Friday Quilt Class: Reading the Pattern and Getting Started

Be Prepared

Before you start cutting or sewing

you should read your pattern all the

way through and familiarize yourself

with what you will be doing.

As a pattern designer I am always

looking for color and pattern inspiration.

I am always sketching block ideas

on graph paper and I love to use

this standard graph paper composition

book to sketch out blocks and patterns.

I do use quilting and publishing

software but for me, it always

starts out by hand.

It is important to invest in good

quality rulers, cutting mat and

rotary cutters.  I'm not a big gadget

person, I'd rather have a few very

good tools and I find I can make

almost anything with them.

Before cutting begins it is important

to properly square up your fabric.

Since this is difficult to describe I

will refer you to this link on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcpzwJMVTbc

Once your fabric is squared, you are

ready to begin cutting but first

read on for an important tip.

In my patterns I give you cutting

instructions to make one block.

I would hope you would do this with

every pattern you use.  Our first fabric

choices are not always good ones and

I would hate to see you cut out fabric

for an entire quilt and then find out

you don't like one or more of the fabrics.

That is a waste of time and money,

especially with the ever rising cost

of quilt fabrics these days.

Look at the photo above, the top block

was the first attempt, the fabrics looked

great together but once they were in the

block there were problems.  The red cherry

print was too large a print and it didn't

complete the frame which is what I was

going for in the design.  The yellow was

not intense enough to emphasize the

compass points.  The second attempt

was much better and made the block work.

Once you have decided on the fabrics you

want you can determine how many of

each block you need and do the simple

multiplication to see how many pieces of

each block you need and cut the rest of

the needed fabric for the quilt.

This was the first time I worked

with batiks,  I stayed away from

batiks because I often found them

to be too muddy for my taste. 

But after helping a friend pick out

some fabric I decided to work with

them and made this piece.  I was

horrified!  I found it to be garish and

hid it away in a bin.  I just found it recently

and put it on my design wall and now, after

looking at it for a few months I like it.

Maybe sometimes we just have to

give it time...



Friday Quilt Class ~ Choosing Fabric & Understanding a Pattern

Where to Begin?

We are starting a new weekly post

at American Homestead.  Fridays

will be a Quilting How To Day.

From the basics of learning to quilt,

to specific techniques and tools

to help you along the way.

Your first question if you are a

beginner may be where do I shop

for fabric and patterns?  Your local

fabric and craft chain store will have

some patterns and fabric appropriate

for quilting but if you want a large

selection you should visit a quilt shop.

Before I seriously started quilting I

felt funny about going to a quilt shop

because I didn't know what I was doing.

Don't feel that way!  That is what a

local quilt shop is there for.  They will

help you with answers to all your questions

and give you information on local guilds

or classes if that is what you are looking for.

When choosing a pattern you will

be looking at the front cover of a

pattern.  It will have the name of the

company, the name of the quilt and

generally a picture of the finished quilt.

Remember to be looking at the design

of the quilt, don't dismiss a pattern

because the colors don't appeal to you.

This is YOUR quilt and you can make

it in whatever color you want.

Once you have your pattern

you will then look for the

fabric you will need.  Usually if

you just turn the pattern over

all that information will be on the

back cover.  Often it will tell you

the finished size of the piece, the

fabric required to make the piece and

on my patterns I include a guide that

tells you what my Fabric A,B,C, etc.

was to help you when you are making

your fabric choices.  This way you know

my Fabric B was the red fabric and you may

want to put green there, I hope that helps.

I use a project sheet when

purchasing fabric.  Some fabrics I

pull from my stash and others I

purchase, often in different quilt

shops.  A project sheet like this

allows you to bring fabric swatches

with you in a convenient way. 

It is also a great way to keep track

of your projects,  I place my sheets

in a binder when I'm finished with

them, it is a good record of projects

and when I made them, adding a photo

of the finished project is also a good idea.

Next Week:  Fabric Preparation

To Wash or Not to Wash