how to make a quilt?

Question

ok so I'm looking into doing some quilting. I don't have a sewing machine(I'd actually prefer hand sewing anyway)or a whole ton of money but I don't really want to make a peice of crap either. I have some idea of how to begin, but in very very idiot's terms, how do I make a quilt? I know you get backing, batting, & top, but, like...what's the best materials to use, what batting do you use so it doesn't turn into a scratchy lump after a few years, how do you make a really pretty top without just the simplest of checkerboard squares stitched together, how do you make really really strong stitching so it doesn't fall apart, and finally how do you get the little squares(or whatever pattern it may be) to look like the little puffy pockets(instead of just sewing the quilt up at the edges) without messing the whole thing up? If you can help it would be greatly appreciated, and remember...I'm not an idiot but I do pretty much need idiot terms. Thanks so much. (=

Answer 1

Okay, deep breath here. First, don't get ahead of yourself. Start with a couple of pieces of good quality, 100% cotton fabric, and a spool of 100% cotton thread in a neutral color (white, gray, cream, tan) that is the same value (light or dark) as the lighter fabric, and a needle for piecing. Sharps are the needle traditionally used for piecing, but I prefer a thin but long needle, like a size 9 straw needle.

You have two choices in cutting your fabric. You can use a rotary cutter, mat and ruler to measure and cut many pieces very quickly. This is great for machine piecing, where you can set your machine so that you get a good 1/4" seam. If you're hand sewing, you should consider whether you can get an accurate 1/4" seam without marking the fabric. The other alternative is to make templates out of plastic, trace around them on the fabric, then cut about 1/4" outside the drawn lines. When you sew the pieces together, you'll sew on the lines, so your seams will be "perfect." I prefer this method for hand piecing. You need good quality, sharp fabric scissors, some template plastic, something to cut the plastic with, and a tracing pen or pencil. I just use a regular mechanical pencil and trace on the back of the fabric.

You can make a beautiful quilt using only two fabrics, and a very simply block. I suggest giving the Single Irish Chain a try. It is just a nine patch block (made of squares), alternated with a large plain square. It looks wonderful as a two color quilt, with a light color in the background and a darker color as the chain, or vice versa. See the first link below for several examples. If you use a solid light color for the background, you will have large spaces for decorative quilting. If you don't think you're up to that, either use a light print or make the background dark and the chains light. The most important thing in fabric selection is contrast in VALUE. Light and dark is what makes a quilt sparkle, not colors. If you use medium red and medium green, for example, there isn't much contrast even though the colors are different. Use a dark red and a pale green, and you have contrast.

Start small. Plan on making a wall hanging, or a crib quilt. If you get into it and really enjoy yourself, you can always go bigger, but if the end is in sight, it doesn't become overwhelming. I really recommend picking up a book on hand quilting. We can tell you all about locking your stitches by backstitching every so often, and how to sew across seams without sewing them down, and starting and stopping, and even how to tie a knot, but it is much easier if you have pictures and detailed descriptions. Jinny Beyer is a well known hand quilter that has an excellent book, Quiltmaking by Hand. You can see her method at the HGTV website. Click on Videos (at the top), then search (IN THE VIDEOS) for "Hand Quilting." Part 1 is Jinny Beyer. It will also bring up a video called "Easy Hand Quilting Tips" that is about the quilting (rather than piecing) step.

Once you have your top pieced, you can move on to the batting and backing. I prefer 100% cotton batting, but there are a lot of things to consider. If you're hand quilting, you need something that is easy to get the needle through. This usually means a natural fiber, like cotton, wool or silk. There are polyester/cotton blends that aren't too bad, especially an 80% cotton, 20% polyester blend. Natural fibers will give you a flatter quilt - polyester will give you a puffy quilt. I really wouldn't go for puffy if you're hand quilting, though. Read the package to find out how closely the batting needs to be quilted. Some need to have stitching every 3", others only every 10". Look for a larger spacing for your first quilt, so you don't have to put so much quilting into it. With a larger space, you could even tie the quilt instead of quilting it. It will be a little more rustic looking, but still beautiful. For the backing, use the same kind and quality of fabric you used on the front. If you're hand quilting, you do NOT want to put a sheet on the back. A sheet is woven much more tightly than quilting fabric, and it is very hard to get a needle through. A busy print on the back will hide your quilting stitches, while a plain fabric will show them off.

Spread your backing out on the floor and tape or pin it down. Make sure you've smoothed out all of the ripples. It should be taut, but not stretched. Lay the batting over it, smoothing as you go. Pin or tape that down. Spread your top over it, smoothing again. Pin or tape the edges. Now you're ready to baste. You can use needle and thread and do a long running stitch, first an X through the middle, then back and forth across the width of the quilt. You can use safety pins (consider getting special tools to make the pins easy to fasten or you'll destroy your fingers). You can use a basting gun that "shoots" little plastic tacks, similar to those that hold price tags onto clothing. You can also use basting spray - just make sure you have something under your quilt and the area is well ventilated.

