Fun Stuff > MAKE
Quilting
Caiphana:
Emaline: biggest tip for quilting is to figure out your pattern before you buy fabric (or before you cut it if you already have it).
I'd suggest a simple pattern for your first quilt. Big blocks with few pieces. If you want it to look like it's more complicated than it is, I suggest Asian-inspired fabrics. Plus, the gold accents look killer.
But that's where to begin. A simple pattern. Then bust out your geometry skillz and figure out how much fabric you need, go buy it, and slice it up with a rotary and a mat. And since you're handstitching, I'd get some quarter inch tape, so that your seam allowances are uniform.
If you have more questions (like how to press the seams and such), I'm around on AIM most all days since I'm a lazy assed bum. I love quilting, though my current obsession is cross stitching.
Bibliophile:
I'm back now. Sorry!
Caiphana- You really should post pictures of things you’ve done. I would love to see them!
I misspelled batik. How embarrassing! I made some batiks for my high school textile class, but it was no fun, didn’t look great, and it was impossible to get all the wax out no matter how much paper towel I used or how much I ironed.
Linds- I am piecing the blocks together with a sewing machine, but I will be quilting by hand. It is easy enough to piece the blocks together by hand, in fact in some cases it is actually easier because it aids you in making all the seams line up correctly.
SailorPunk- Do you know what the pattern is called? And I’d love pictures!
Emaline- I found the classes were a great way to learn, so you could check out your local community college or whatever. My almost-mother-in-lawTM originally taught herself with books, so you could check out the local library. And there are HEAPS of websites. A few:
http://mccallsquilting.com/
http://quilt.com/
http://www.quiltbus.com/
If you’re going it alone you might want to start with something small, like cushions, placemats or table runners. Then find a pattern you like and work out how much fabric you will need if it doesn’t already tell you. When buying the fabric it is helpful to consider what it will be used for, what room it’s going in and what colours are in that room already. Then you can find a fabric you really love that will fit in well, and then choose the rest of your fabrics around this “focus fabric”. This is what Muff and I did. Another trick for beginners is to make a project that needs a set amount of fat quarters and then to buy a pre-made pack at the store, or just buy a kit.
I sewed up my Stepping Stones block:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gypselle/1618955030/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2143/1618955030_f88c5f36df.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Stepping Stones" />[/url]
Then I did a King’s Cross, my first experience with triangles!:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gypselle/1618958466/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2317/1618958466_105921e06a.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Kings Cross" />[/url]
And this is the Jacob’s Ladder:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gypselle/1618075185/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2065/1618075185_8f3b7011c7.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Jacobs Ladder" />[/url]
My favourite part of this project is that I get to try a whole bunch of different blocks but since they are all made with the same fabrics, they all still match.
Caiphana:
Am I the only one who can't see *any* of your pictures, Bibliophile?
Yeah... I have issues remembering to take pictures before I give quilted things away. I have to make two as thank you gifts, though, so I'll post pictures of those when they're done.
Lines:
I can't either, but I know the ones on her first post used to work, because I've seen them before.
Caiphana:
When you click a picture, you can see her recent uploads, and they happen to be pictures that match her captions...
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version