First Quilt

I needs ideas for me 1st quilt. im brand new @ sewing so im lookin for something REALLY simple. I have sewed a couple o' pillows and a pillow case/mat. also i could use some tips after all im not even 20 yet!

Welcome and congratulations on wanting to quilt . . . I have grandchildren who love it! Go to this site http://quiltingtutorials.com/
and look at Jenny's tutorials and you will be so enthralled that you will want to make all of them. She makes quilting so easy for even first time quilters. Good luck on whatever you choose. I love to recommend the disappearing nine-patch because once finished it looks more difficult than it really is. Just relax and have fun.

I had a whole post about supplies and tutorials prepared to send you and it went off into cyberspace somewhere! You might want to pick a pattern that uses precut fabric, like the disappearing 9 patch. Or use what we call charm squares, which are 5" squares of fabric from a collection of fabrics that all go together, if you sew them together in rows, then sew the rows together, it makes a cute quilt. Jenny has a simple one about making a baby quilt out of charm squares. You can make a bigger one for yourself, just use more charm squares. Missouri Star Quilt Company has the world's largest supply of precut fabrics, so shop on line and you will get a fine selection of fabrics to choose from. They also have yardage of fabric, so you can get some matching fabric to make borders around your quilt blocks, and also get some fabric for the back of your quilt and the binding for it.

Do you have scissors, iron and ironinig board available? Rulers are essential if you are going to cut your own fabric. Many new quilters get sets of rotary cutter, mats for the rotary cutter and rulers in a package at big fabric stores like JoAnns or Hobby Lobby or Hancock. You can find coupons to get the more expensive supplies at quite a discount. Just sign up online to get their coupons.

Also, I'd start with making a smaller quilt, like a wall hanging, table runner or lap quilt, not a big bed size quilt. It is easier to finish off smaller quilts. You will have to finish the quilt by putting batting and backing on your top, and that is a challenge for the first quilts you make.

Sorry if I told you stuff you already know. This is a great place to come to ask questions. But Jenny's tutorials are just the best, and you'll get all kinds of ideas for cool quilts to make, some are easy and some are more challenging. But, sooner or later, you will want to try them all. Look at the forum members' albums at the top of this page for ideas for things you might want to make. You can ask a forum member personally for advice by sending them a private message. Just click on their name and then you can send a private message.

Do you know that members of this forum are spread all around the world? That is the most fun of all, hearing from so many people around the world. I love them all!

Personally I would do a simple 4 patch or 9 patch. That way you can make the squares what ever size you want. Being new I would not start with anything smaller than 4". Just make sure to use 1/4" seam on EVERTHING. Doing one like this makes it easy to line up the seams also. Easy way to do that in run straight pin through both seams and they will line up perfectly every time. Good luck, and welcome to our world. You WILL get addicted. Just wanted to warn you :)

The Disappearing Nine Patch (D9P) and Double Slice Layer Cake (DSLC) blocks are easy to make but the completed quilt looks like you worked really hard. Links to the tutorials for these block are below.

D9P - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEjZOXxPazg
DSLC - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxC-0T5lXw4&feature=plcp

Jenny Doan is excellent on teaching quilting! After painfully doing my first quilt with very little instruction, I found Jenny's site (the above links) and quilting got a WHOLE lot better! Sewing rows of squares together would probably be the easiest. You can change the colors around and sew them any way that looks good to you. I would do 5" squares because that's the size of a charm pack and it saves me from having to decide on the colors. Just have fun because that what it's all about. : )

Hi and welcome. A ruler, cutting mat and rotary cutter were the 1st 3 things recommended to me by several people. I would suggest the Olfa rotary cutter with self retracting blade. I started off using a cutter that I had to retract the blade each time and ended of cutting myself the very first day. Maybe it was just operator trouble :) Another easy pattern to try is Rail Fence. You will learn a lot by watching Jenny's tutorials. Good Luck and have fun.

It helps that people mention the names of different styles of quilt blocks. This way, you can google the names and see a lot of examples of quilts made with that style of block. My first quilts that I did were done with 8-1/2" half-square triangles. You make a square of fabric, layer it with another piece of fabric the same size but a different fabric, right sides together. Draw a line across the diagonal of one of the squares, and then sew 1/4" on both sides of the line. You then cut the square in half to make two triangles, but when you open them up, you have a square that has two different fabrics in it. You can make dozens of geometric patterns with a stack of half-square triangles.

Someone cautioned you not to work with too small of pieces. I started with 8-1/2" squares and got smaller as I got more experience. This worked out great. #1, I didn't have to make hundreds of blocks, and #2, there is less problem if your seams aren't exactly 1/4". Learning to sew an accuate 1/4" seam is the "holy grail" of quilting, because in all patterns, this is what they expect you to do. If you are off, even by a little bit, and you try to sew rows of blocks together, you will not be able to join them up and have them line up straight. Sewing charm squares together would be excellent practice for your first quilt.

I am a newbie, started learning about 9 months ago, Jenny's tutorials are wonderful and I have learned so much. My first true quilt ( I did a couple of doll quilts for my granddaughter) is a red and black nine patch. My problem is instead of starting with something small I did my first one super sized queen size. It will fit a king bed with no over hang, but hangs about half way down the mattress on my queen size bed. I just have to figure out now to quilt it...

I'm new at this too and loved the idea of a disappearing 9-patch. I have a small collection of (WOF) fabrics I'm putting together when I graduate to my first large quilt. All I have to do now is buy some yardage for the border and centre square. Now, do I cut 5" squares or make them larger? Think I'll measure them and see which is the most economical!

I've started 2 small rail fence quilts for my granddaughters but the material is very thin - I'm sure they'll love them as they are my first attemps at something this large.

http://forum.missouriquiltco.com/alb...chmentid=21074
http://forum.missouriquiltco.com/alb...chmentid=21073

Thanks to everyone i got a whole bunch of good ideas now! im trying the dissapearing 9 patch. You guys are awesome :D

Best of luck to you and WELCOME!!!