First quilt, advice need please.

[okbrawd]

My grandma and her friends have been trying to get me to quilt for a long time now and last week my grams came over with a whole sack of charm packs and told me to take one and make a quilt...well it was supposed to turn out 25X25 (minus the 1/4 inch seam) and it came out 21.5 X 22.5. Do you have any suggestions on how I can make it bigger without using a really huge boarder? Also what color boarder(s) would you suggest. I did an awful job! Hopefully the next wont be so bad quilt pieced.jpg

[quilter.martha]

Re: First quilt, advice need please.

Hi there, and welcome to the forum. This is not bad for your first attempt at making a quilt! Give yourself some room for the learning curve--we've all been there at some point in time!

As for making the quilt larger you have 2 options: you could add more charms to it to make it longer and wider, or you can add a couple of borders. I would suggest a smaller border to start of a neutral/solid color like white or cream, and then add a larger border of a print fabric. You'll be surprise at how great this will look once you've got the borders on.

Good luck and post again when it's finished!

[Patrice]

Re: First quilt, advice need please.

It Looks fine especially being your first quilt. I have learned what not to do on every quilt I make I think and I have been quilting for 20 years or more. If you can get a 1/4 in foot for your machine I highly recommend it. They are great if not you can lay a piece of painters tape across your machine where a 1/4 in is from your needle and it will be a great guide for you. If you don't want a huge border just use 2 1/2 in strips or any size you want. I think any of those colors would be fine for a border. you should lay a few out and see which one you like the best. Great job and Happy Quilting!

[Blondie]

Re: First quilt, advice need please.

Have you looked at these tuts? http://tutorials.missouriquiltco.com/last.php Love the ideas all of MSQC gives; very inspirational!

[Bubby]

Re: First quilt, advice need please.

Your colors are pretty. You could add a few more rows of charm squares and make it longer and use it as a table runner. That would be a nice first project. We're glad you have joined us...visit often. Barb

[Loonwatcher]

Re: First quilt, advice need please.

I think it looks great for a first quilt. Welcome to the forum. If you want to enlarge it and add borders, I like Martha's suggests. But I also like Barb's suggestion of lengthing it into a tabble runner with more square. If you do that I would not put any border on, just bind it with your favorite color from the quilt.

[quiltingtrish]

Re: First quilt, advice need please.

I think it looks great too! I would just add a binding of your favorite color and use it as a table topper. Or, go buy a charm pack and add more rows and then add the binding. It would be a nice throw size.

Hugs,

[Shirley]

Re: First quilt, advice need please.

Welcome from Kansas! I don't think your quilt looks bad at all. I think Martha's ideas would be great. THe first quilt I made was a king size (what was I thinking??) for my daughter. that was 7 years ago. I have been mending it this past week, quite a bit of the sashing was coming unsewn. Looking at it I can see I have learned so much since making this quilt. She has since gotten more quilts, hope they don't come unsewn). Keep up the good work, you will only get better. Post your pics when you finish. Shirley

[meemeecyn]

Re: First quilt, advice need please.

All the ideas would work! You did a really nice job of keeping the squares in line. That is hard to do, especially at the beginning of the learning process!

[okbrawd]

Re: First quilt, advice need please.

Thank you all very much for the advice, compliments, and welcomes. I just ordered another charm pack to add a bit more to it then possible add a boarder.

[bec]

Re: First quilt, advice need please.

You are doing just fine! It looks like you've already gotten tons of great advice. Can't wait to see the finished product!

[jfleckal]

Re: First quilt, advice need please.

One thing I found is that it works best to test the grain of the charm squares. They seem to be in the stack any which way and my first attempt was a little bumpy and uneven. I think the grain of the fabric made a difference.

[okbrawd]

Re: First quilt, advice need please.

How do I do that?

One thing I found is that it works best to test the grain of the charm squares. They seem to be in the stack any which way and my first attempt was a little bumpy and uneven. I think the grain of the fabric made a difference.

[bec]

Re: First quilt, advice need please.

How do I do that?

To test the grain, tug gently on opposite sides of a charm square. Notice if it feels taught or has some give to it. You can compare by tugging gently on the other two sides of the square. The side that feels taught is the straight of grain. The side that has a little give (or stretchiness) is the cross grain. Just for your information, the bias is from corner to corner and it has lots of stretch.

Personally, I closely watched how the straight of grain laid on one of the baby quilts that I made and not the other and I did not see any difference. Just make sure you are not stretching the fabric as you sew.

Patrice gave some good advice - make sure that all of the seam allowances are the same width - 1/4 inch. If you don't, you'll find yourself stretching areas to make the seams match.

The one thing that I am a stickler about is pressing every seam before adding more fabric that will be attaching to that seam. For instance, on your quilt, you could sew a row of squares, then press all the seams before adding a second (pressed) row to that row. Most of Jenny's tutorials on this site will show you how to set and press your seams. This should help your project have a nice smooth look.

Hope this helps.

[okbrawd]

Re: First quilt, advice need please.

So I got inpatient waiting for the charm pack to arrive to finish the other quilt so I decided to try again. I couldnt find where to get a 1/4 inch foot for my sewing machine so I guestimated again and this time I bought yardage and cut the fabric myself. Did I do any better? Do you think it would be ok to give this to my friend who is due with a boy next month?

boys quilt.jpgboys quilt 2.jpg