Starter Project

I would love to start quilting. Can I start with a small project or do I have to start with a big quilt?

Hi Susan,

I’m not a quilter, but I do have an idea. My mom purchases small quilts (approximately 2-3 feet square) at craft shows and hangs them on a tapestry hook in her living room, bedroom and office. They look nice with her rustic décor. Perhaps you could start with a small quilting project that is wall decoration.

Great idea. Thanks Amy!

Susan,
You should start with small “mini” quilts, mini projects, and wall hangings.  It is less of an investment in time and much easier to complete quickly and easily.  You may also like the Quilt in a Day series.  This shows you how to cut the shapes you need quickly and easily and then sew them together lightening fast.

I usually have my daughters start with a crib quilt for their hope chests and then on to something bigger.

I haven’t quilted, either, and have been thinking of starting a project with my granddaughter and daughter. I thought maybe if we work on individual pieces we can create something special. Any ideas on this?

Donna

Starting small is a great idea. My first quilt was a full sized one, that’s somewhere closer to twin size and a little oblong. The great thing about quilting is that you can be creative and you can mess up and it all looks good. The hard pat of quilting is that you need a lot of patience to put a huge one together.  I made my daughter’s first quilt, however, and I am working on a larger one for her this year. When she goes off to college, I’ll put together the three quilts I’ve made for her so that she can take a little bit of home with her.

A fun quilt to do for the first time is to print pictures on fabric squares and sew those squares in the center of nine patches.

Heather, the print pictures sounds like a great idea. Do you have a link for that?

I do have the patience required for crafts, I just don’t always have the time, and I’m not sure my granddaughter has the stick-to-itveness. Her attention tends to wander.

The first afghan I crocheted was a queen size…zig-zag pattern. The only other one I made was made of those daisies you make on a loom and then crochet together, but that was many years ago.

Donna

You can get some fabric photo printing materials here:  http://www.cjenkinscompany.com/

And I’ve found some really great ideas on this site: http://www.teas2dine4.com/4printfabric.html

The fabric to print on is pretty expensive—but depending on your project, it is soooo worth it.

Thanks for the information, Heather. I’ve started to have ideas to make a generational quilt. I have a five generation picture that could be the highlight. What a lovely idea! I’ve never heard of being able to print photos on fabric using your ink jet printer! Thanks for the information.

Donna

That sounds like a lot of fun!  I hope it works out for you. I toyed with the idea of making a quilt for my daughter sometime that has pictures of her from all her different recitals. Let me know how your project goes.