So You Want to Learn To Quilt

Anybody who wants to learn to quilt can find plenty of advice on the internet, and there is more than one way to start learning this amazingly creative craft. If you know how to stitch you could begin with a starter pack, containing all you need for your first quilt, or you could decide to read about it first and find out a bit more about the techniques, tools and fabrics before starting on the practical side of things.

Although there are plenty of quilting books available, there are surprisingly few dedicated to beginners. Most books, however, have reasonable good sections detailing the tools, materials and basic techniques that can be useful to the beginner. It is handy to have a basic idea of what quilting is, and what the general techniques used are, before actually starting on your first creation.

Quilting is Both Attractive and Practical

Quilting is attractive, and is used for warmth as well as to look good. While, most people think of the large bed coverings when they think of quilts, the term also applies to garments such as quilted jackets which can keep you warm in winter, quilted house coats and dressing gowns, and even quilted purses and bags. It is more versatile than many believe.

A quilt consists of three essential parts: the quilt top, which is the patterned part that is most often seen, the batting, which is the central padding, and the backing. While a starter pack is a good way for a beginner to set off on their first project, many feel that they learn more by starting from scratch and making their own blocks. A block is one of the basic units of a quilt top, and is made by sewing small pieces of material together. A quilt is made by sewing a number of similar blocks together into one complete patterned top, then joining the various parts together by sewing or tying.

Most traditional Quilting Patterns are Block Patterns

There are other ways to make quilt tops, apart from using blocks, but most of the traditional patterns are block patterns, and it is a good type of design to start with. The stitching tends to be in straight lines which is a help, and it is also easier for machine stitching. Whether you start from scratch or use a pack, once you have completed your first quilted piece, you should take some time to learn about the fabrics and other aspects of quilting.

There is a very wide variety of fabrics and textiles of various textures and colors available for quilting. Although the choice might be confusing as to what can and cannot be used for certain types of quilting, you are not alone. Everybody feels the same way when the first start out, but you will soon pick it up. There are very few rules, and it is generally useful to take some time browsing round your nearest quilt shop checking out everything on display.

Quilting Machines are Specialized Pieces of Equipment

The equipment is not specialized, except perhaps for the quilting machines. Even a standard domestic sewing machine is best adapted to render it more suitable for quilting. You need good sharp scissors for cutting the fabrics, though some people prefer rotary wheel cutters. If you intend taking up quilting seriously, you must learn about the equipment, fabrics, accessories and theory of quilting. It not only makes quilting easier, but also makes it easier for you to make up your own designs and patterns.

Without a shadow of doubt, quilting is one of those crafts that are extremely useful to have, and if you learn to quilt your work will passed down your family from generation to generation. If you can sew you can quilt, so get started.

About The Author: Jessie Pedersen is an avid and experienced quilter of over 10 years. She has made over 250 quilts of all sizes, patterns and types. She has come out with an ebook, Learn To Quilt In A Weekend. For more quilting tips, visit her site today!

Thread Talk from my Sewing Machine #26

November 9, 2011 by ivoryspring

I have always used my walking foot to quilt straight lines because I like the look of straight lines when quilted with a walking foot. Even after I learned to free-motion quilt, whenever I have to quilt straight lines, I dutifully change out my quilting foot for the walking foot!

Sometimes stitching with the walking foot and feed dog up isn’t the most convenient … like quilting piano keys, for example. As a result, I have never quilted piano keys on the border until my last quilt. After I decided to be brave and free-motion quilted the straight lines with a ruler.

In the past, I tried free-motion quilting the straight lines to avoid the twisting and turning the quilt, but the stitches would look like the ones in straight line “B”, shown in the picture below. The stitches look like they are quite uncertain of themselves, and the occasional “veering off the straight-ness” moments just bug me. I like my straight stitches to look confident and just plain nice… enter line “A”. Line “A” is quilted free-motion with the use of a ruler. I like the look of “A” stitches MUCH better…

An Accents in Design Fine Line Quilting ruler…

***

Here are a few points in using the ruler for domestic machine quilting that I hope would be helpful to you:

1. Use the smaller sized rulers – 6? or 8?. Anything bigger might make handling harder.

2. The key to using the ruler is to anchor it down with your hand (butting it against quilting foot), and not lose the pressure, and maintaining the same grip through an entire quilting pass. If you lose it, you might lose the exact positioning, and causes veering off and jerking in your final result. Lots of concentration needed! But once you are through one pass, take a deep breath and a mini break before you attempt the next.

3. The ruler actually has scored markings so that you don’t have to mark your quilting lines. I go ahead and mark my quilts because I find that to have to move the quilt, move the ruler AND check my quilting pass against the scored lined is too much for little old me quilting on a home machine.

4. When doing piano keys, I find that it’s easier to quilt horizontally than it is vertically. For me, at least. You just have to play a bit and find out which one suits you the best.

5. I find that the Fine Line Ruler isn’t as good for quilting in the ditches because sometimes a seam is not perfectly straight, especially after the surrounding area is already quilted. If I absolutely have to quilt in the ditch during free-motion quilting to move from one spot to the next, I actually quilt in the style of “B” line, as shown above. I just gingerly take very small step to quilt along the seams. The stitches should “bury” themselves in the “ditches” (thus quilting in the ditches) and not visible.

