I want to make a patchwork quilt

[babyOcho]

Where do I start?

Do I need a sewing machine?

Anyone have a real simple patten?

[miamla]

hi babyocho, there was a thread on here quite recently about this, give me a sec and i'll try and find it for you...

[miamla]

here you go
www.mumsnet.com/Talk?topicid=2280&threadid=553060#11300074

i'm quite sleepy at the moment (only awake now because i'm bf) but i'll be back later with some top tips

[oggsfrog]

[Gingermonkey]

Do you have a sewing machine?

[Lizzzombie]

Find out if you have a quilting/patchwork shop nearby. They often have classes which will take you through a whole project of a quilt - or at least get you started.
Or your library may have quilting books with simple beginners blocks you can copy, and which will explain the process.

[babyOcho]

I don't have a sewing machine, but my friend said that I could borrow her machine.

Thanks, miamla, I will have a look through that post.

Lizzzombie I shall pop to the library as soon as I can.

For someone who has only ever made a simple cushion cover (it took all day and my friend basically stood over me and told me how to cut and what to cut), but can sew with a machine, but only if its a straight line, is it easy-ish to make?

[Gingermonkey]

easiest way is to make strips and sew together - that way there are no pints to match up. I'll try and find a link to an easy pattern for you....

[Gingermonkey]

silly me - not PINTS - POINTS!!!!

[SuperBunny]

I've made Cali's denim rag quilt and it is easy and fab. Def a good one to start with. I did use a sewing maching.

I also made a patchwork quilt with squares of cotton. I did it by hand with 6 year olds. I am sure you can sew better than they can - perfectly doable without a machine, just takes much longer.

[DutchOma]

I did a log cabin quilt once for a cot. It wasn't difficult, as Gingermonkey says, it's just sewing strips together. I used a sewing machine.
But when I had done it once I didn't want to do it again:- I could not see the point of tearing or cutting bits of material just to sew them back together again.

[Gingermonkey]

lol!
If you google rag quilt tutorial plenty come up, and they are simple - because any mistakes hide in the raggy edges! You can even buy pre cut kits with everything you need for them (try ebay.com, look for rag quilt kit). But for pure simplicity work out how big you want your quilt and cut out strips, go wide for easiness (say 5 or 6 inches wide). Fabric is usually about 44 inches wide, so cut them all that length, lay them out so you can see how you want it look and then sew them together.
Binding is the trickiest bit, so I would use a pillowcase method - lay your finished quilt top right side up, on top of your wadding, and the backing fabric right side down on the top of the 2, pin and sew all the way round, leaving a gap for your hand (about 10 inches), turn it inside out (which is actually right side out) and sew the hole at the bottom with a slip stitch. Then instead of quilting it on the machine, tie it (google that again - you'll find plenty of tutorials).
That would be the least painful way of doing it, imo. HTH!

[Gingermonkey]

rag quilt

tying a quilt

rag quilt kits

I can't find a tutorial on what I mean by the strips quilt that I described, but it's in the bend the rules sewing book by Amy karol, which is a really great book for all sorts of sewing projects.

[Romans8v30]

Oh I could of wrote this tread, my Gran had promised me a patchwork quilt for our wedding present (we have been married 2years next month) However she hasnt finished my brothers which she started 5years ago, due to ill health and varies other projects on the go. So I was thinking of making it myself, she has all the material and I could do with a new project. So I hope to get all the stuff tomorrow and maybe a short tutorial from her too. All these links are great, thanks!

[Washersaurus]

There is an easy to follow tutorial for patchwork blanket here

[babyOcho]

the tutorial makes it look quite easy.

right, off to buy some material now.

[oggsfrog]

I planned to make a patchwork quilt using dd's prettiest cotton dresses (I've been saving them).
I was all fired up after reading these links and went to get them out.... but I put the bag in a black hole safe place and can't find it now . I'll have to turn the place inside out.

Does anyone have any experience of rotary cutters? I was thinking it might be easier than scissors.

[Gingermonkey]

rotary cutters are easy enough, but tbh to save you buying a rotary cutter and a mat (which are both pretty costly) I'd just buy a nice pair of sharp scissors, and use a template (just from cardboard would do fine) for cutting your squares out.

[oggsfrog]

Thanks Gingermonkey - I do have a couple of craft mats that I use with my craft knife, but the rotary cutters are pretty expensive. I think I'll stick with scissors .

One last question if I may....I've read some instructions that advise use paper templates (one for each piece as far as I can work out). Does this remain inside the material or am I getting hopelessly and uneccessarily confused?

[Gingermonkey]

this is english paper piecing - where you leave the template in as you make the patchwork. You can use squares too, but tbh you may as well machine sew squares, as it's a timely process handsewing.
I'm making a quilt like this at the minute, and it's great - really relaxing and because it will take so long, I think I'll appreciate it even more when I'm done. This is a picture of mine so far. (pics a bit blurry - it was windy and blowing about).

[oggsfrog]

Wow, that's really impressive Gingermonkey! I think it's a bit beyond my capabilities .

I found the bag of dd's old dresses after all, so will have a go at a simple square patch quilt I think.

[Gingermonkey]

thank you - but it's the first 'real' quilt I made (I've done baby quilts, but really simple ones, this one is single bed sized). I am really not a quilter at all - and it looks much more complicated than it is tbh.

[moondog]

You must go to a class first then it all becomes clear (and it is great fun.)
I too had burning desire to make one, knoew nowt and went to classes. Ten years on I have made about 6 baby ones and 3 king size ones and handsewn every damned stitch.

[oggsfrog]

Wow Moondog...and all by hand?

Think I'll just have to dive in and make a start.
I'm going to do a mixture of squares and squares made of strips for simplicity's sake as dd's dresses have obviously got bigger over time. (The baby ones will only give small squares/strips and don't know if I can be arsed have the patience to make one completely out of teeny squares.)

[ontheup]

Quilt university is a great resource if you don't mind paying for lessons (about 20 dollars so not cheap but you get online support etc too) or buy a copy of Patxhwork and Quilting mag - from Smiths normally as they stock it - it has a section called 'in a nutshell' with all the techniques you need. Next months will have a baby quilt pattern in it too I believe. Good luck w the quilt. I started 7 years ago when I inherited my mum's stash of fabric on her death and I haven't stopped since - very addictive!