What do you need to start quilting?

[Maggirayne]

Someone dragged me, okay, I volunteered, and I'm going to order a rotary cutter and mat and acrylic ruler. I have a sewing machine and pins.

What else is essential?

I'm making placemats and eventually a quilt for E, so I'm starting simple. Someone hold my hand, please?!

[Maggirayne]

Anybody?

[StumblinMama]

Are you hand quilting or machine quilting? My answer will depend on which way you're planning to go with it. :)

[swimming with sharks]

It's SOOO much fun!! You can buy LOTS and LOTS of fabric. You can do all sorts of cute fun stuff. I :heart these quilts cuz the directions are very CLEAR. http://www.quiltinaday.com/shoponline/books.asp

[Naked Camper]

:popcorn I'm getting ready to start a quilt myself. A king size quilt for my bed. I've only done one (basic square block ones don't count) big quilt before. I quilted that one by hand.

Here's what I'm planning on doing for my bed:www.freespiritfabric.com/graphic-elements/gallerys/t161_1.pdf (http://www.freespiritfabric.com/graphic-elements/gallerys/t161_1.pdf)

www.freespiritfabric.com has lots of amazing free quilt patterns

[Maggirayne]

Um, I'm using my sewing machine, so not using a fancy quilting machine, so machine? :giggle I don't even know!

I don't need encouragement to buy fabric. :bag I was buying fabric years before I had a machine. :shifty.

[4MKfam]

You can do the piecing by machine and the quilting by hand --that's the method I use. I like the speed of the machine for piecing the top, and the quiet, slow work of quilting and watching it all come together. I'm not a huge quilter (I've only done three bed-size ones, and two of those were rag quilts -super easy to do, and one small wall quilt). If you do the quilting by machine, you might want to seek out a walking foot for your machine. It feeds the layers through evenly so you don't get the machine pulling the backing through faster than the batting and the top.
If you hand quilt, though, you won't need it. To hand quilt, all you'll need is quilting thread, needles, and a lap-sized quilting frame. I'm a fan of the Q-snap frame -looks like pvc pipe and is interchangeable to use for different size projects. I've never machine quilted, so I don't know by experience, but the walking foot attachment is one of those things that is recommended for machine quilting on a regular machine.

Oh --another inexpensive thing that comes in handy is a big box of bent safety pins (I bought mine at Walmart) for pinning together the layers. Quicker than basting, and easier to put through all the layers than regular pins or safety pins.

...One more thing :giggle. A good overall beginning quilting book is "Your First Quilting Book (or it ought to be)" by Carol Doak. Great beginner-level instructions and covers both hand and machine piecing and quilting. It's a great reference.

[greengirl19]

I'm trying to get started too, just need to find some time. Try your library for books, I found a bunch of quilting books from beginner tips to advanced patterns.

[Maggirayne]

My sewing machine does have several other feet with it. :think

[StumblinMama]

4MKFam gave some super ideas :tu See if you have a "1/4 inch quilting foot" in your box of machine feet. It is sooooo helpful for getting a perfect 1/4" seam allowance :yes I'd suggest you check out materials from Nancy Zieman (http://nancyzieman.com/). She is so knowledgeable, but she doesn't go over your head with her explanations, and at the same time she doesn't make you feel foolish for not knowing what you're doing. Her TV show airs on PBS and has for the last 20+ years so there's lots of stuff out there from her :yes

The other thing I highly recommend is fusible batting (http://www.junetailor.com/FAQs/FAQ_FusibleBatting_QuiltersFusibleBatting.htm#What isQuiltersFusibleBatting). It costs a little more, but it is so very nice. It fuses to the fabric so you don't have to baste it. It also squishes it down flat and stiff so quilting is a breeze. Then when you finish you toss it in the wash and all of the fusible stuff washes out leaving a nice fluffy quilt.

Another thing to consider is just getting a nice fabric with a large design and hand quilting around the design instead of piecing for your first quilt. My mom hand quilts lots of blankets like this :yes There are even fabrics that have wedding ring designs as part of the fabric so you get the look of a pieced quilt, but it's less labor intensive on the piecing part.

[Naked Camper]

I'm trying a technique that my grandma used to do. She's in heaven now, so I'm going to have to rely on my aunt and mom to give me correct directions :nails But my grandma would fully machine quilt each 16" block (top, batting and back) and then once all of those were put together, she'd whip-stitch the blocks together to form one large quilt.

