Ok, I'm a pretty novice crafter - I can knit some rad stuff (I have recently conquered patterns), I have sewed a skirt for myself, and I have made a skirt out of pants.

Now, I want to make myself a quilt. I have ALWAYS wanted to do this, and now that I have my own sewing machine I think it is really possible for the first time. I thought it would be easy, but I have since had some people telling me that it's all difficult and mathematical. Can anyone offer me any advice or give me a general idea of how to do it? Please help!

I say buy a quilt book and plunge right in. After looking at the symmetrical designs I decided to go with applique, I'm making a 9 patch, so 9 big SQUARE (easy) patches with sea scenes on them, so far I have a wave, a dolphin flying through the air above waves and a seahorse with various aquatic background. I find if you just do stuff (it's good if you have lots of scraps), you feel great satisfaction, whereas puzzling over whether you can do it or not is really the most frustrating part. Go for it and let us know how it goes :)
jt

hey! interesting! i'm making a quilt as a gift, and my idea was to applique squares onto a solid piece of fabric (the size for the finished quilt), then applique little shapes (rectangles, stars, etc.) onto the squares. so, my question is this -- can you do such a thing as OVER applique? do you think this will look good?

i'm so glad there is a nice quilting thread on the go!

I don't think you can over applique (as in over-do it) if you like the final effect, and if the question is if you can applique over applique, i don't see why not as long as your machine can sew through 3 thicknesses of thread. I use zig zag to applique shapes on, so if you have a part where you're appliqueing over that zig zag stitch, i'd go slowly so you don't break or bend the needle, but that's just my $.02. In my applique quilt i've been putting shapes on top of shapes, i.e. my wave is created w/random scraps of blue on top of each other.
jt

how crazy would it be if i were to say i was hand quilting?! i WOULD machine quilt, but my machine is on the fritz... kinda. it's just in need of a tune up, and until i get the time/cash to send it to the doctor, i'm a hand stitcher!

this basic nine-patch...
is that just a general (duh) nine squares sewn together? then what? you just... quilt (after assembly) overtop the final thing?

:) l.

Hi Lumo,
It is 9 big squares, in a checkerboard, think ralston purina dog food symbol, I am doing light blue and dark blue, 5 light blue 4 dark blue squares. I haven't sewn it together, but they'll be sewn together, possibly with strips of fabric inbetween as borders for each square (that will make the quilt bigger). And I am only machine quilting b/c I like to do things fast, I think I'll try to actualy quilt the parts together by hand if I ever get that far, my plan is to quilt little sea shapes and swirls around on the borders :)
jt

i've been working on a t-shirt quilt (for about 5 years!). i have a pattern but it's very simple. just cut out the front panels to funky t-shirts in square or rectangular blocks of the same size. from another fabric you cut out strips that are sewn to the sides of the t-shirt blocks to connect them. and then you need small squares to make the corners meet. i can get you exact measurements if you're interested. mine is going to be so nice if it's ever finished. i cut up all my brother and ex-boyfriends' old skate t-shirts and got some navy blue polar fleece for the back. snuggly.

I recommend Quilting for Dummies (I know the book titles are stupid), but it really helped me get a handle on the entire process. You might also check out your local fabric stores, I'm sure one of them caters to quilters and has classes and such. I'd also recommend an easy pattern to start with such as the 9 patch. Or something like a crazy quilt might be good because the piecing is not so precise.

**edited to add name

Alisha

I think hand quilting is very relaxing. I constructed an entire quilt (except for the actual quiting - too bulky!) on the bus one winter travelling to and from work.

assembling the blocks and quilting them by hand isn't hard, and quiltmaking isn't hard at all. Don't let people discourage you!

I think it's generally easier to assemble the blocks you're using by machine, then quilt the top/batting/backing by hand, rather than doing the whole thing by hand.

Just for ease of first quilt, you may want to go with larger blocks in simpler shapes with a border around it. It makes it much much easier to line up the points of the squares if you're sure they're all cut to the same size in the first place.


Jen

yes, i think that's a great idea. i am hoping to take my machine to the "sewing machine doctor" and have it tuned up so i can start in may. may seems to be my hopeful month!! all my projects will miraculously come together and be *finished*! ahahaha...

if you had to give a quilt a "time block" (so to speak!) how long would you say it would take to do up one (simple) quilt? like, 6'x 5' or so...

well, over winter break my senior year in college I pieced a 88" x88" quilt with 4" blocks and 3 borders in two days. I did it by machine though. Borders are good, as they are just large strips and fill out the pieced center.

Of course I decided to hand quilt the quilt, so it's still sitting in my closet with less than 1 foot to go 5 years later. I got all but 1 foot done in the month after it was pieced and then had my thesis. Damn thesis.

Jen

shoot! i better get piecing!! it's the actual quilting that i am sure will take time (as you mentioned).. you should finish! all that work and it's in your closet. darnit, if i was that close, i'd want the thing out on a bed/sofa so people could ooh-ahh over it! did you do cotton or synthetic batting?

i was initially planning on making a king sized bed quilt (yeah right!) because that's what the couple that it's for have. but i've decided a first timer should stick to a lap quilt... just a sofa throw... for now! i can't wait to get started... you've really motivated me!!

and about the new applique quilt block - it sounds fantastic! if you can, it'd be great to see some photos of them as you do them... :)

I know, I need to get my act together. If you machine quilt, it takes a LOT less time too. Also, if you do hand quilt, plan out what you're going to do and stick to it. What has really taken me so long is the fact that I planned a very simple pattern, quilted it, and then decided to hand-quilt stippling in the border background, and add another grid to the body of the quilt.

Thus my procrasination.

Jen

Update on my quilt, patch number 4 is done it's a starfish. Number 5 is cut out, it is a sunset w/a whale's tale...just gotta sew it on. It gets addictive when you get going :)
jt

i made my first quilt in high school. a friend and i shut ourselves up in her house in the mountains for a weekend and we both made ourselves a quilt. neither of us had made one before, and we both came out at the end of the weekend with quilts!

i just sketched out how we wanted the quilt to look on a piece of graph paper, and decided how big it should be. then i did the math and figured out how big a square on the graph paper would be in real life. it's easy because you can fudge quite a bit.

then i just made a template with a piece of cardstock and traced all the squares i needed. i cut the squares out with a 1/4 inch around them and then would just sew them back to back with the lines lined up.

just continue making bigger squares out of smaller squares and so on and so on.

i used a sheet for the back and padded it with a roll of quilt batting and used the yarn tie method of actual quilting.

neither of us used a book or had any knowledge of quilting. we just went for it, and it's the best! i haven't learned any new techniques really, i just keep doing it that way and they always turn out really nice.

ONE TIP: make sure you prewash and shrick all your fabric! i made that mistake with the first one, and the first time i washed it, it bled and some squares shrunk up a little. pulling and puckering ensued. i had to really work those problems out which was a pain. but now i just wash and dry all my fabrics first (before cutting squares, of course!).

that sounds like such fun! (and a house in the mountains?!! lucky you!)

i've booked myself for some holidays from work, and plan to take my sewing machine in during that time. i think that between my essay, a few books and other homework, i should be able to get a good portion of my quilt ...started!

my pattern is little rectangles inside large squares.... so, the quilt will have about 8 large squares, with little rectangles of fabric placed askew within them. (not centred... not straight... very "freehand" looking). it's a patter i kinda came up with on my own after looking at some and realizing i didn't want such intense structure...

:) yay! you're all so helpful! how super! of course, i'll have to let you know how i'm doing along the way (aka: cry in fits and beg for advice!)

~l.