Have you ever tried Quilt Making? I started several years ago and then got away from it. I started again just over a year ago and I am so glad that I did. It is something that truly makes me happy!
It seems strange to buy perfectly good material only to cut it up into tiny pieces. You do this for quilt making.
You see something that pleases you or you look for a pattern for a new quilt and immediately your joy starts showing on your face. I smile whenever I think about working on something and i certainly have a large smile on my face when the quilt is finished and everything turns out so much better than you thought. It’s awesome!
You pick your theme or pattern and get your material. Don’t use cheap material for this because you want it to be the best quilt it can be. ( After you put in hours and hours of work on each project, you want to use only the best.) Now you cut pieces according to your pattern. When you do quilt making, it tells you the size you need, the number, and everything else you need to know.
I think that the cutting part is the hardest for me. I am always afraid that I’m going to cut something wrong and then not have enough material for the quilt I want to make. Once the cutting is finished you just need to follow the steps to assemble the pieces to look exactly the way you want them. The farther you get on your quilt-making project, the more it takes shape and starts to look like your original idea.
Now that the top of your quilt is ready to go, you need to verify the size.
Next, we will cut batting and material for the backing of your quilt.
I use cotton batting for the inside of my quilt. It is nice and soft and gives off just enough warmth without making your quilt too heavy. You need to cut this the size of your quilt top, plus about 6 inches all around. (This is larger so that it will cover the entire quilt with enough left over to attach it to a quilting machine.)
Now all you need is material for the backing. This follows the guidelines for the batting, you cut it 6 inches more than the quilt top on all 4 sides. What you are going to do is actually make a quilt sandwich. You take the quilt top, face down. Next cover the entire quilt, wrong side up, with your batting and remember it will be 6″ more on all sides. Lastly, line up the backing and place it over the batting with the good side of your fabric facing up.
Now it is ready to be quilted. I am lucky to have the use of a quilting machine. You can do it by hand or use a regular sewing machine. The last 2 options are more time-consuming. We need to sew all 3 layers together for strength and warmth. This is something that will stay in your family for years to come.
Putting it on a quilting machine is another article. Most people would have it quilted by someone who has a machine and does it for a fee. I am lucky enough to have a wonderful friend who has her own machine and allows people to use her machine while she is there. She is marvelous about helping and giving us all little bits of wisdom each time we go there.
Once your quilt is on the machine and you have a thread to get started, you can pick a pattern for the quilting or do your own. It is awesome doing it yourself and it absolutely changes the looks of the quilt. Now it looks even better. Depending on what type of design, or pattern you choose will help determine how long it will take to finish. The size of the quilt is another factor.
When the quilting is finished, you remove it from the machine and cut off the excess batting and backing on all 4 sides. This leaves a clean edge. The next step, and actually the last step, is to pick out a material and make it binding. The binding goes around the entire quilt so you have a beautiful, finished product. By now your quilt looks more amazing and it actually can take your breath away. All that time and work turned into a piece of art you created. I love to see the faces of the people I give my quilts to. You can actually see that they are in awe of what they are getting and what you did to create this quilt for them.
Quilt making is a great way to show someone that you care about them and that you want them to have something you made, just for them. This will always be one of a kind.
I hope you enjoyed this article. It is a great hobby and I hope you will give it a try. I also have other ideas and products that you might like to check out. Please CHECK HERE, and I’m sure you will find more things you like. If there is anything specific you are looking for, send me an email. I will do my best to find the information for you. (To the right of this article is a submission form that you can fill out and we will send you the information whenever a new product comes out.)
(All the pictures in this article are quilts that I have made, hope you enjoyed seeing them. I loved making them!)
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