Before Making Your 1st Quilt, Know This
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Information about 1st quilt making is oftentimes positive and enthusiastic. However, there are a few challenges to be aware of before embarking upon your first project.
#1 Know Your Limits
The overwhelming majority of first time quilters have a domestic sewing machine with a harp space of 6.5 to 7. The small amount of space underneath the sewing machine is fine for piecing. But, it makes quilting the top very difficult. Before a quilt sandwich is quilted, it is temporarily held together by:
But once the quilt gets scrunched into the small harp space of your domestic machines, it’s going to shift regardless of the temporary holding method used. Fabric shifting happens because all 3 layers of the quilt sandwich are bunched up in a very confined space on a standard domestic sewing machine. Fabric shifting leads to fabric puckers and other problems.
However, there are a couple of different ways to handle the fabric shifting problem on your 1st quilt.
- Take the quilt to someone with a long arm and have it quilted professionally. Or, they rent a long arm at a local quilt shop to complete the project.
- Machine quilt in an embroidery hoop with a digital file. For this method, you do multiple hooping’s in order to complete the project. This method is tricky because you have to be able to line up the previous hoop design with the current one.
- Do straight line quilting on your sewing machine. This doesn’t stop puckering but it makes it less of a problem.
- Make the quilt in small sections and sew it all together in the end. While this method does work, please not there will be a seam down the middle where you joined sections together.
- Quilt the entire thing by hand.
#2 Buy Quality Materials
A quilt cannot be made in one single sitting. Instead, many spend months making one single project. Since so much time and effort is put into each project, it is important to select good fabric and thread. The cheaper thread snaps. Therefore, it is important to not go cheap or sub standard on thread. Also, the fabric will make or break your sewing project. Thick and well made cotton fabric will last many years. But, cheap department store quilting cotton becomes threadbare very quickly.
#3 Pre-Wash Your Fabric
It is very important to pre-wash your fabric, especially for those who make quilts with high contrast color pallets. It is important not to skip this step because dark colors can and will bleed onto lighter fabrics.
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