***

Now I can quilt piano keys and not have to be frustrated with my stitch quality. You will see more piano keys in my future quilts, I am sure. In this case, a little bravery really went a long way… sometimes we just need to be a little brave, don’t we?

p.s. I have also quilted curved cross-hatching using ruler. Click here to read about it.

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Machine Quilting, Hand Tying and Hand Quilting

You have pieced together your quilt top and now it's time to decide how you are going to stitch your quilt. There are several methods of quilting that you can choose from. This article will explore the various methods that you can choose when quilting your three sandwich layers together. Whatever method you choose, you will end up with a quilt that will have your unique signature.

I'll start off by giving the definition of a quilt. A quilt is a fabric sandwich. This sandwich is made up of three layers. The top, the filling (also called the batting or wadding) and the backing. There needs to be a method of securing these layers together. The three most common methods are machine stitching, hand tying or hand stitching. Let us explore the method of machine stitching first.

If you decide to machine stitch your sandwich, the easiest technique to use is straight line quilting. Straight line quilting involves stitching your quilt pattern in straight lines. The most popular straight line technique is a stitching technique called "stitch in the ditch". Stitch in the ditch involves stitching right along the seams of your patchwork top which in turn hides the stitches in the seam line. It is quick and easy to do and you can easily finish a crib sized quilt in less than 2 hours using this technique. Another variation of straight line stitching is a technique called cross-hatch quilting. Cross hatch quilting is straight stitching evenly spaced apart in a diagonal pattern over the whole quilt sandwich. When the stitching is completed, the stitching design on the fabric sandwich will look like many little identical diamonds evenly distributed throughout the quilt.

The other machine stitching technique is called free motion machine stitching. Free motion stitching creates graceful curved designs in a variety of styles. These styles may include stippling, echo designs, clamshell designs or you can stitch decorative quilting styles traced from quilting stencils.

If you want to quickly finish your quilt, you could try hand tying your fabric sandwich. Hand tying is often done to fabric sandwiches that have high loft batting but this technique is not just limited to high loft batting quilts. I have seen a few hand tied quilts that have low loft batting and the quilting style of tying complements the piecing on the top. Quilt tying involved hand stitching one stitch through three layers of a fabric sandwich using either thick thread or strong wool. The ends of the thread or wool are then tied securely in a knot on the top layer of the sandwich and the two tails of the thread or wool are trimmed to approximately one inch in length. Tying a quilt is much faster than hand quilting or machine quilting. Fabric sandwiches that are tied are often utility or every day quilts rather than fancy decorative quilts.

Hand stitching a fabric sandwich is the traditional way of quilting. To hand stitch a fabric sandwich, a hoop or frame is needed to keep the pieces of the fabric sandwich taut as you stitch the layers of the fabric sandwich together. It is recommended that a thicker hand quilting thread be used to reduce the chance of the thread breaking while the sandwich is being stitched. Hand stitching is the slowest method of quilting but hand stitched quilts gives a wonderful textured look when finished. Many hand stitched quilts are highly sought after.

Whatever method you use when you are quilting your fabric sandwich together, you know that your quilt is almost finished. Your investment of time and energy is about to pay off with a beautiful quilt you will be proud to call your own. May you enjoy the quilt you have created for many years to come.

Ramona Dunn is a sewer and quilter with over 35 years of experience behind the sewing machine. She has a diploma with honors in sewing and dressmaking from the Stratford Career Institute and she is the proud owner of her own online quilting web site called Those Cotton Pickin' Fabrics.

Ramona is a professional educator by day and she has authored a book for beginning quilters called "How To Do Quilting In 8 Easy Steps". To learn more about this book

Click Here: http://how-to-do-quilting.com/

Everything You Need to Know About Caring for Your Amish Quilt

Amish Quilt Care

Knowing how to properly care for your quilt will ensure its longevity. Amish quilts generally take approximately 400 hours for an Amish quilter to complete. Considering how much time it took to make your quilt, we know you will want to handle it with care. Here are some helpful hints that we received directly from Barbara, an Amish quilt designer from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

To clean your quilt, we recommend two solutions:

Traditional Amish Quilt Care

Barbara said this is what she does to clean her quilts. Soak your quilt in cold water in either a bathtub or washer machine. Add 2 quarts of apple cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon of mild soap (like MelaPower), and a 1/2 cup of table salt. Do not use bleach. If you use your bathtub, let your quilt soak for 1 hour. If you use your washing machine, put your quilt on your Gentle cycle. After your quilt has been soaked or washed, hang dry it. Do not machine dry your quilt or use fabric softeners.

Dry Cleaning

Amish quilts can be dry cleaned. Ask your dry cleaner if they have cleaned quilts or bed coverings in the past. Dry cleaning is recommended if your quilt has loose lace or puffy applique work because this material can be damaged in a machine wash. Dry cleaning is also recommended for fabrics that may run in water, such as fully saturated dark colored and hand-dyed fabrics. To determine if your fabric will run, rub it with a piece of cotton that has been moistened with very hot water. If color bleeds onto the cotton, do not wash your quilt - even in cold water. Instead, have your quilt professionally dry cleaned. After your quilt is dry cleaned, hang it outside to air it out.

