May we discuss Quilting?

debbym

1. Can I hand sow it rather than use a machine as I'd like to do this as a sat in front of the TV excercise! What stitch would be best to get the straightest effect?
Yes of course you can sew a quilt by hand - after all that's what they used to do before sewing machines! You just need to be able to do a simple running stitch.
2. Would you make alll the squares seperately, then sow all of them together or do you make one top layer of all the sqaures then attached the padding and bottom layer as one?
Traditionally all the bits are sewn together to make a quilt top then this is sewn together with a wadding (padding) layer and a back (think giant sandwich). If you google quilting there are hundreds of sites that will show you the basic techniques and the fun bit for me is always choosing which pattern to do (last count was 6 completed 6 under construction!). Basically you can either choose to use "papers" to help maintain accurate pieces or mark a sewing line on each piece for you to follow by hand - using papers is often called "English Piecing" and is actually the easiest way to make the quilts that are all hexagons (often referred to as "Grandmothers Flower Garden"). About.com has a quilting forum as well as links to good pages (http://quilting.about.com/)
3. Would you stic to one fabric (ie. cotton) or mix it up a bit??
Although you can use any fabric they all wear out differently so I try to stick to the same (if your quilt is mainly for show it won't matter so much). All cotton is best but can be pricey - I have used poly-cotton sheets (from places like Tescos) before since they are nice and big so are great for a one piece back. You need to think about the thread as well - if you use a standard thread this is not really made from cotton and will perish before the fabric does. Quilting rulers, cutting mats and rotary cutters are recent inventions and although I would not be without mine they will cost an arm and a leg so don't rush out and buy these before you decide this is something you want to do a lot of. You can make do with good sharp scissors, a marking pen and a standard ruler BUT you have to be really careful as small cutting mistakes can turn into large errors when you sew lots of bits together.(gosh doesn't that sound serious!) The best way to learn is to do it! Remember that most sewing can be unpicked if you have made a serious mistake (I think I unpicked at least half of my first one!) oh and wash your fabric first so you hard work isn't wasted when it turns out some of the fabrics you use shrink in the wash! (been there!) Good luck and let us know what you decide to do!

juliapenguin

Just a thought - why not try making a quilted cushion cover FIRST by hand so that you can see if it's the sort of thing you would enjoy doing over a longer period? I did this, by hand, and although I enjoyed doing it, and it looked lovely, I realised that making a massive bed-sized quilt was too time-consuming, given that I had a young child at the time! I fully intend to return to quilting one day when life is less hectic.

spugzbunny

Eeep it all seems a wee bit complicated! I was thinking I might start with a runner for the bed, if it goes well I can always keep extending it up. Thanks for the advise everyone! I've looked at a few websites and I think the first thing is to look for nice materials! I definately want to stick to the basic 4inch squares with maybe a few smaller ones to mix it up - start easy being my moto there!

Savannah02K

Friend asked me to do patchwork runner for her top table at wedding reception few weeks back. I took a standard pocket diary and used that as my 'template' for cutting out the fabric, meant every patch was same size. Just used a 1/4 inch seam (and yes, I did it by hand as I hate machine quilting) and it worked fine.

If you wanted to spend just a little bit, and they are really quite cheap, go to your local patchwork shop and buy some of the plastic template sets, they come in sets of two, same shape, just 1/4 inch difference. You use the bigger one for your fabric cuts, the smaller one for your paper pieces (I take the easy option this, draw round the small one on a piece of A4 as many times as will fit, then photocopy that sheet for the actual cut outs, saves you hours). Last time I bought a placky set like this, last year, they were only a few pounds. Here's the link to the Cotton Patch template sets, very helpful people:

http://www.cottonpatch.co.uk/acatalog/templates.html

The plastic templates will give you great accuracy, can't stress that enough. I'd echo the rotary cutter etc comments, I managed with dressmakers chalk and scissors for years before I invested in one of those. yep, it does make life a lot easier but if you're not sure if you want to pursue this craft, stick to the old methods.

maryb

If you want to make hexagon papers try this (you need to specify what size you want, remembering that it is measuring across the width of the hexagon - 2.1 inches seems to give a hexagon with 2 inch sides)
http://incompetech.com/graphpaper/hexagonal/

It gives you absolutely accurate hexagons for your papers. The template for the fabric patches needs to be 1/4 inch larger all round but that does not need to be quite so accurate as the papers. I drew a large hexagon on an offcut of mounting board which the local art shop sold me for the princely sum of 25p and cut it out with a Stanley knife. Then I just draw round it with a pencil straight onto the fabric. In fact I find the larger piece of card with the hole in it is easier to use.

My local market has a fabric stall with lots of patchwork fabrics for about £5 or £6 a metre. I have to stay away, my stash is almost as big as my knitting wool stash!! However you might want to look out in any market local to you for fabrics.

If you want plain colours Croft Mill is good for sheeting at a good price
http://www.croftmill.co.uk/products/sheeting-products.html
though they only seem to have eyewateringly bright colours at present. However their stock changes all the time

carolbee

I use thin card, and sew my fabrics onto that. Am planning some cushion covers and a quilt for my DS and DIL, trying to find fabrics with 'themes' for all the things they like, cycling, skiing and vw camper vans, researching those will be my winter project I think.

We have a great fabric shop, just bought some fabric with beach huts on, and another with footprints in the sand, I live at the seaside by the way,

DianaMattos

Good evening all,

I am new at this quilting thing, and have found some free patterns on this website (http://www.cddesigns.com/PaperPiecing/Ornaments/PP018_2.PDF) for example. It looks fairly simple for me to start with and with Christmas coming up, it seems ideal.

I have a couple of questions though.

What does 'quilting down the valley' mean?

And what batting is best for such a project?

Thanks,

Di

23rdspiral

hi, i'm no quilting expert, just a few cushions, and a single-bed quilt to my name, but i believe the 'valley' is the indent created when you sewed the pieces together in the first place, so 'quilting in the valley' means to sew along where your patchwork pieces join to create the quilted effect. You do this last, after you've already made your sandwich with the top patchwork piece, the wadding/batting and the backing. You dont have to quilt in the 'ditch' (as i know it) or 'valley', you could simply tie your quilt at intervals with embroidery thread, or sew in a random way, or sew around any features in your fabric pattern, or sew in pretty waves or scallop type patterns.

for simple projects that dont require lots of washing, i just use the cheepest wadding sold on the market.

good luck!!

LOUBOB

thanks to all on this old thread, just joined crafting for 2010 and thought I would make a quilt, have fond memories of doing a hexagonal pin cushion as a child which I still use today, and want to make a "memory" type quilt for bits of fabric which I have kept hold off, old skirts etc, gonna nip to the library tomorrow and see what I can find...wish me luck

jinny

http://creativeribbons.blogspot.com/2007/07/quilt-as-you-go.html
I bookmarked this ladys site ages ago and never have got round to try her quilt as you go method. I have more time on my hands now so I will give it a try. The idea is to machine or hand sew one patch at a time with the batting complete so it grows as you go. I am going to do a sofa throw with cushions to match so it would be very hard to get a large quilt through the arm of a normal sewing machine. I am going to make a square of smaller patches of all my childrens fabric memories. I am hopeless at starting stuff but not finishing so this way I can just pick up where I left off.