Quilting for beginners
To start quilting you need a sewing machine that sews a straight stitch, a rotary cutter, a mat and a ruler, and quilting cotton. Everything else can wait until a pattern calls for it.
By Editorial Staff
The tools
| Tool | What to get |
|---|---|
| Sewing machine | Any machine with a straight stitch. A ¼" foot and a walking foot help most. |
| Rotary cutter | 45 mm, with spare blades. Close it every time you put it down. |
| Cutting mat | Self-healing, at least 18" × 24"; 24" × 36" holds folded fabric with room to spare. |
| Ruler | Clear acrylic, 6" × 24", with ⅛" lines. A 12½" square ruler is the next one to buy. |
| Pins and clips | Fine glass-head pins for piecing, binding clips, and curved safety pins for basting. |
| Thread | 50 weight cotton in a neutral gray or beige for piecing. |
| Iron | A steam iron and a firm ironing board; you will press after every seam. |
Words quilters use
Right side and wrong side. The right side is the printed face of the fabric; the wrong side is the back. Patterns say "right sides together" when two pieces are laid face to face for sewing.
Width of fabric (WOF) and grain. Fabric comes off the bolt about 42" wide between the two finished edges, the selvages. Threads running along the selvage are the lengthwise grain and barely stretch; threads across are the crosswise grain and stretch a little; the bias, at 45°, stretches most. Strips are cut across, selvage to selvage.
Other words you will meet: a block is one square unit of the design; sashing is strips between blocks; batting is the middle layer; binding is the strip around the edge; and a fat quarter is an 18" × 21" cut of fabric (how much material is in a fat quarter).
Your first project
Make a throw or a baby quilt from big squares or strips: the charm square quilt, rail fence or easy baby quilt. Each pattern page gives the fabric and cutting for every size.
Then follow how to make a quilt from cutting to binding. When you are ready for triangles, start with half-square triangles.
Plan your next quilt in your own fabric
Quiltspiration draws any pattern in the fabric you own and works out the cut list for any size.