Quilting Tips for Beginners

If you've recently taken up quilting or are interested in taking up quilting, then here are some miscellaneous tips that I have learned in my burgeoning addiction to quilting.

Buy more fabric than you need

There's always the chance that you may mess up the pieces you're cutting, so buy more fabric than you need, especially if it's something you really like. And believe me; you'll probably kick yourself later if you don't! Also keep in mind, that if you end up hooked on quilting, you'll probably use the material somewhere else for other projects. If you don't end up hooked on quilting, you can use it for other sewing projects, or even donate it to a quilting group.

Many people seem to just buy quarter of a yard pieces, or fat quarters. These are often great for a single project if you just want a small bit of that material in it. Frankly though, I've never found a fat quarter, or a quarter of a yard to be anywhere near enough fabric for any of my projects, except pillows.

Fabric Type

While you can use different fabrics for quilting, the most recommended is cotton. If you decide to use something other than cotton for your quilt, try to make all the fabric in your quilt the same. Different fabrics shrink and wear differently. If you use several different types of fabric in your quilt, you may find some wearing out faster than others.

Storage

Once addicted to quilting, your fabric collection, also known as your stash, will probably grow rather quickly. Don't bother thinking it won't happen, it will. Planning out storage ahead of time will save you a lot of hassle later on. Clear plastic totes, drawers, or drawer carts seem to work best.

Personally I like the clear drawers the best. They are much easier to access so one is not required to move the 15 totes stacked on top in order to get to the one on the bottom.

Make sure you have empty totes or drawers for all of your scraps. It might even be handy to have some to store current projects in along with materials being used, and one for orphan blocks. Orphan blocks are the experimental ones, or ones that for one reason or another don't make it in the quilt.

Backing

I remember after first getting hooked on quilting, oohing and aahing over some incredible quilts. Many of these had plain colored backings with a contrasting thread making the quilted design more apparent. I immediately began plotting my own quilts, fondly thinking of the decorative back that would be just as much a piece of art as the front. I mean really, how hard could it possibly be?

A lot harder than I realized! It actually takes a lot of skill or at least a very good machine, to get those incredible designs. So my advice is that until you have gained in skill, or have that very expensive sewing machine, use backing material with patterns and a thread that will blend in. At least until you get a better hang of them. This will help hide any flaws in your design, or should you get a wrinkle in the backing, it's not quite so apparent.

Sandwiching

This is the act of putting the backing, batting, and top together and pinning them in place. Despite recommendations that this can be done on a carpeted floor, I would not recommend it. My first quilt which I put together on the carpeted floor, I proceeded to pin to the carpet. I was not at all thrilled to have to re-pin the entire thing!

Quilting

So now that it's pinned together, now you get to stitch everything together with whatever design you've chosen. Now I've added this part for those, like me who happen to miss this section in the book and are doing this on their own. It may be self-explanatory to some, but it wasn't to me.

You need to use a sewing machine that the feed dogs (the "feet" that pull the material) can either be covered over or dropped. It makes it much harder to quilt when this is not possible. Also a sewing machine where the presser foot has an adjustable tension makes life even easier.

Without the feed dogs dropped or covered over (some sewing machines come with a plate to cover the feed dogs for embroidery) the backing will be pulled through at a different rate from the top creating creases. Also doing anything other than straight lines is rather difficult with the feed dogs engaged.

I hope these tips are of some help in your quilting. Most of all remember to have fun!