So you wanna Quilt?!?!?!?

Over the last few years, I have taken up quilting, or to be more specific, piecing quilts. Like most people my first sewing experiences were 4H projects or Home Ec assignments. Over the years I have always had a sewing machine. I have always sewn something. Particularly the big boys had many homemade Halloween costumes. Alot of the curtains in our house, I have made. In the last few years, many of the gifts I have given, have been quilts! Our little town has a great quilt shop, Material Girl Quilt Shop. It's ran by a good friend of mine, Meredith. Over the years I have exercised my creative impulses by crafting, scrapbooking, now quilting. I have to say I love it.

I not only sew for my family, I have taken it a step further, I teach basic sewing and quilting classes. I know that if I can do it, anyone can. Plus I find it so satisfying, I want others to enjoy this hobby as well. There's no better way to get them into it, than to show just how easy it really is. I would like to share some advice for things that have helped me. The first piece, I sort of already mentioned. That piece of advice is find a quilt shop and develop a relationship there. The people at quilt shops likely 'think like you do' and usually understand when you have 'crazy' questions.

One of my other goals is to help others gain confidence in their sewing ability. Not everyone will hand piece and quilt a postage stamp quilt, but everyone after gaining a few basic skills can make and enjoy making quilts. There are many tools out there to help you along the way. I am a visual learner. Taking quilt classes is great way to learn. You can watch the teacher create the project, bounce ideas off the other students and so much more.

If a quilting class isn't something that you can get to, there's many other choices out there. One of my favorites is, You-tube. There are gobs of tutorials for many quilting techniques. One in particular that I like to go to is Missouri Star Quilt Company, MSQC you tube link  they have a channel and update with new videos weekly. The thing I really like about them is that you can go back and watch over and over.

There are many great quilt blogs out there as well. One of my favorites in Moda Bake Shop go here. While it looks like a blog, each and every entry is a 'free pattern' Most of the patterns on MBS showcase great ways to use Moda Fabric Company's 'precut' retail items. Precuts are another 'quick and easy' tool for beginning quilting. Moda offers precuts in several popular sizes, 'Charm Packs' contain 5 inch squares, 'Layer Cakes' have 10 inch squares, and 'Jelly Rolls' have 2.5 inch strips. Many MANY projects can be made using these great precut packets!

Another quick tool I really recommend that a beginning quilt invest in would be a rotary cutter, cutting mat and ruler. The speed that would will be able to cut out projects will amaze you. Sure you will need the basics like a sewing machine,basic tools, like scissors, pins, thread, seam ripper. You will also want to have on hand a good iron and ironing board.

These are just some of the few speed tools and I sure there are an million more. If you are interested, I generally teach a monthly class on a basic quilt that you can likely complete over a weekend. Let me know if you'd like to join our group.
Enjoying the sharing of a quilting post and wishing I was actually quilting, instead of merely talking about it,
From Tulip~
KH
:)