Let's start at the begining

After I posted yesterday I realized that while what I posted helps but it doesn't cover the very basics.

When I start a quilt I start with a center. It can be anything from a square to a set of squares, any design you want. The center of the quilt I am working on now consists of all the squares surrounded by a rectangular border (which I am almost finished with) It is the largest center I have ever done.

Seams- All seams must be the same size. I don't like huge seams so what I do is to pick a reference point on the foot (the thing that holds the material down) and use that same reference point for all seams. I also backstitch (use the back button or lever) the beginning and end of all seams. Another thing I do is double stitch all seams meaning that I sew them twice. This isn't absolutely necessary but I want these quilts to last.

All sewn seams must align exactly so that it looks like they are one straight line. To do this sometimes I start sewing right at the seam and then I sew the rest and if I don't get it exactly right I rip out the seam and start over (I hate ripping seams).

Sometimes, well most of the time what I do to help with getting the seams right is to piece the quilt together one square at a time instead of sewing several squares together and then sewing them onto the quilt. The piecing method works better for me but not necessarily for everyone.

To give the quilt that straight edged look have an iron handy and iron each square as you sew it. Don't wait until after you sew several of them because it is much harder that way.

Once you have the hang of all this start sewing and see what happens. I don't always know what a finished quilt will look like when I start it and a lot of times I am pleasantly surprised.

Now back to the quilt in progress:

First I measure using the quilting rectangle to find out how many rectangles I need to go across the top and how long they have to be. I discovered that I need two twenty inch rectangles and one four inch for the middle.

I only have an 18 inch rectangle so this is how I do it:

I place the rectangle close to the edges of the fabric I need to cut then cut the bottom and two sides.

Then I move the rectangle two inches up from the end of the top cut. There are lines on the rectangle so this helps. Finish cutting the top sides and the top.

And this is what you will have - a 20 inch rectangle.

That's all for now, sleep is calling. I'll post more later.

Making a quilt

I am first going to include a disclaimer with this in case anyone might see it in the future. DISCLAIMER: I am not an expert or professional quilter in any way shape or form. The methods I will show are the way I have learned to do things and what works best for me, it is by no means the only way to put a quilt together.

That being said let us begin.

This is a quilt I am currently working on and I want to put a rectangle running the length of the top so that it will "finish" the center part of the quilt. As you can see in this picture I have already sewn two rectangles running the length of the sides. I did this using a 4x18 rectangle although I cut the measurement back to 16 inches and used two rectangles with the seam in the middle.

Here is another picture of the bottom.

These are the tools I am using: A cutting mat, 4x18 rectangle, and a rotary cutter. I used an 8 inch square for the squares in the middle.

More progress

Worked on it a little more yesterday and today, I'm liking it so far.

It changed a little bit

I changed it a little bit, this is the center of the quilt and I am adding on to it, I will end up making it twin or queen size, not sure which yet.

In progress

This is the next quilt I am working on, not much to look at right now as it's only four squares big but I know exactly what I am doing with it. I'll post more pictures as it progresses.

Fairly new to quilting

I say this because even though I have made quilts in the past I have never attempted to make any to sell until now. Living in the valley is a little more expensive and I was having quite a time trying to find a job. The one thing I could do however was to make quilts and (hopefully) sell them so I went all out and started on a couple, one of which I recently finished.