[StumblinMama]

I'm trying a technique that my grandma used to do. She's in heaven now, so I'm going to have to rely on my aunt and mom to give me correct directions :nails But my grandma would fully machine quilt each 16" block (top, batting and back) and then once all of those were put together, she'd whip-stitch the blocks together to form one large quilt.

I have heard of that! It's called a take along quilt or something to that effect :think because if you're hand quilting you can take a block with you in your sewing bag and work on it while you're away from home. I think Fons and Porter did a show about those once. Let me see if I can find it.

---------- Post added at 09:31 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:26 AM ----------

Found it! The method is called "Quilt as you go". Fons and Porter did do an episode on it, but it's not available online :( Here's (http://www.ehow.com/how_5235833_do-quilt-go-method.html) a link, though and if you google it there is tons of info out there :yes

[ViolaMum]

Placemats are an excellent place to start! You can incorporate all the basic quilting techniques in miniature and see the results pretty quickly.

You definitely need a 1/4" foot if you're going to machine-piece. I tried using my regular foot when I first started and it was really, really tricky, nearly impossible actually, to get a consistent 1/4" seam. Your seams just won't line up when you go to piece blocks together if your seams aren't consistent and that will throw of the overall design.

If you are going to machine quilt, start simply. Stitch in the ditch, or just do a channel quilting (straight lines) design. It's much easier. A walking foot is helpful, but not essential, and it can be pricey. Another alternative is to use a darning foot and stipple or meander quilt. That's a good way to learn how to manipulate the quilt under the needle. The gloves with rubber grippers on them can be helpful for this type of work. The key is to work in small sections and have plenty of support for the weight of the quilt, so put your sewing machine on a large table. My Dh actually made a table topper for me out of plywood. He jigsawed out the shape of my machine - it looks like a sewing table, but I can store it in a closet.

I've done several Quilt in a Day quilts - the books have excellent directions, especially for beginners. :tu

Another good take-along hand quilting project is Cathedral Windows (http://ajpadilla.com/tutorials/cathedral-windows/basic-square-block). It can be made the traditional way, done all by hand -mostly whipstitched- but lots of people are now machine sewing it to "simplify" the design.

[Maggirayne]

Will I need batting between the layers for the placemat?

I do have several books from the library. I got three and told myself I wouldn't read any if I got more, lol!

[StumblinMama]

For a placemat you could easily do a square of fleece in lieu of batting. You could probably even use flannel :yes

[liamum]

Placemats you say??? :poke

That reminds me, would you like me to send you those fat quarters I showed you pics of, or not bother?

[ViolaMum]

Personally, I don't like puffy or thick placemats. If it were me, I'd use the opportunity to check out one of the low-loft ones; there are some nice all-cotton battings that fit that description. (I even saw some bamboo batting a couple of weeks ago at the fabric store, if you're into green.) I really like cotton batting - it's easy to work with and if you buy the kind that's not pre-shrunk an don't pre-shrink it yourself, you get a really nice antiqued look to the finished quilt after it's washed the first time because the batting shrinks a little.

This would be a good project to try out the fusible battings, too. (I've had good luck with them on a couple smaller projects, but haven't quite mastered them for bed-size quilts. I get puckers on the bottom layer when I iron.)

You could just use a layer (or more) of fabric in the middle - flannel, muslin, etc. - depending on how thick you want your finished product to be. You would have to quilt through the layers to avoid shifting. Fleece would work, too and would be "lofty" like batting. The quilting would stand out more with a loftier filling.

I've done placemats with just two layers of fabric, no quilting involved.

[Maggirayne]

Placemats you say??? :poke

That reminds me, would you like me to send you those fat quarters I showed you pics of, or not bother?
Yeah. . . placemats, why do you ask? :giggle ;)

[TrinMama]

why did I open this thread? quilting is a craft I really want to try. Now I have loads of resources and I'm itching to start now! (But I can't, and I won't, until I really have time. promise. I won't. :snooty)

But I am subbing to keep getting tips. ;)

[Annainprogress]

Me too! I was planning on starting soon but something else is gonna take longer than I'd realised so maybe not quite yet.