Quilt Goals with Fat Quarter Shop

As a Quilter one of the most exciting things you can hear from a friend is “Can you show me how to make a quilt?”  All the emotions start running as you know that the adventure ahead for your friend is going to be amazing and hopefully the start of their own loved and long quilting journey.

I have been invited by Fat Quarter Shop to participate in the Quilt Goals 2023 Challenge and my Goal was to help a friend with Quilting for the first time.  I thought that it might be helpful to share with you, my top 5 Tips for Teaching a friend to Quilt.

 

1. Keep is Simple

For someone starting out in quilting – choose a pattern that is simple in design but big on impact.  Repeated blocks work well as you can focus on teaching them the importance of a 1/4in seam allowance and how to sew one block – which they can then gain confidence in sewing by repeating and seeing their skills grow as they make the blocks.  They will love seeing their stack of blocks grow and it spurs their enjoyment of quilting.

 

This design is my Liberty Belle Quilt and it uses a repeated block pattern to achieve this stunning quilt.  How amazing are the colours from Melody Millers Curio Collection for Ruby Star Society.

Get the Liberty Belle Quilt pattern here

2. Colour Confidence 

This takes time for quilters to develop and will grow and change over time.  Start out using collection. These already have colour combos worked out and work really well together. This means at this early stage for a new quilter they can work on their skills of sewing rather than being worried or unsure of what colours work well together or if it will turn out ok.  Fabric collections take out the guesswork.

3. Get the right Equipment 

Setting up the sewing machine with a 1/4in foot will be such a game changer.  Often when people are new to quilting, they take the machine straight out of the box or dust it off (a gift from a great Aunt) and start quilting and soon run into trouble when all the points and blocks don’t line up.  While this isn’t about perfection – it is about having the machine “Quilt ready” with the correct foot for quilting. 

4. Borders – make or break!

Not all quilts have borders but when they do this can be the make or break of how a quilt looks.  Make sure you correctly teach your friend to measure and then cut the Border strips to fit the quilt top measurements.  Just sewing border strips to the quilt top, then cutting off the excess can result in flared or buckled quilts once quilted.  By doing it this way you can be adding length to the quilt top and this is why the borders then flair out.  It is important to measure and cut each border strip to size.  You can watch here to see how to do this.

 

How to get Perfect Borders – 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CbxLmNXDZWD/  

 

5. Binding is fun!

I know it can often be that part that many quilters aren’t that over the moon about but I wanted to share a couple of my favourite ways to Bind so that you can easily love binding yourself and show your friend how it can be relaxing and that last final touch to a quilt. 

 

Continuous Corner Binding Tutorial – https://www.blog.tiedwitharibbon.com/2018/01/how-to-sew-your-quilt-binding.html

 

How to invisibly sew down your Binding - https://www.instagram.com/reel/CgwNv3ljYwF/

 

 

With these tips, you and your friend will absolutely love quilting up a storm together.

Liberty Belle Quilt Pattern

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Happy Quilting

Jemima x 

Amour Granny Square Bag Tutorial by Amy of Happy Hippie Studio

Hey there! I’m Amy from Happy Hippie Studio , and I am stoked to be bringing you a tutorial for the Amour Granny Square! This pattern combines my two favorite things: yarn and fabric. 

A little backstory: 

I started crocheting when I was eleven. My family lived in Montana where the winters were long and there wasn’t much to do other than drink coffee and crochet (let’s not talk about how I developed a caffeine addiction at eleven!) For many years, I only used fine thread and made so. many. doilies. As I got older, I wanted to make things that were utilitarian as well as beautiful, so I ventured into making blankets and bags. 

I didn’t start quilting until 2013 when my oldest was a baby and I was a stay-at-home-mom struggling with depression. Making simple quilts gave me the quick wins I needed to feel like a productive adult again. 

Now that the kids are a little older, I’m enjoying taking the time to dive deeply into both crochet AND quilting, and finding unique ways to combine them! Just don’t ask me to knit anything. It will likely take a really long time. 

This tote bag is a fun combination of crochet and machine sewing. Yes...you can absolutely use your sewing machine to sew through crocheted items! It’s not scary, I promise. 

Just grab your copy of the tutorial at the link here and get stitching! 

Are you nervous about sewing fabric to yarn? Don’t be! Here are a few tips to help it go super smoothly: 

1. SLOW DOWN! Put your machine at half speed or less. 

2. Pins are your friends! The heat from the iron won’t penetrate the thick yarn,   so use lots of pins. Seriously. If you think you have enough, use more anyway. 

3. Use a longer stitch than normal. Mine is set at 2.7 mm. 

4. Don’t change the tension. 

5. Use a thread that matches the background fabric on your bag. This will make seams disappear.

6. Use a 1⁄4” seam. I’m lazy, and don’t like taking off my quilting foot, so this pattern was written with 1⁄4” seams. If you’re a quilter, this will save you a step since you’re accustomed to using your 1⁄4” foot for, well, everything. 

The variation in thickness will hide a lot of flaws, and look really artisan. Perfection is so overrated anyway! 

Grab your copy of the free tutorial and get started ASAP here! 

While my style tends toward the vibrant and scrappy, this tote would be GORGEOUS in a neutral palette (hello, earth tones!). If you make it in neutrals, please don’t forget to tag @happyhippiestudio and @tiedwitharibbon so we can feature your work on our accounts and use #amourgrannysquare and #tiedwitharibbonpatterns

Thanks for sewing along, Amy

Piece. Love. Quilt.