Any quilters out there??

Question

I am interested in starting to quilt. Having never quilted before, and having no one in the family that does quilt, it is difficult to figure out how to get started and the process. I know there are tons of books at Hobby Lobby and other stores on quilting. Also, that I can get stencils and most material I need at these places. I still have several questions though.
1. What are the best informational books/ websites for beginners? If it is a book app. how much will it cost?
2. Is it easier to do the quilting design by hand or machine?
3. Is basting spray or stiching better?
4. How much do the normal tools cost? IE rotary cutter and board, special feet for the sewing machine. (I know I am getting a new machine but i don't know what feet are coming with it.)
5. What is the best fabric for the backing?

If there is any other helpful hints or information that you can come up with that is great!

Answer 1

I strongly recommend taking a class if at all possible, because nothing compares to having someone who knows what they're doing RIGHT THERE when you have a question. A local quilt shop is your best bet. You could also try a chain fabric/craft store, or even check if a community college has any adult education classes in quilting. If a class is not an option, however, there are some good books available.

1. Books - For a beginner, try "Start Quilting with Alex Anderson." This is the book we used in my class. It teaches the basics of machine quilting (she also has one for hand quilting). It's a thin book, list price $12.95 (about $10 on Amazon). This is a great workbook. It teaches six basic blocks, but they give you the techniques needed for 75% of the traditional quilt blocks. I also recommend a good reference book, like the "Quilter's Complete Guide" by Fons & Porter ($22.95) or "The Quilter's Ultimate Visual Guide" ($19.95). Both include all sorts of info, from cutting to piecing to basting to quilting to binding. Finally, I really like the books "Quilts from the Quiltmaker's Gift" ($26.95) and "More Quilts from the Quiltmaker's Gift," ($26.95, $6 at Amazon) by Joanne Larsen Line. The illustrations are beautiful, the instructions are detailed and provide cutting and sewing instructions for a variety of sizes for each quilt, there are photos of at least three finished quilts for each block shown, and the quiltmakers are "real people" - including several children.

As for websites, be sure to check out Quilters Cache. There are over 1500 free patterns, without a lot of advertising. The instructions are fairly clear and they show an illustration of what the finished quilt might look like (essential for blocks that form secondary patterns). It's a little challenging to navigate - click the drop down that says "Where do you want to go today?" and choose "Quilt Blocks Galore" to see the blocks. There are also some great lessons in the drop down menu.

2. Hand vs. machine quilting (and piecing) is totally up to you. Some people believe that hand quilting is too slow and they would never get anything done that way. Others say that they'd never get anything done if they had to wait until they had time to sit down at a machine - they prefer to keep it handy and work for a few minutes whenever they have spare time. You need to decide what works best for you. Personally, I prefer to machine piece and machine quilt, but I have a "short arm" machine quilting frame so it's much easier for me to do large quilts.

3. Basting spray is great for smaller projects, or projects that you will quilt immediately. If you have a large quilt that you are quilting on a regular machine, basting spray might not be sufficient. You can pin baste - they make special bent safety pins that are supposed to be easier to work with, especially with a tool called a Kwik Klip. You can get a basting gun and connect the layers using little pieces of plastic, like smaller versions of what they use to put price tags on clothing. You can also baste the layers together using needle and thread, and making long running stitches.

4. You can go crazy buying tools for quilting. I recommend you get a good rotary cutter with a 45mm blade ($25). That's big enough to cut through several layers and small enough to still be fairly maneuverable. I prefer the ones with squeeze safety handles because the safety feature is automatically engaged whenever you let go. The ones you have to slide back and forth are too easy to set down without putting the guard back.
I'd recommend starting with an 12" x 18" mat. It's large enough to handle squaring up your fabric (turn it vertically), but it won't break the bank ($16). If you really get into quilting, you'll want to get something larger (18"x24", or even 24" x 36" if you have the space). I like to use the plain side instead of the gridded side, and use my ruler for all measuring and squaring.

You need three rulers, one that is long but narrow like 18" x 3" ($8), one that is at smaller and easier to maneuver like 6 1/2" x 12 1/2" ($13), and one that is 12 1/2" square ($22). The long one is best for cutting strips, the smaller one is good for cutting smaller pieces and cutting diagonals, and the square one is good for squaring up your finished blocks. If you can get one with an allover 1/8" grid, they're great. The middle one should have diagonal lines marked - 45 and 60 degree at least. Watch for sales (and coupons) at your local craft stores. Omnigrip is a newer style if ruler that has a special no-slip coating on the fabric side. This is great if you can find it. If not, you can buy a roll of stuff called Invisigrip ($5) to put on the back of your rulers. If they don't slide around you're less likely to cut the fabric wrong.

