Quilt-Step One

I've had so many people ask for posts and pictures of our quilt making process, that I'm going to do a series of posts showing everything step by step. Unfortunately, my camera is very nearly dead, so I can't really get started just yet. We got a new (and much better!) camera today that will be ready to use as soon as the battery charges, so I'll be able to catch up soon. I wanted to start with two particular things though. One Acre Homestead mentioned sewing machine tension. I found this very long, but very informative article about diagnosing and fixing tension problems.

The other is deciding what to make. I'd suggest using a pattern for the first quilt you do unless you just want to put squares together in a checker board pattern. This eliminates an awful lot of math and a whole slew of steps where things could go wrong. You might find something in a quilting magazine that you like or sometimes there are quilt patterns in the store you can follow. Something like what Me and My Sister Designs offers will give you detailed information about how much fabric you need and how to cut it and piece it, while letting you choose the fabrics you like. Look for something that's labeled "easy" or "beginner". Then pick out fabrics you like. I haven't made a well coordinated quilt that would show up in a magazine somewhere, I just put together what seems okay at the time. Maybe next time I'll actually plan out colors....eh, maybe not.

The first quilt we're making is from American Patchwork and Quilting magazine and is called scrap happy. You can see a finished picture on their website, along with a wall hanging made the same way, but with a different color scheme. Our quilt will probably come out more like the wall hanging, only it's still bed-size (roughly 94"x94"). Directions for the wall hanging are on the site and everything is exactly the same as what we're doing except that the wall hanging is made up of 25 squares and our quilt will be 113 squares.

The other quilt is from Quick Quilts and there aren't great pictures online, but it's the cover picture from this issue of the magazine.

And I'll end with what I plan to start each post with:

Disclaimer: I am in no way a quilting expert. I have learn solely from trial and error (emphasis on error) and reading on the internet. I have only made 4 quilt tops and have hand quilted 1 top and machine quilted 4 tops. I am not saying everything I do is the right way to do it, just sharing what I've picked up so far. You'll probably learn best by trial and error too ;-)


Quilt Step One: Planning
Quilt Step Two: Cutting Fabric, Preparing Machine
Quilt Step Three: Piecing The Quilt
Quilt: Piecing, Continued
Quilt: More Piecing
Quilt: Scrap Happy Blocks Pieced
Quilt: Spindrift Pieced
Quilt Step Four: Sashing
Quilt Step Five: Border
Quilt: Choosing Batting
Quilt Step Six: The Quilt Sandwich