Making Your First Quilt
Many experienced quilt makers will have made quilts by both machine and by hand. Some may have a preference, while others are happy to switch between the two methods intermittently. Although machine quilting is popular for quick results, it can be difficult to handle the material and may or may not provide the effect for the style of quilt you decide to make.
Hand quilting, albeit slower, does provide a softer, more handcrafted look to the finished quilt, but has its own bulky challenges. As discussed on a previous page, you may want to work with a quilting hoop to secure the section of the quilt you’re working on.
If it’s a bed cover, you will want a quilt maker’s frame to stretch out a larger area of the quilt for your work. Old quilting frames were hand made to suit available space and number of people who could work on the piece at any one time during a quilting circle.
(Learn more about quilting frames here.)
Other Quilt Maker’s Tools and Materials
If quilting by hand, you only need quilting needles and quilting thread. As with regular hand stitching, you operate the needle with one hand, and use your other hand below the fabric to guide the needle back through, maintaining the integrity of the piece by keeping the stitches the same length and aligned.
If quilting with a sewing machine, a walking foot will ensure all three layers of the quilt move together – it’s important not to allow one part of the ‘quilt sandwich’ to be more out of sync with the others.
Colored or invisible thread – in similar or contrasting colors to the fabric – is used
artistically in both hand-stitching of a quilt and machine quilting.
Foundation Paper – Piecing together the foundation blocks is easiest using foundation paper. You will want to mark the paper so that you can attach the pieces of fabric in sequence. Each piece needs to be sewn to both the paper and to each other.
Experts recommend using tracing paper for machine stitching, but not for hand stitching. Other options include paper used on the beds of medical exam rooms – it’s cheap, and works well – or cook’s parchment paper. Whichever tracing paper you use will pull away easily after quilt block creation if you use small stitches.
Muslin, an in-expensive and natural fabric, is recommended as the tracing paper alternative when making a hand pieced quilt.
Putting Your Quilt Together
Whether by block or large pieces (such as a tied quilt), lay the wrong side of the fabric of your piece, to the back of the foundation paper, leaving a quarter inch seam allowance all around. Machine the paper and fabric together.
Next take your quilt piece for the next section, placing the top side of the piece to the top side of the first piece. Turn over the foundation paper to view the marked side, and sew on the lines you have marked. When you turn it right sides out again, the second piece aligns perfectly without showing seam allowance. (If you have never sewn before this method is best described with photos. Until I get some pictures to illustrate the process, you might be well served to grab an instructional book, video, or quilting kit – find some great ones for just a few dollars in our Country Store.)
Next, you’ll want to lay the work down on a flat surface with the numbers on the foundation paper or muslin facing you. Fold the paper on the stitching line you have just done, so that the numbers on the paper face each other and the seam allowance of the first piece and the main fabric of the second piece are open. Trim the fabric to within a quarter inch of the edges.
Finding or Making Quilt Patterns
New quilt makers are best kept to traditional tried and true patterns. This way you can also turn to a more experienced quilt maker for assistance if you experience troubles part way through your creation.
In time you can start making your own quilt patterns and increase the creativity of your finished work any way you see fit. A unique quilt pattern can be made from just about any shape or design that appeals to you.
Traditional American patterns work via block or sections, repeated throughout the quilt. These quilts are then edged to surround the blocks throughout the piece or just along the perimeter.
Making your own pattern will require paper for the creation process. Some quilt designers use sand paper. Sand paper sticks to the fabric while you’re creating your quilt without sliding. Plastic template materials are also available and should be considered for any patterns that you may want to repeat and will not dull scissors like sand paper or catch on (and potentially ruin) the fabric you are using.
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