Once you've got the sandwich secured, you can start quilting. Some people use quilting hoops, like big embroidery hoops. Some use frames, and some don't use anything. This is up to you. I'd start with a hoop, and see how that works for you. You'll need a decent quality thimble that fits you properly. There are as many ways to accomplish the quilting stitch as there are quilters. You can "stab" - stick the needle down through the layers, pull it through, then stick it up from the bottom and pull it through. There's the rocking stitch, where you hold the end of the needle with a divot on the thimble, and place your other hand under the fabric. Press the needle oh so lightly until you feel it come through underneath, rock the needle back up by rotating the hand with the thimble, and watch for it to peek up at the top. Rock it down, rock it up, until you have a couple of stitches on your needle, then pull it through. Tiny stitches are not necessarily the goal - EVEN stitches are. If you do five stitches to the inch consistently, that's much better than five stitches in one inch, eight in the next, and four in the next.

When you're finished, you need to bind the quilt. This is pretty much the same whether you're doing it by machine or hand. There's a great site that explains all of it, so check the last link.

Answer 2

I love hand quilting. I will tell you how to make a very simple, yet elegant quilt.
First, quilting means the sewing that takes place after you assemble the top, batting, and backing. That is what keeps the batting from turning into a lump after a few years, plus using a good quality batting. Visit your local quilting store and have the clerk explain the differences to you, and don't be afraid to pay more for the batting. Otherwise, you are just making a throw-away, and not an heirloom.

Alternative: for my first quilt, I cheated. I took several 12 inch squares of cotton fabric, folded under 1/4 edge, and hand sewed them onto a mattress pad. I used a quarter inch running stitch, and then I embroidered all around each square.

I then took a low count sheet (80count)and layed the decorated mattress pad on it. I basted them together with three inch rows, and then quilted them together by taking tiny running stitches in diagonal strips, about three inches apart. The end result going across one way and then back the other way is diamond shaped quilting. Pull out the basting stitches and sew binding around the edge.

It is best to start the quilting in the center, because that makes less bunching.

There are a ton of great quilting lessons on the internet, so if this doesn't help you, then type "quilting lessons" in your search box. Some have pictures that are very helpful.

Answer 3

And this couldn't be broken down into 8 questions ... no ....

If you want "puffy pockets", that might be a "biscuit quilt", which isn't actually a quilt, but is a stuffed comforter (frequently with dead pantyhose legs for the stuffing). Websearch for "biscuit quilt".

The "Idiot's Guide" for quilting is actually quite helpful, even though it presumes more machine-work.

If you want the quilt to be warm and durable, use fine-woven (not loosely-woven or coarse) 100% cotton fabric. Linen is good too, but it's in the "whole ton of money" category. I recommend pre-washing the fabric as soon as you get it home. New fabric has chemicals not intended for internal application. (Do *not* store on the top shelf in the nursery.)

Use good 100% cotton thread (some prefer cotton-covered polyester, I don't). I begin a stitching line with a slip-knot, then stitch down and back up and *through* the loop of the slip-knot and tighten. This/that beginning knot will never ever "pop through".

It's usual to use running stitch for seams with an occasional back-stitch for stability. You could back-stitch completely, if you had the patience. It would be stronger, but there's not a lot of stress if the backing is a solid layer.

End a seam with a few back-stitches.

If you want a top that *looks* a lot more complicated than it actually is, consider what's called Stack-and-Whack piecework.
http://www.bethanyreynolds.com/what'ssnw.html

Closely quilted, almost any batting may last for centuries. The problem is that most people don't want to bother with actually *quilting* a quilt. A cotton batt *must* be closely quilted if the quilt is actually going to be used rather than just hung up under glass. You can get away with less quilting, even with just tie-tacking with a polyester batt.

The thicker the bat, the more difficult it is to push the needle through with each quilting stitch. For "high loft" the quilting lines need to be further apart, otherwise the quilt get board-stiff.

When hand-quilting, if you have a choice between going through 4 layers of fabric on one side of a seam or 2 layers 1/6" of an inch away on the other side of a seam, quilt through the 2 layers.

These are the methods I've used for quilts which were intended to be machine-washed and machine-dried.

