What does every quilter need to know in order to make successful progress in their chosen hobby? It can seem like a very difficult process to learn at first, but with careful preparation and lots of reading around your subject you can master your chosen hobby and start to produce beautiful quilts and patchwork pieces that will be loved by family and friends for years to come.

Don’t get put off

There are lots of new terms to learn and techniques to understand when starting to learn to quilt. It can sometimes feel a bit overwhelming. It’s a hobby that takes time to learn, but one that you can adapt to suit your skills and what works best for you over time. With patience, you’ll be able to sew accurate quilts on your first attempt, but don’t be discouraged by the odd mistake here and there! Learn from the errors you make and put them down to experience. Quilting is a hobby that will bring immense joy to you. 

Learn all the terminology 

Make sure you have a basic quilting book to hand, and look online for tutorials and how to guides. If you come across a term you don’t understand, look it up or ask someone who knows their quilting lingo. 

Know your fabrics 

You want to sew the best quality quilts and patchworks that you can, so it’s worth knowing your fabrics and also buying the best you can possibly afford. Knowing how to make a quilt also depends on knowing how to care for fabrics, understanding their characteristics and using the right guidelines to work with them.

You don’t have to buy the most expensive fabric, but likewise, don’t waste your time putting a quilt together with thin fabric that won’t stand up to washing and being used. As always, it’s really worth chatting to other quilt makers and going into fabric chops to see what choices are on offer and the sorts of things you like the look and feel of. 

Mastering how to sew a quarter inch seam allowance

If you’re new to quilting, and have perhaps only ever sewn garments it can be a bit difficult to transition to sewing the quarter inch seam allowance that quilts need. It helps to practice this on patches before you start making a full quilt to make sure your seams are accurate. Once you’ve done this a few times, you’ll become quicker and more adept at judging how to do this. 

Learn how to rotary cut

An essential part of quilting, rotary cutting is a technique that everyone new to their hobby needs to master. It’s a time saving device that allows you to be able to construct templates quickly and easily to mark and cut out individual pieces of fabric. 

Rotary tools offer a lot of freedom and choice when it comes to quilting. So long as you know how to operate your tools properly and safely, you should find them to be a real boon to your quilt making process.  Please Read Part 2 of our 5 Top Quilting Tips For Beginners