You’ll need a small pair of scissors ($18) for clipping thread. I recommend one with spring handles rather than the traditional style – they’re much easier to use, especially if you have larger hands. Also get a seam ripper – nothing fancy, a couple bucks. If you’re going to hand sew, invest in a needle threader ($16).

The cost of special feet for your sewing machine depends on the machine and the foot. For basic piecing, get a ¼” foot. It helps you to keep your seams accurate. For machine quilting, you should have a free motion or darning foot and a walking foot. Higher end machines require special feet, so these could cost anywhere from $10 ( ¼” foot) on up to $50 (walking foot). When choosing your machine, make sure it has a "needle down" function - you often stop in the middle of a piece to adjust and it’s much easier if the needle stops down, in the fabric.

5. Usually, the backing is the same type of fabric you used on the front. Don’t use a sheet for your backing – the thread count is usually higher than quilting fabric and it’s harder to quilt through. My very first quilt I used muslin for the backing – big mistake. Not only was the quality considerably less than the front, but because it was a solid color, every bit of my quilting was visible. If you’re extremely talented, go ahead with the solid back, but if you want to camouflage your quilting a bit, use a print.

Other “pearls of wisdom”:
Either pre-wash everything, or pre-wash nothing.
Use 100% cotton thread on 100% cotton fabric.
Don’t buy 87,000 colors of thread – get white, black, cream, brown, light gray and dark gray. Match to the lighter fabric.
Sew a “scant” ¼” seam – the fold takes up a little space.
Or, cut the fabric a little bigger, sew the pieces together, then trim after each seam.
If accuracy is a problem, try paper piecing.
Start small. Make a wall hanging sampler quilt – lots of different blocks for practice.
Find a quilt group – either near you or online. Yahoo Groups has over 1000 – at least one will fit.
Try to contain your fabric stash. Buy what you need, when you need it. (I can’t follow this advice, unfortunately.)
Get the best machine you can afford, and buy from a local dealer if possible.
Better quality fabric is really worth it. Try shopping the sale stuff at the local quilt shops or online. Hancocks of Paducah has wonderful fabrics regularly on sale for $4-$5 a yard.

Good luck! Quilting is addictive!

Answer 2

Wowie - that's a lotta question!
Find a good basic quilting book, one with pics you like that you like the style. One with geometric patters for beginners would be ideal. You can pick these up new for $25 or less. Often used book stores have large sewing sections. The basic sewing stuff is pretty much all the same - as you start to sew your interests will grow and guide you to futher books.

Machine quilting is much faster and more durable than hand quilting. I picked up the book "Mastering Machine Quilting" and found it to be exceptional.

I prefer to pin baste with small brass safety pins. Sometimes a number of years pass between when I baste the quilt and when I quilt the quilt, I've had no problems relating to the pin basting. If I was hand quilting I'd use threat basting. I only use spray basting for small projects I'm going to quilt right away. It wears off over time and I don't find it stable enough for large projects.

A good rotary cutterm, ruler and self healing mat will probably cost about $100.

Best backing fabric depends on the quilt. I do suggest you work with 100% cotton fabric and batting at first because the cotton fibers 'grab' each other and you'll have much less slipping.

Other suggestions: for straight line quilting a walking foot is a great tool. Mine ran about $80. I also have an embroidery / darning foot that allows me to see all the fabric right around where the stitching is happening, I think that was $80-$100. You don't need either of these to get started, but keep them in mind because they do make certain kinds of quilting easier.

Get a really, really good pair of scissors, maybe two. Most important is a good pair of dressmaking shears, a shorter pair for thread nips will also be helpful.

Focus on your process, obsessive accuraccy in every step will pay off big time. I have been making prize winning quilts for years.

