Start Your First Quilt

You are ready to start your first quilt. Congratulations have have made a good choice. Quilting is a great hobby. It is not hard to learn to quilt. I taught myself how to quilt, and if I can do it anyone can.

Before you start your first quilt , there are some supplies you will need. After you have your supplies, you are ready to start your quilt. But what do you do now?

The first thing you need to do it wash your fabric. You wash your fabric to make sure it doesn't bleed. You also want any shrinkage of your fabric to happen before your quilt is made. You wash it in hot water and put in in the dryer. If your fabric is going to shrink you want it to happen now. Now you are ready to start making your quilt. If you are going to be cutting squares of strips of fabric you will want to use your rotary supplies. There are a few tricks to getting a straight cut

1. Fold your material so that you have a straight edge.

2. Line the folded edge along one of the horizontal lines on the cutting mat and just slightly (about 1/4 inch) to the right of a vertical line. Your vertical edge will not be even, so make sure all layers are at least 1/4 inch over the vertical line on the mat.

3. Lay your ruler along the vertical line. Using your rotary cutter, cut to make a straight edge.

4. Fold your fabric in the other direction and repeat steps 2 and 3.

You are now ready to cut your squares and strips. Each time you cut a new piece remember to line up your fabric, using the lines on the mat as well as your ruler. Always run the edge the rotary cutter along the edge of the rotary ruler. I hope these few instruction help you start your first quilt Each one of my quilt designs will have further instructions on what to do. Since my site is applique quilt designs, I will be covering the different ways you can applique. Most of my quilts will be applique quilts, but I will also cover some pieced blocks. There are many good books that help beginners learn to quilt. The one I used was "Teach Yourself To Quilt" by Leisure Arts. Also television shows, such a "Simple Quilts" give great information to both new and experienced quilters.