Answer 4

puffiness has to do with what its stuffed with and how its made, you can make 6 inch square pillows and sew them together, thats a puff quilt, there are thousands of designs most of which are on line somewhere, to make the quilt you need backing and batting, i suggest using the all cotton batting if you can, yes its more expensive but its going to stay in its bat longer and not lump. to keep it from lumping the quilting process is what keeps the batting in place, thats done after you have the top all complete and in place over the batting and backing, use all cotton fabrics for the best durability, wash everything before you make one stitch or cut, well not the batting but the backing and the fabrics for the pieces. you can also do trapunto on the quilt which gives raised designs by laying the surface fabric over cotton cord and stitching down tightly on each side of the cord, its not easy to keep things straight without a quilting frame, so i suggest you start with a baby quilt and see if you think you have the patience for something about 6 times that size. try about.com for some basic ideas, and roam all over the internet looking for quilt designs you like , as well as library books. they usually have tons of books that you can use and copy the design you want to do and take the book back.

Answer 5

There are thousands of quilting books on the market.
I have taught classes before using Beth Gutcheon's "A Perfect Patchwork Primer."
Basically, use the best materials you can afford, Wash all fabric before cutting, cut exactly, sew tightly, and fill it with polyester batting, line it with good fabric, quilt it together by hand with tiny even stitches, and then bind it around the edges.
Start with a pillow-to practice your sttches, and get some idea of the scope of a quilt.
It should last for many years, if you don't wash it in the machine.
Visit a fabirc store for ideas.

Answer 6

The easiest pattern to start with is a basic 9-patch, or even a 4-patch block. Check out www.quilterscache.com for pattern ideas, beginner level has one pin (you'll see what I mean when you look at the site).

As far as hand piecing, the best directions I have seen are in a book called "Quilted Diamonds" by Linda Franz (www.quilteddiamonds.com). Her directions are easy to understand and includes color photos. The book is actually one pattern for the quilt on the cover, a little intimidating, I know, but her directions are worth it!

You can get more information and ideas on hand piecing and quilting at www.dearjane.com. This website is dedicated to the Dear Jane quilt and how to make it. The quilt itself is overwhelming, but navigate to the technique tips on the left nav bar for more help with piecing and quilting. Fantastic resource! (I'm working on my Jane-all hand piecing.)

Fabrics? For hand piecing I use 100% cotton fabrics that I buy from my local quilt shops. I do not use the stuff from Wal-mart (too many bad experiences). I'll use Hobby Lobby and JoAnne's fabrics if I'm using my machine. The quality of the fabric is important when hand piecing, it needs to be of the best quality-at your local quilt shop. Always prewash fabric you intend to hand piece with. Put it through a regular wash and dry cycle, but pull it out of the dryer just shy of completely dry-then press it dry with your iron.

Batting - there are several kinds to choose from. There is wool, cotton, polyester, and blends. They come in different weights (thicknesses) and colors. Hand quilting is easiest done on wool batting. I don't recommend poly batting because it can 1. beard through the fabrid (little puffs that pull through the top layers) and 2. is not a natural fiber and therefore acts as an abrasive against your 100% cotton fabrics.

Thread: 100%cotton only. No blends. Buy the better brands, save yourself the headaches! Gutermann, Madiera, Mettler, Robinson-Anton are wonderful. Mettler has a "fine embroidery" weight in 100% cotton that I love to use to piece with.

I hope that answers all your questions. If you're just starting out, I would try a basic pattern first, and leave the bisquit quilt as a second or even third pattern.

Answer 7

You've received a lot of good and lengthy answers. My advice: Sign up for a beginner's quilting class at a nearby quilt store. Have them help you select the materials you will need for the class. Then show up and learn as you work on your quilt. If you have no machine but want to use one for piecing, see if they can provide one at the class. You can sew your top by machine and then hand quilt it so the first quilt goes a bit faster. Then if you like doing quilts, you can start piecing the tops by hand.

Answer 8

If you go to Joanne Fabrics they have kits - 1 per month that you can start with. The pieces are all cut and you just sew them together. I hand sew all my quilts - so you don't need a machine. If you do the kit thing.....you'll get a good idea if you like doing it and want to continue. It's a good way to get your feet wet.

Answer 9

put both squares or fabric coloured sides together and sew 1 or 2 of the edges together. go back on your stitches and sew the stitched part over. Then gently pull apart revealing the lovely coloured parts neatly attatched. repeat on all the other pieces so that they are linked. its best to do this in lines. How do i make my 'understitches' not to be seen? I then take a LARGE piece of 'backing' or 'back fabric' that is about 1 or 2 inches longer than all the edges of the pieced part. Then turn the pieced quilt with its coloured side on the floor or table. then place the large backing piece ontop of the piece's underside, and flip over. take 1 edge of the entire backing and fold onto the coloured-side. then tuck under itself and sew it. repeat for all, then you can do any design stitching you want. thats how i make mine. its simple. Make sure you double-oveplap stitch ALL your seams for extra durability and to make it not fall apart. I suggest using fleece or cotton blend cloth for this, if you want it to be warm. Good luck! happy quilting!!!