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-law
TM 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.