For quilts that are used daily, we recommend that you clean them once a year.

Quilt Markings

Amish quilters use markings to guide them as they hand stitch a quilt. Often these lines are still noticeable when the quilt is complete. Amish quilters typically use either pencil or chalk. If the quilt markings are made in pencil, you can purchase an eraser from a fabric store. Do not use a regular pencil eraser; they have oil in them that will permanently mark your quilt. You can also use a clean toothbrush. Dip it in a mixture of warm water and mild liquid laundry soap (we recommend Woolite). Use the toothbrush to gently rub out the quilt markings. If the marking line is white, it is probably chalk and can be brushed off or easily removed with a damp cloth.

Storage

Direct sunlight is not good for your quilt. It will naturally cause your colors to fade and the fabric to weaken. To store your Amish quilt, we recommend that you use a pillowcase or sheet. Do not use a plastic bag. Keep your quilt somewhere dark and dry.

Michael Bell is an expert on Amish quilts and has provided commentary in publications such as National Geographic Traveler. To see a full selection of authentic Amish quilts from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, please visit AmishQuiltShop.net.

Michael Bell is an expert on Amish quilts and has provided commentary in publications such as National Geographic Traveler. To see a full selection of authentic Amish quilts from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, please visit AmishQuiltShop.net.

Rag Quilts - What Makes Them Different Than Regular Quilts?

Rag quilts are a unique type of quilt that many quilters prefer making over traditional quilts. Because of this, rag quilts are growing considerably in popularity. There are several factors that make them popular. Some of the reasons include that they are easy to make, work up quickly, don't require expert sewing knowledge, and they are wonderfully warm and snugly.

Why are they easier to make than traditional quilts? As mentioned earlier, expert sewing knowledge is not necessary. If you can measure fabrics and sew a straight line (or even not so straight), then you can make a rag quilt.

Traditional quilts must be cut and measured very accurately, or the end results will suffer, but when making a rag quilt, the methods to make them are very forgiving. This means that if your measurements are off a bit, there's no reason to worry, since the edges make up the "rag" part of the rag quilt.

Also, traditional quilting requires learning many skills, such as either hand-quilting or machine-quilting once the top, bottom and middle have been assembled. The other option is to send off your quilt to a professional quilter, which means added expense and time to completion. Rag quilts, on the other hand, are "quilted" as each square is made. Once the quilt is put together, it's basically finished! The same goes for the edges of the quilts. With traditional quilts, the edges must have binding added, which is a tricky technique for some quilters. Rag quilts, however, don't require much (if any) finishing of the edges.

Another reason that many quilters prefer making rag quilts over traditional quilts is the amount of time that it takes to make them. Traditional quilts can takes weeks or even months. If you have a gift-giving occasion coming up soon, there may not be time to make a regular quilt. A rag quilt, however, can be made start to finish in a weekend.

A final reason that rag quilts are so popular is that they are just wonderful to snuggle under. After all, that's what quilts are for, right? Because they have the extra "raggy" fringes, there's extra warmth due to the amount of fabric.

While traditional quilts will always be popular, right now rag quilts are the rage of quilting! They are easy to make, very versatile, can be finished quickly, and are great for gift-giving.

Click here to visit the author's website, where there is lots more information about rag quilts, size recommendations, pictures, and more.

Thread Talk feature in THE QUILTER (December 2011/January 2012)

November 1, 2011 by ivoryspring

Be on a lookout for the upcoming issue of The Quilter (December2011/January 2012). The magazine will be on sale November 8th, but I suspect some of you who subscribe have already received your copies in the mail:

One of my Thread Talk posts “Swirly Tails” was picked up by the editor for publish. I am so excited!

In the issue, you will also find my quilt projects – a playful version of Coxcombs and Berries,

and Winter Bouquets:

Photo from www.thequiltermag.com

[After you have a chance to look at my Thread Talk feature in the magazine, should you have any suggestions or thoughts for the editor (whether good or bad), you may email them to me at wendy2@wendysheppard.net. I will compile your thoughts and send them along.]

p.s. #1 I am waiting for the aforementioned quilts to return to me from the editor for more picture-taking before I share about them on the blog.

p.s. #2 I have resumed working – sneak peeks within the next couple of days.

p.s. #3 A Thread Talk post about feather quilting is coming in the very near future!

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Double Flowers: Final Sneak Peek

November 7, 2011 by ivoryspring

Happy Monday, Friends! I hope you had a good week. Mine was good despite the fact that it was mostly work for me. I finished quilting Double Flowers (formerly known as “Pretty in Purple”). I hadn’t noticed that the name of the quilt was already thought of for me by the editor until I looked at the contract.

You probably noticed the straight lines I quilted on the quilt. I did that with my free-motion quilting foot, and a ruler! Look for more about that in a future Thread Talk post.

Thanks for dropping by. I always enjoy your visit. Take care, and have a lovely week ahead!

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