Handmade Quilt Care - Things Don t Do Together With A Quilt

Lay out of the quilt: Lay the quilt backing out on a flat surface (such as a bed) and then place the rows sewn together on top of it. This way you can visually see how long to make your rows and also see how you would like to arrange these rows. After you have decided - sew these rows together. Iron the seams open.

Always use a rotary cutter with a cutting mat specifically designed for it. In addition to protecting your work surface, the mat helps keep the fabric from shifting while you cut. Start with a 17x23" mat marked with a 1" grid, hash marks at 1/8" increments, and 45 and 60 degree angles.

Blanket Quilt Now it is time to start the actual quilting process. You need a small set of scissors, quilt needles (these have a larger eye but are very sharp in order to go through all the layers), quilting thread, thimble and a very comfortable chair.

According to my mother and many experienced quilters, in order to pass the quilting rule, you must be able to put no less than 10 stitches on your needle before pulling the thread through all the layers and moving to the next needle-full. This, believe me is not to be taken lightly, is not an easy task but for the trained quilter, it is an automatic function.

It won't take long and after you learn the basic skills you view to make just about any baby quilt patterns that you like. You'll become a real pro in no time. A really nice gesture is for several women in a family to contribute to the project. If you want to do this, simply photocopy the baby quilt patterns you are using and when the quilt is passed around, everyone will know what to do and you can even do this all living in different parts of the country. Then when each component is finished you can appoint someone to put them together.

You can add embellishments of ribbons, trims, and laces, stitching them from edge to edge of the foundation piece so that the ends will be included in the seam allowances. It is best not to attach these embellishments parallel and too close to the edges of the block as these spaces will be covered with embroidery stitches.

Now you need to sew it together with the batting and the backing. As you probably already know, a blanket isn't just made of one layer. You will have to sew it together and then stitch across the entire quilt to hold it all together. This is where you can get fancy and make pretty stitch designs. If you are looking to get this done fast, just do a basic straight stitch across the whole blanket. You will have to do this sewing by hand, so get a comfy position on your couch and get sewing!

Using a sewing machine, sew along the lines. For each line, start at the top of the fabric, as close to the edge as you can get. When you reach the bottom, sew a little past the edge.