I write many of my own patterns and instruction sheets for the kid’s classes that I teach simply because most project patterns are written for adults – not 9-12 year olds. When I ran the Stitching Stallions maker lab at my previous school, our Friday sewing club members served as my unofficial pattern testers. I was able to tweak designs before teaching classes at Stitch N Quilt or the SQTM.

The students who sew with me in my home studio on a regular basis are referred to as my CraftLAB kiddos. Working with them gives me a really good idea of how long it will take to complete a particular project. They’re scheduled to make the READ pillow around the same time that the kids at the SQTM will in December. Fortunately, one of my CraftLAB kiddos wanted to make the pillow early. I am so glad she did! With everything precut and fused, it still took 90 minutes to complete the pillow and almost as much time to do the applique letters. Yikes! My “pattern tester” definitely informed my decision to contact the SQTM and advise that we needed to revise the schedule by extending the December project into January and rescheduling the January project to a later date. There’s no way I can reasonably expect the 6 students at the SQTM to complete this project in 75-90 minutes. To ensure student success, I’ll modify the project so the girls can cut their own applique letters using the SQTM’s die cut machine and use any extra time for them to make/stuff their own pillow inserts! A win-win because the SQTM has an abundance of polyester fiberfill!

My bee group has several new quilters in our ranks. A couple of them asked about learning the basics for those just starting out. Here are my thoughts:

Machine: (1) Learn to use the one you’ve got. Get out the manual, take a class from a local dealer, visit the manufacturer’s website for tutorial videos or check out sewingmastery.com to see if they’ve done a video series on your particular machine. You can also check out YouTube and search by your machine model. (2) If upgrading, buy one with at least an 8″ throat space. Budget friendlier: Brother PS500 or PS700 can be had for under $700.00 and has straight stitch needle plate option, adjustable foot pressure and scissors function. Baby Lock offers similar machines at similar or slightly higher price points. Pfaff and Janome were frequently mentioned as reliable machines, but come at a higher price point.

Skills:
(1) Master 1/4″ seam and scant 1/4″ seam settings for your machine. Experiment with different feet, thread, needles, tension and stitch width/length settings. Write down the settings that give the best results for your particular machine. (Example: Elnita EC 30: standard 1/4″ foot, 80/12 Microtex needle, Aurifil 50 wt thread, center needle position with 2.0 stitch length. For scant 1/4″ – same settings, except move stitch width 1 click to the right (2 clicks if sewing FG blocks together).

(2) Learn how to use a rotary cutter and ruler accurately. Try out different handles in the store (or at a show) and buy the 45mm version you like best. If you can only get two rulers, start with a 12-1/2″ square and a 6-1/2″ or 8-1/2″ by 24-1/2″ ruler. A 2-1/2″ x 6-1/2″ is also mighty handy, if you can add it to your ruler purchase. Creative Grids rulers are my personal favorite.

(3) Learn how to read quilt and sewing patterns. Always read through the directions 2x before cutting the first piece of fabric.

(4) Learn how to construct the most common quilt block units – half square triangles (HST), hourglass (QST), square-in-a-square (economy block), flying geese (FG), and snowball. Learn at least 2 different methods to make each of these units (except snowball). Make sure you understand the stitch n flip corner method. Once you have these units down, you’ll be able to tackle most any pieced quilt pattern out there.

(5) Learn how to press properly. You don’t need the most expensive iron out there – onee from the big box store will be adequate. A clapper, a bottle of spray starch/Best Press and a pressing cloth will be helpful. The types of sewing you do will determine if it’s worth investing in a sleeve board, tailor’s ham or applique pressing sheets.

First Projects:
For a first quilt project, search out one of these classic designs: (1) rail fence (2) disappearing 4 patch or 9 patch and (3) bricks. Plenty of free tutorials and patterns are out there. Try Pinterest!

Once you are comfortable with simply pieced quilts, up your game by choosing a quilt pattern that incorporates at least one of the common units you learned how to make in step 4. Suggestions: make a sampler quilt through a local quilt shop or an online tutorial series from your favorite designer. Sherri McConnell from A Quilting Life offers a free BOM that starts every January. She’s a former teacher, so her pattern instructions and the accompanying video tutorials are really well done. Missouri Star Quilt Company is known for its weekly quilting tutorials. Fat Quarter Shop offers a ton of free patterns and video tutorials. Moda Fabrics and Riley Blake Designs also offer free patterns and educational video content.

This post only begins to scratch the surface that is the quilting rabbit hole. I started a Quilting 101 Notebook on Pinterest to serve as a reference for my beginning quilter friends.

Like a particular block, but need to make it in a different size?

Already have a pattern similar to one being used in a QAL, but don’t want to buy yet another pattern?

Cast aside your quilty math fears and learn how to resize quilt blocks.

Basic Formula: (desired finished size of block divided by original finished size of block) X 100

This will give you the percentage to multiply the original finished block size by to increase/decrease it to the size you want to make. Want to double the block size? Multiply by 200%. Want to make it half-size? Multiply by 50%. It really is that simple. Here’s a link to a handy chart I found with all of the calculations done for you.

How to adjust cut size measurements: Ignore the seam allowance (1/2″), multiply the original cut measurement by the correct percentage, and then add back the seam allowance to arrive at the new size to cut.

For example, if the 6″ finished block original pattern calls for rectangles to be cut at 2-1/2″ x 4-1/2″:

For 12″ finished block: 2-1/2″ x 4-1/2″ rectangles would now be cut as 4-1/2″ x 8-1/2″ rectangles (enlarge 200%)

For a 3″ finished block: 2-1/2″ x 4-1/2″ rectangle would now be cut as 1-1/2″ x 2-1/2″ rectangles (reduce 50%).

This ratio also works the same if you are using uneven blocks – say 8″x10″ rectangles that you want to change to 4″x5″ rectangles. The pattern written for the 8″x 10″ block can easily be converted to half-size by multiplying the original sizes by 50%.

If you are doing foundation paper piecing or applique shapes and want to resize the original pattern templates, make a copy and change the output size percentage to enlarge/shrink the pattern as needed.

This is my favorite book for most quilty math. If I find a different formula/method I like to use, I merely write it on a sticky note and tape it in the book.