The Quilters Thread

misty6

Hello! I'm loving this thread and all the beautiful quilts. As a complete newbie I have never done any quilting at all and was wondering if you could help me with something please.

I would like to make to make a quilt for a double bed and was wondering is a layer cake enough or would I need more than one? Or would it be better to buy one layer cake and one jelly roll for example? I've got some fabric in mind and just need to order it.

I've been thinking about learning to quilt for a while and I've already bought a cutting mat, a rotary cutter and a massive ruler a couple of months ago. I also bought a book from ebay which has lots of small projects using up scraps that I want to have a go at before I make this massive quilt!

I have a sewing machine upstairs in the wardrobe which hasn't seen the light of day for years now. But I am recently retired and want to get back my crafty ways from my youth!

I've watched quite a few youtube tutorials so I just need to actually have a go now!

Happy quilting!

anakat

Hi, Question for machine quilters. I have only done hand quilting, but decided to speed up:rotfl: and bought a free motion foot for my machine. I am practicing on spare bits, but find it makes my hands ache, is this something you get used to or would those grip gloves really help?

[Deleted User]

anakat wrote: »

Hi, Question for machine quilters. I have only done hand quilting, but decided to speed up:rotfl: and bought a free motion foot for my machine. I am practicing on spare bits, but find it makes my hands ache, is this something you get used to or would those grip gloves really help?

I find the grip gloves really help me. Have a look at the position you are sitting in, your elbows should be at right angles to your body when moving the fabric round. Keep the arms free, do not tuck them into the sides of your body, you will end up with shoulder ache. It also sounds as if you are a bit 'tight' its something that happens when you first start machine quilting. Are you laying your hands flat on the fabric that also helps if your hands are 'arced'. they will get sore. You need to form a triangle with your two forefingers and Thumbs, and work within that triangle. remember to use the needle down so if you stop to move your hands the needle stops where you stopped and start gently when you start sewing again. Always leave yourself room to get out of a space. It used to be frowned on to change direction when free machine quilting, if you are using a matching thread to your fabric it is not always easy to see where you have been, even with an opened toe embroidery foot, especially if you are moving backwards to fill a space. Just stop with the needle down and turn the fabric on the needle and go back, making sure you have room to go froward again.

There are quite a few vids on U Tube, watch the ones by Leah Day, she is the master of machine quilting. I learnt such a lot from watching her.

anakat

Thank you so much.
The Leah Day tutorials are much better than the ones I had found, and I have ordered some gloves.
I am determined to master this, as having had my 3 score and ten and being in extra time, I think hand quilting is being a bit optimistic :rotfl:

snoozer

I too find the gloves a big help when quilting, I like the close fitting ones recommended by Leah Day. I also find the easy glide mats that go on top of the machine make it easier to move the fabric sandwich around.


Welcome misty6, I'm sure you'll soon be hooked. I haven't used a layer cake yet so I can't answer your question, but I'm sure someone else will be able to.


We've been away for the weekend so I've not done any sewing but it's done me good because I'm now itching to get back to ita nd have several projects in mind. Unfortunately I've got to go to work tomorrow!

miffy257

Anakat I find those gloves very useful as well, it also helps to have the weight of the quilt supported so it doesn't drag and pull the stitching. Lots of people set up extra tables or ironing boards near their machines to help with this. Also doodling quilting designs on paper before you begin is supposed to help with 'muscle memory' . Good luck with it. Welcome misty6 I think your best bet would be to find a pattern for a quilt you'd like to make, try Pinterest or Google free quilt patterns. Moda Bake Shop has lots of free patterns.This would then tell you quantities of fabric needed. I'm not experienced enough yet to know how much fabric is needed. I think there may be charts on the Internet that tell you how many squares etc you can cut out of different amounts. Decided that my backing fabric is not quite wide enough so I'm going to use some off cuts to make a patchwork piece to put in the back. Hope work isn't too hard tomorrow snoozer, have you made any more Christmassy things Deleted_User
Happy Quilting all

System

Hi folks!

Re: gloves, I use these: http://www.cottonpatch.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?WD=gloves&PN=Quilt-Gripper-Gloves-CPW195.html#SID=490
They're really good, I hadn't used gloves before and these are brill

I've finished DS quilt! Very pleased with it, even managed mitred corners on the binding thanks to a Missouri Star tutorial.
Now moving onto one for mum but not sure - have got a lovely jelly roll all in blues, she'd like the colours but not sure what to put with them. Also being a quilter herself she doesn't need one but I thought she'd like something made for her for a change. I tend to think quilts should be used, but she has a lovely one on her bed, and a lap quilt wouldn't work because of the cat so I'm stuck. Any brilliant ideas ladies?
[Hugs] to all

miffy257

Hi rosyq glad you have finished your quilt. Does the present for your Mum have to be a quilt, what about a quilted bag? If the cat sits on her lap I'm sure the cat would love a lap quilt. I've made quilts for cats, my sister has Maine Coons and Siberians and she asked me to make little quilts for them so that the sofas don't get as fluffy.
Hope you think of something, blue sounds nice, lots of people put yellow with it but red or orange could look good too.
Happy Quilting all :j

misty6

Thanks for the info about the moda bake shop - I spent a good couple of hours looking at that last night! I daren't go on pinterest - I'll be on there all day!!

I've decided that I'm going to start with a bag first rather than trying to make a giant quilt as my first project. Baby steps and all that

System

miffy257 wrote: »

Hi rosyq glad you have finished your quilt. Does the present for your Mum have to be a quilt, what about a quilted bag? If the cat sits on her lap I'm sure the cat would love a lap quilt. I've made quilts for cats, my sister has Maine Coons and Siberians and she asked me to make little quilts for them so that the sofas don't get as fluffy.
Hope you think of something, blue sounds nice, lots of people put yellow with it but red or orange could look good too.
Happy Quilting all :j

Mum has a special fleece blanket which the cat likes...
You've got me thinking though, she has an old-fashioned wooden case for a record player which she never uses. I could make a sort of table topper to throw over that, it doesn't have to be big. I did buy some grey marbled fabric for borders, i could use that or use darks and lights from the jelly roll for contrast. I do like the idea of orange too... wanders away cogitating...

Thanks miffy
[Hugs] to all