Answer 3

I'm also a self-taught quilter, so maybe my experience will be helpful. Taking your questions in order:
1. I've found answers for most of my own questions about quilting as well as patterns for quilt blocks at these web sites:
www.qnm.com
www.quilting.about.com
www.quilterscache.com
www.blockcentral.com
Some of these have pdfs of the pieces you need or tell you the dimensions of squares or triangles so you don't need to buy stencils or templates at Hobby Lobby.
I haven't invested in any quilting books, so I can't recommend any or tell you what they would cost.
2. Quilting by hand or machine is a personal preference. You could pick a simple quilt block and make it twice, then quilt one by hand and one by machine to see which you prefer. Use the final quilted squares as potholders.
3. I baste with safety pins, about four inches apart across the entire surface of the quilt. You can buy a package of 75 or 150 safety pins in the quilting section of your fabric store for a few dollars.
4. The rotary cutter will cost you about $15-$20, and a package of five replacement blades is about $25. The mat cost depends on its size; they start around $20 and rise rapidly to over $100. Buy the biggest one you can afford. A plastic template or guide for cutting starts around $10 and goes up with size. If you need to purchase a walking foot for your sewing machine, that's about $30.
5. I have used a fabric from the quilt top for the backing, but my local fabric store carries fabric 108" wide designed as quilt backing. This is printed muslin with a small design and is available in several colors. Using this as backing would be less expensive than using a good fabric and would be more convenient because it wouldn't have to be pieced. That's what I plan to use on my next quilt.

Additional tips: Use fabric that is 75% cotton to 100% cotton. Cotton quilts more than a century old are on display in homes and museums.

Keep a quilt diary in a small spiral bound blank journal. Put a photo of each quilt you finish in your quilt diary, along with the date, dimensions, fabric required, for whom you made it, name of the quilt block you used if appropriate, maybe fabric swatches, and any other information you consider pertinent. When you use a spiral bound book, it can expand for the thickness of the photos and fabric swatches.

Sign and date your quilt, either by writing with indelible marker on a small piece or fabric or by hand stitching your name and date.and sewing it to the back.

Answer 4

I wrote back to someone who posted yesterday (curious82), asking how to get started in quilting too, so you might want to check out answers in that thread as well:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AtmzxINKc8eH1nJt_uyjL0Lsy6IX?qid=20061209101135AArPwjQ&show=7#profile-info-9148efe800c2659f69a7cc5a6b04aa83aa

Books can range widely in price, but don't forget to check your local library (for quilt magazines too, and maybe even videos/DVD's), as well as places like E-bay where you can often buy them much cheaper. I also used to spend a while at local quilt or fabric stores just checking out the books to see which might be worth buying for me, and even reading whole sections right there if I didn't need the info in the whole book .

As for websites, the ones given are good and also doing web searches for particular quilting topics can yield a lot of good info and images too (....don't forget "Image Search").

It's certain faster to quilt by machine, but it's not always simple... there are slippage and other issues for both.
Actually it might be a good idea to "tie" your first quilt rather than quilting it, and make it a simple one so you can just avoid the whole learning curve on quilting till you get a handle on the learning curve for piecing.

Since you're new to piecing as well as quilting, I'll also suggest as I did to the other person that you might want to start instead just with simple blocks --which you can then use as pillows or sew (applique) onto sweatshirts, etc.-- rather than trying to do the piecing and quilting for a whole quilt from the start, which is a big project.

About self-healing cutting mats btw, they are wonderful, and I agree it's good to get a large one if you can afford it --at least 24". I also like small ones that I can do little cuts on, and rotate easily, some of which I've cut from ruined larger mats. And speaking of that, an important warning is that those mats are heat sensitive and will deform *permanently* if they're not stored absolutely flat... even carrying one in the back of one's car during the summer and allowing it to get heated will lead to distortion if it's not totally flat.

Re feet, I don't know if it was mentioned before but the most important foot IMO, if you can get one for your particular machine, is a 1/4" foot which will allow you to line the edge of the foot up *exactly* with your fabrics when you're sewing them together... it's hard enough to make all the measurements come out right that it's helpful to have as much control over the correct seam width to begin with!

It's also essential to get a few good plastic "quilter's rulers"... I've found that the 6" x 18" is the best general purpose size I use all the time, followed by a 4" square, a 6" x 24" when doing whole quilts/borders/etc., and a multi-angle triangle one for some things.
It can be useful to put a small bit of masking tape or even adhesive sandpaper dots, etc. on the back too to keep them from slipping while you're cutting.

You'll also be spending money on colored thread once you decide which type is best... until then it's good to just buy a light, medium, and dark gray because no matter what colors you're sewing together, those colors will disapper pretty well in the "ditch," from the front.


Have fun!

Diane B.