I’ve been thinking about what I wish I had known when I started quilting and thought I might share a few tips with you here.
#1 Don’t wait to start quilting until you have all the tools, the best sewing machine or even lessons.
To begin, I would suggest you have a sewing machine that sews a straight line and the basic things in the photo above. (Photo by Amy Smart)
Having said that, when I started out I was home with small children, I didn’t have the time or money for lessons nor did I have everything included above. From that list, I had a rotary cutter, cutting mat and ruler but I used my kids’ safety scissors as well as fabric and thread I already had. I don’t think I even had a seem ripper. I used books and advice from friends and the internet a little.
Fifteen years ago YouTube hadn’t been invented and the abundance of resources out there, for things like quilting just didn’t exist yet.
Things are very different now, a quick internet search this morning for ‘quilting 101’ provided me with over 22,000 hits. Clearly, not every hit is going to be helpful but everything you need to make a quilt from start to finish can be found if you look around for a minute.
Amy Smart at Diary of a Quilter, has the most comprehensive beginning quilter series that I have seen out there, plus her pictures are pretty.
Tell me, do you like to learn things on your own or do you learn better with others around?
