Guest Blogger: Kirsten from Maniacal Material Girls- Quilt Basics!

Friends,

During my last Giveaway week I asked what you would like to see on my blog. A LOT of you wanted to know a few basics about quilting. Since I am learning myself, I asked my BFF Kirsten of Maniacal Material Girls to share her knowledge with you. I always call her when I have questions- I thought I'd save you the phone charge and have her post here! I hope you learn something great! Take it away, Kirsten! Although, I might pop in here and there :)

Hi! I am so excited that Melanie asked me to guest blog for her! I
have put together a basic quilting how-to for any of you that want to
jump into the amazing world of quilting. It might seem kinda involved
or scary, but it can be really easy! So come on, take the plunge! You
won’t regret it!

First, how about a list of basic tools:

(Notice my TWO quilts in
progress in this picture...)

1. Cutting mat- very important!! You need this to uh, cut. I use this
mat for almost all of my cutting. It is a 24”x36” Olfa self healing
mat. This is a good size, because you can cut across a folded width of
fabric. Mats can get pretty expensive, but you use them a LOT, and
Joanns puts them on sale often. If they are not on sale, it is also an
awesome item to use a 40 or 50% off coupon on at Joanns. I also
recently added a smaller mat to my supplies (12”x18”) and it has been
helpful when I don’t need my big mat(And when my big mat is put away
under the crib and the kid is asleep…)

2. Ruler or straight edge- another very important tool! A great
starter size is 6”x24”. That is all I had for a very long time, and it
served me well. Another great item to use a 50% off coupon at Joanns
on! Omnigrid and Creative Grids are both awesome brands.

3. Rotary Cutter- A must! A good rotary cutter with a sharp blade
makes cutting much easier! I really like mine (Fiskars brand), though
I don’t see a lot of other quilters using my particular cutter. Once
again, Olfa makes great products, but pricy, and new blades are
definitely an expense and something to think about. I am lucky enough
that WalMart carries replacement blades for my cutter.

4. Iron- THIS IS NOT OPTIONAL!!! An iron is usually the difference
between nice, matching seams and a good looking finished product and
shoddy-looking, oh no I don't know what I am doing, work. You
CANNOT IRON TOO MUCH! If in doubt, iron your seams! And your fabric!
If your fabric is folded up before you start cutting into it (and you
know it is...), iron it flat! Whenever I decide I’m in too much of a
hurry to iron my fabric before I cut, I have to go back and re-square
it up after it is ironed. It is just not worth it! I keep an ironing
surface (a TV tray with the top covered like this
tutorial from Oh, Fransson!) right next to my machine so I don’t
have to move very far to iron, or even stand up. I’m lazy like
that :) ps- you don’t have to have a “good” iron. I had a crappy,
15 year old iron until last summer when it died. Just have an iron!!!

5. Good quality thread- Well, thread is not optional, but if you
really want to (please please don't, it's just not worth
it!) you can use cheap thread. I use Gutterman thread. It doesn’t
break as easily, and as Mel can attest, cheap thread = problems with quilting.

(Mel here: AMEN sistah! I weep when I remember that whole ordeal...)

6. Curved basting pins- Not necessary, but once you have them, you
feel like they are! Once you are assembling your quilt sandwich, these
make the entire process sooooo much easier. Joanns sales and coupons, people!

7. Calculator- unfortunately, quilting takes some mathematics. I don’t
like math, I don’t do math in my head, and I don’t trust math I have
done in my head! So, the calculator lives near my machine.

8. A sewing machine- well, yeah. Unless you plan on hand piecing. I’m
not that ambitious.

Whew! That was quite a list. Oh, something I didn’t include in the
list was high quality fabrics. While I definitely shop Joanns for
notions and even for batting (I use warm and white, and buy it by
the yard), I don’t get my fabric there. Ok, I do have some, but most
of it predates my discovery of my Local Quilt Stores and high quality
fabric such as Moda, Free Spirit, Kaufman, P&B Textiles, and more.
The better fabrics are much easier to work with, but are more
expensive. Shop sales and clearances! I think I only have 2 cuts of
fabric that I bought full price.

(Yes, Kirsten converted me to fabric snobbery. But don't think it is the only way to quilt- it just feels SOOOOO nice.)

My Oh Cherry Oh
quilt

There are so many awesome tutorials and patterns online,
both free and for sale. When I was thinking about where to find quilt
patterns, I realized that I have never made a quilt from a pattern! I
usually get an idea, pull out the graph paper, draw it out and do the
math. This seems like a daunting task for some, and that is why there
are patterns available! There are also many many quilt-alongs going on
in blogland all the time. The host usually puts up step by step
instructions, and this is a great way to make a quilt if you don’t
want to venture out all on your own. Here is a list of great places
for tutorials, patterns, and quilt alongs:

Cluck Cluck Sew

Oh, Fransson
(currently has a quilt-along going)

Old Red Barn Co. (Also just started a quilt-along. And she has a step-by-step how to make a
quilt tutorial that is amazing!)

Ps I Quilt (And yet another current quilt-along!)

Moda Bake Shop

Crazy Mom Quilts (No longer blogs, but has AWESOME tutorials and references up still)

A few ideas for good beginner quilts:

Plain ol’ patchwork squares. Classic, great to begin with, and with
pretty fabric, it will look fabulous!

(Mel here again... Easy to begin with, seriously. Look what this 4-year-old made!)

Coin quilt

(Hi again, this was my first quilt!)

9 patch (Or a variation thereof if you want a little more oomph, like
a disappearing 9 patch or wonky 9 patch) (Tired of me? Tutorial I used found here)

Wonky Log Cabin baby
quilt

A standard quilting seam is ¼”. Many machines either come with a foot
that ends ¼” away from the needle, and others have them available to
buy separately. Mine doesn’t, so I have to just follow my 1/4” line.
It is very important to be as precise as you can with your seam
allowance, so that all of your pieces will match up when you are
piecing your quilt. I am not a pinner, but if you feel like pinning
will help you get your seams matched up and keep your ¼” seam
allowance, use those pins!

Once your quilt top is made, and your quilt backing is ready, you get
to make a quilt sandwich! Here is a great tutorial for that.

And a few tutorials for free motion quilting. I recommend straight
line quilting for beginners, either on the diagonal, along seams,
vertically, whatever works best with your quilt top.
(I sooooo want a walking foot for my machine, it makes the straight line quilting look better. But I've done plenty without it, so you can too!)

Oh,
Fransson!
crazymomquilts

And then binding! Truthfully, I haven’t found a binding tutorial that
I completely like. My binding is a mix and match between all the
tutorials. However, I think it all depends on what you are comfortable
with. Here are a few good tutorials, and you can decide what you like:

Heather Bailey
Crazy Mom
Red Pepper Quilts

String quilt for my
daughter

So, that’s pretty much all there is to making a quilt. If you are a first timer,
and feeling a bit overwhelmed, start small. Like, doll quilt or baby
quilt small. It gets easier as you do more, and I warn you now, it is
ADDICTIVE! I just got Melanie started quilting last summer and look at
how she is flying! If you have made it all the way through my post,
thank you for reading! Feel free to drop by Maniacal Material Girls
see more of my work and what we are up to lately! Thanks again
Melanie!