Making a Quilt

I have made quilts and quilted pillows.

For quilts, you can use any fabric. Any fabric. My friend, even made a quilt out of cut out fabric swatches from her kids baby clothes & blankets. It was real cute.

You do NOT have to use expensive fabric. I have one that my Grandma made for me when I was a baby... and I STILL have it, its in great condition, and it was just made with the most inexpensive fabrics... because in those days, they were not rich and everyone just made due with whatever they had.

the important thing is, is that you know how to make the stitches... if doing it by hand. Or that you have a sewing machine, if doing it that way.
You can do it either way... BUT doing it by hand takes much longer... and you will need a large sized "hoop" (embroidery hoop), to hold the fabric taut as you stitch and what not. And you will need embroidery thread. That is what I use.

Next, the amount of time it takes to complete a quilt... ALSO depends on how large it is, how large the quilt will be. ie: king sized bed, or baby blanket size??? If just beginning... I would not make a king sized quilt. It can literally take 1+ YEARS to make it.

And, to make the quilt soft/puffy... you will need to buy "batting." To insert as a layer, between 2 layers of fabric. The 2 layers of fabric being the backside of the quilt, and the other side would be the side that has the design or the "display" side. And, you would then stitch together all 3 layers: the backing fabric, the batting in the middle layer, and the front side.

If you just want to learn how to quilt, before you make an actual "quilt"... the best way would to try and make a quilted pillow first. Or a quilted pot holder or something, using different fabric swatches.
I would NOT personally, make a big bed sized quilt if just starting out or just learning... because, it will take a long time to finish. And if you are a typical busy Mom with more than 1 kid... you won't have a ton of time to devote to it, everyday.
For starting out and beginning learning.. maybe even take a class first... then see if you really really want to make a big quilt. It takes devotion. But is real fun.

good luck, quilting is fun,
Susan

first off , start small and with little or no disruptions. figure out how big or small you want to make it, how many inches across, how many inches long,and do you want it to be long enough to touch the floor when you put it on the bed, or do you want it to just barely hang off the side ? do you want to do a tradtional hand made quilt, which would be all hand sewn, and in what style or fashion; dutch?german? english?american?you will need 100% cotton fabric, no nylon sit down and figure out what you want to do and in what style and size, then do the math( add at least two inches all the way around, when you do), then start looking at fabric and prices(dont buy anything just yet) then call me and or email me and we can go from there.
K. h.

Can't wait to hear some of your responses....I have a box in my closet with all the left-over-legs from my sons' pants that I have cut into shorts thru-out the years...hoping to make them each a cool quilt one day!

My mother made me a quilt. (after YEARS of nagging!!:) She hand sewed some of it, machined some of it. She is retired. It took her the better part of 6 months. You really have to be determined. I would second the motion of the last post to perhaps start out small.
If you are looking to make a heritage quilt, perhaps saving scrapes of clothes and blankets would be ideal. Professional women will do this for you....for a price!!! :)

I can't help with the making/sewing part but I can share with you what I did.

We took the receiving blankets that we used for our sons and used them for the quilt. Every time I look at the quilt, it just makes me smile and my boys have something they can keep.