Originally written for my previous blog, I wanted to share with you my first experience of quilting. I hope you enjoy my tale... feel free to leave a comment - I would love to hear other people's first experiences of quilting - what went right and what went wrong...!:
Three years ago my love’s sister was pregnant. I have always been a fan of handmade cards as a personalised addition to special occasions, but the arrival of a baby required something special.
My mum suggested knitting baby booties… But I cannot knit…this is my mum’s forté and talent, but unfortunately one that she couldn’t seem to pass on! Growing up our home knitted jumpers would be adorned with the characters de jour: Roland rat, the shoe people (I had the ballerina shoe), you get the idea.
Then she said crotchet a baby blanket. Crotchet? I can’t knit! How would I crotchet! Then I remembered back at uni my friend Peggy used to quilt, old school style. I’d sit there cutting out paper and fabric hexagons. I would pin them together, folding the fabric edges over the smaller paper templates (alas the paper templates were not made out of love letters as traditional used) ready for Peggy to hand stitch them together. It was relaxing, and therapeutic. (This method of quilting is called Paper Piercing by the way).
Immediately I started researching the Internet for quilting how tos for baby blankets and places to buy fabric from. I soon stumbled upon Alex Anderson’s great beginners book Baby Quilts with Love. It has an excellent entry level section on how to cut material, the tools needed, and how to piece the fabric together. The instructions were clear and well ordered and the designs graded in complexity. Perfect.
Next I travelled down to Kew Gardens to Tikki London – a gorgeous patchwork quilt shop. The owner Tiina patiently went through the basics with me. She set me up with the cutting mat, ruler and rotary cutter I would need and also went through helping me select complimentary fabrics. I never realised that I would have to think about complimentary tones, patterns, and how to visualise them all together.
And I began. I was nervous about every cut at first. I wasn’t sure how it would turn out. It was quite an expensive gift. Would it turn out ok? Would it fall apart? Could I remember to sew? I hadn’t sat at a sewing machine since Textiles GCSE where I made a swimsuit for the larger woman. The coursework got an A… and I’ll be truthful… my wonderful ma did most of it. There were a multitude of worries as I sat down at my mum’s 1980′s New Home (now Janome) machine. But the were unfounded, because in fact it did turn out rather fine.
My love’s family were overwhelmed that they would have this personalised blanket for their newest edition…something that would be able to remain in the family for years to come. And it was the bestest feeling seeing the new baby playing and learning her first experiences on the blanket I made. From there on in I was hooked. However, I’m not saying my first attempt was perfect: I learnt a lot of things that I would/would not be doing the next time round, so for any new quilters out there here are my top tips:
Three years ago my love’s sister was pregnant. I have always been a fan of handmade cards as a personalised addition to special occasions, but the arrival of a baby required something special.
My mum suggested knitting baby booties… But I cannot knit…this is my mum’s forté and talent, but unfortunately one that she couldn’t seem to pass on! Growing up our home knitted jumpers would be adorned with the characters de jour: Roland rat, the shoe people (I had the ballerina shoe), you get the idea.
My brother sporting Roland Rat. My sister and I in Thumberlina I believe.
Immediately I started researching the Internet for quilting how tos for baby blankets and places to buy fabric from. I soon stumbled upon Alex Anderson’s great beginners book Baby Quilts with Love. It has an excellent entry level section on how to cut material, the tools needed, and how to piece the fabric together. The instructions were clear and well ordered and the designs graded in complexity. Perfect.
Next I travelled down to Kew Gardens to Tikki London – a gorgeous patchwork quilt shop. The owner Tiina patiently went through the basics with me. She set me up with the cutting mat, ruler and rotary cutter I would need and also went through helping me select complimentary fabrics. I never realised that I would have to think about complimentary tones, patterns, and how to visualise them all together.
And I began. I was nervous about every cut at first. I wasn’t sure how it would turn out. It was quite an expensive gift. Would it turn out ok? Would it fall apart? Could I remember to sew? I hadn’t sat at a sewing machine since Textiles GCSE where I made a swimsuit for the larger woman. The coursework got an A… and I’ll be truthful… my wonderful ma did most of it. There were a multitude of worries as I sat down at my mum’s 1980′s New Home (now Janome) machine. But the were unfounded, because in fact it did turn out rather fine.
My love’s family were overwhelmed that they would have this personalised blanket for their newest edition…something that would be able to remain in the family for years to come. And it was the bestest feeling seeing the new baby playing and learning her first experiences on the blanket I made. From there on in I was hooked. However, I’m not saying my first attempt was perfect: I learnt a lot of things that I would/would not be doing the next time round, so for any new quilters out there here are my top tips:
- do invest in the right tools. It may be pricey, but it makes life so much easier in the long run
- don’t bother washing the wadding before quilting. I did and regretted it. It was a pain to dry and thinned it overall.
- do measure twice and cut once. Accuracy is the key here. And no one likes wastage!
- don’t waiver from the 1/4 inch seam allowance otherwise you’ll have problems joining the blocks up at the end. If you think you’ve got it wrong unstitch the pieces and do it again
- do iron the seams flat after sewing the pieces together… it’s just neater and quilting is about precision and neatness
- don’t beat yourself up if you find quilting the top tricky. I still struggle, so stick to straight criss cross lines at first. It’s easier
- do have patience, but most of all…HAVE FUN
…and here it is… My first quilt. Design by Alex Anderson called Beachcomber Baby
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