***Quilt At The Beginning *** Class Preparation
Thursday, January 24, 2008

Posted in Thrifty Crafts

Hello Everyone!  I pray you’ve all been enjoying the first month in the New Year?! Have you started any new hobbies for the New Year that you’ve always wanted to do? 

I must say that I’m enjoying Learning the “Quilt from the Beginning Class” here in my hometown at a store called Calico Gals.  We are learning to use tools that are foreign to me that I’ll be discussing in a minute and I’ve had the pleasure of using quite an awesome sewing machine that I was allowed to borrow during the class made by the company Baby Lock.  The machine was SO much easier than the one I bought at Walmart a few years ago.  I had a friend get frustrated trying to feed the bobbin in mine and after an hour of fussing with it, she let me use hers.  Needless to say, the bobbin feed was on top instead of on the side and it also has several types of sewing capabilities not to mention that it feeds itself pretty straight. This new hobby of mine may turn out to be quite an expensive habit if I don’t exert some self-control.

Today I am going to get into preparation and the tools you need to start quilting. It’s amazing how much “out of my comfort-zone” I am.  I’ve only used my sewing machine to make straight stitches for curtains.  Simplistic curtains at that.  So I really baptized myself with fire at this class.  Not only did I NOT know how to quilt, but I barely got by with the sewing machine.  Thing is though, with the Baby Lock machine, I was able to zip on by. It was SO easy that my fear became time of fun. 

The basic and most obvious preparation is SPACE.  You need to find some kind of working space to give yourself or you will find yourself frustrated. The first thing my teacher Nina told me, was that the best way to work with quilting is to make sure you’re organized and have enough space to get everything together that you need, be able to cut your pieces, prepare them for sewing and then piecing your squares together.  It’s like a production line.  The more space you have, the more preparation you can have done before you need to sew.  It’s just that simple.  I’m sure everyone will have their own way of working once you get into it, but for newbies, Nina suggests taking the time to have everything ready ahead of time which is what will help to ensure your quilt is done nicely. If you have a Craft Room that’s awesome, but for most, you’ll find that a dining room or kitchen table will suffice!

TOOLS

Rotary Cutter: To start, you’ll need a 45mm, which is medium size.  First thing Nina taught me was that This is EXTREMELY SHARP!!  Please note that this instrument is an excellent cutting tool that is a round razor blade mounted on a plastic handle.  Mine has a little button on the side that each time I expose the blade, should be pushed to close it again right away or someone…INCLUDING children, could get severely cut.

Rotary Mat:  Should be a Self-healing mat that is used in conjunction with the rotary cutter. I would get a medium or large size as in my own experience thus far, if you have too small of a mat, when you get into bigger projects, you’ll just have to dish out more money for a bigger one.  I like the extra space on my medium.

Rotary Ruler:  Is specially used to again in conjunction with the rotary cutter and mat.  Note:  I bought all three in a package together at Joann Fabrics with the 40percent coupon.  If you can, learn from my mistake.  I bought mine with a grey mat and the lines are black.  It really makes things hard to see when your trying to be very careful at measuring your fabrics to cut.  Nina had a green mat with some really cool rulers.  Some even rotated around for your convenience. 

The Rotary Ruler has 1/8” increments and is marked in both directions. You should start with a 6” x 12” size, which will help when you start measuring your fabric for squares, backing, and batting which I’ll get into in the next segment.

Sharp Scissors: Oh how I learned how nice a good pair of sharp scissors can help when you need to cut batting or anything else for that matter.  Just be careful around children.  It doesn’t really matter the size, but it’s suggested in my book to use four or five inch long Sheers.

Pins: suggested is extra-long, fine glass-head pins which won’t cause distortion in your fabric like most others.

Thread:  Quality Cotton thread for those first starting.  We’ll get into the blends I learned about again in the next segment.

Seam Ripper: good QUALITY seam rippers that aren’t dull.

Iron:  Any kind will do, but it’d be a blessing to have steam iron around.

Sewing Machine:  One in good working condition with variety of stitching options and sharp size 80 needle.  Again, we’ll get into more about needles in the next segment. If you’re in the market for a new sewing machine, my suggestion is making sure you pay for a quality one that will have a bobbin feed from the top and REALLY take the time to feed itself without you having to spend time doing it.  It’s REALLY worth the money!  Baby Lock is expensive, but the warranty is good on it and after borrowing it, I would definitely like one now!!

Well, that’s it for the tools you’ll need to start your project.  One suggestion is I totally recommend the book Nina taught from.  It’s called “Start Quilting 2nd edition with Alex Anderson. It has 6 projects for first time Quilters AND Alex is the Host of Simply Quilts on HGTV.  This book is the easiest I’ve found so far. I actually understood what I was reading and appreciated the author.  Nina definitely taught from an awesome book!

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