Posted in Quilting
Kris asked me to blog about Quilting - mmm what to blog about???I thought I would begin a Beginners Block of the Month for beginners. PLUS try & make it a frugal Block of the Month.
Hobbies can be expensive but they don't have to be THAT expensive.
You will need material. 100% cotton is best. There are plenty of shops that have sales & even on line shops with great bargains. - look in op shops, garage sales, scrap bins of friends who quilt or do dressmaking. As long as it is 100% cotton. Don't buy or use polyester fabric it is not as hard wearing and it's hard to work with.
You will need approx. 1 metre of material for your background fabric. Then about 8 fat quarters
I remember the feeling of what to buy?? If you have no fabric & are starting out here's a few tips. Oh I also feel strongly - don't give your kids yucky bits of material to begin with - they will not love the finished result as much. It is worth letting them having some nice fabric - you too mums!
Colours fall into these categories.
Pastel - soft, baby, feminine, sweet. - suit backgrounds of white or cream
Light Dusky tea stain, hazy, desert, patina suit backgrounds of cream, light grey, Taupe
Dusky Old, foggy, storm, worn suit backgrounds of cream, medium grey, taupe.
Dark Dusky antique, moody, Victorian, Rembrandt suit backgrounds of black, dark grey
Jewel Tones Mardi Gras, fireworks, dramatic, neon lights. suit backgrounds of black
So when you are choosing your fabric for a quilt keep to one category.
The next thing to think of when buying fabric is light, medium & darks. you need a mix.
Plus scale - do not buy all your fabric the same scale eg look out for geometric patterns, checks, & stripes bring interesting dimensions to your quilt.
Another tip I learnt is to keep away from plain coloured fabric. Whit & Cream are fine, but colours look better if tone on tone ie material which is one colour but has some pattern or dye interest.
Another tip I learned & Personally love is each quilt is to have a small amount of yellow in it - it just seems to make the quilts sing. - But if you don't like yellow don't buy any.
Have fun shopping for your material.
Following quilting beginners block of month will be about:
tools of the trade,
preparing your material,
block of the month pattern,
Cutting your block
keeping scraps of material from your cutting
sewing your block
Ironing your block
Storing your block
Let me know if you want to join in.
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Posted by Anonymous
Caro with her litter,we always have a litter of kittens in our home! 
Some of our Sheep & this years lambs; won’t tell you which are going in pot
