting blog! I can't believe that it has taken me so long to find a place where I can talk about my passion for quilting. But here I am, finally, and I have given myself permission to talk about quilting until I have nothing left to say (and that could take a while)! I hope that the things I share here on my blog will be helpful to other quilters or, even more importantly, that someone will be inspired to start quilting because I made it look fun, easy, and rewarding! I'm convinced that if you try making just ONE quilt block, you'll be hooked--and you'll realize that quilting is an art that has endless possibilities!

For New Quilters--A Very Basic Primer (It's Easy--I Promise!)




My first goal is to help you make ONE quilt block!  After that, the sky's the limit. 

Basic Tools:   There are tons of great gadgets to buy in the quilting world, but right now I want to prove to you that you can make a basic block.  So here's what you're going to need right now:
  • A sewing machine (Did you know that some people actually sew blocks by hand--yes, with just a needle and thread.  If you decide that's your cup of tea, you're my heroe!)
  • Neutral colored thread (For our purposes here, if all you have is bright red, use it!  I don't want you to put this off because you can't get to the store.)
  • Scissors
  • Rotary Cutter (If you don't have a rotary cutter and you really want to start quilting, you're going to want to buy one of these. If you don't have one right now, you can use your scissors.)  Just a little warning about rotary cutters--the blades are very, very sharp.  Always close them when you finish making a cut & keep them out of the reach of your children!)
  • Cutting Board (This is for use with your rotary cutter.)
  • Acrylic Ruler (This is the 3rd member of the rotary cutter, cutting board, acrylic ruler trio.)
  • Thin batting (You'll need batting later if you decide that you like one of these blocks and want to go ahead and make a quilt.)
  • Oh, and don't forget the FABRIC!  Use 100% cotton fabric.  You can make these first 'experimental' blocks from scraps that you have around the house.  If you don't have fabric, run to the store and buy something inexpensive. 
That's it! Now you have what you need to make a quilt block!

Basic Sewing Instructions:

  • When quilting, use a 1/4" seam allowance.
  • Always press your seams.  Usually, you will press the seam toward the darker fabric, but most patterns will tell you which way to press your seams.  (When quilting, you do not press your seams 'open' as you would with other sewing projects.
  • Before you start cutting your fabric, "square it up."  Snip the selvage edge and tear across to the other selvage.  This will give you a straight edge to work from.  (The selvage is the finished edge.) 

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)