Guest Author - Valerie Smith

Planning ahead is key to creating a quilt with minimal difficulty. Often times the problems we come across later in our quilting projects are easily preventable with accurate measuring, cutting, and piecing.

The biggest “oops” I see beginning quilters make has to do with measuring. This is something I struggled with for a VERY long time. If I could only make one suggestion to you that I knew could make your quilting time a more fun and pleasurable experience, it would be this - measure accurately! Take your time. Unless you have an endless supply of fabric or funds for fabric, it would benefit you to try to do your measuring and cutting in a quiet place free from many distractions. Results from poor measuring or cutting can be mismatched points, triangles with the points completely chopped off after sewn, or pieces that just don’t match up at all. If you finish a block and it is 1/4 of an inch smaller than it is supposed to be, I would say first check your measuring. Leaving a block that is the incorrect size to be put into your top can ruin your planned design or just plain old stick out and become an eye sore. These are the types of mistakes beginners make that turn them off from quilting before they’ve even really begun.

The next “oops” I often see, and have done myself, is not using a true 1/4 inch seam. When machine piecing, you’ll want to either invest in a 1/4 foot for your sewing machine if it doesn’t already come with one, or take a ruler or measuring tape, and measure to see if where your needle falls into the fabric is truly 1/4 of an inch from the guide you are using for the edge of your fabric. Having a special 1/4 inch foot is nice because you can simply line your fabric up to the outside edge of the foot, and sew with confidence. Some machines even have the 1/4 seam guide marked for you, but many do not. So be sure to take the time to check that you’re really sewing 1/4 of an inch seams, or again, as with inconsistent measuring and cutting, you’ll throw off your design.

Another tip for planning your quilt, is purchasing enough fabric for the quilt you’ve decided to make. I am of the opinion that when you are just beginning to quilt, it is a good idea to use a pattern. You’ll want to search for quilt patterns that identify themselves as beginner projects, or easy enough to be beginner projects. By using an instructional pattern, you will most often be provided with fabric requirements and a step by step guide as to how to assemble your quilt top. Although most beginner patterns are fairly detailed and will include requirements for backing & border fabric, or even batting, they don’t always include instructions as to how to actually quilt your project. So you’ll want to examine the example provided with the pattern, and put some thought into how you’ll be quilting your finished project.

No quilter has perfect results all of the time, but by taking a few moments to consider these steps you can ensure yourself that you’ll have really good results, most of the time!




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