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If you’re a beginning quilter, you’ve likely experienced a wide range of emotions ranging from fear to frustration while creating your quilting projects. That can have quite a dramatic effect on your motivation and cause you to give up on whatever it is you are trying to create.
Well, don’t worry. We’ve asked our Facebook community to give us their best quilting tips for beginning quilters. Below are their top 5 quilting tips to motivate and encourage you, so you’ll be comfortable out there in the wonderful world of quilting. Follow these quilting tips and you’ll go from a beginning quilter to a skilled one in no time! Just ask Jenny Diehl from our Customer Service Department. Here she is showing off one of her first quilts made with the AccuQuilt Tumbler Die.
1. Take a beginning quilting class at your local quilt shop.
Most quilt shops offer classes specifically for beginners. You can learn all the basics firsthand, from what supplies and tools you need and how to use them, to putting together all the parts of your quilt sandwich to finish your project. If you learn best by in-person instruction where you can ask questions and get hands-on help, a quilting class would be the best place for you to start. AccuQuilt has a wonderful network of Signature Dealers offering classes. You can find a list here.
2. Watch video tutorials from instructors like Eleanor Burns or choose from the hundreds of videos at AccuQuilt.
If you are not able to attend a class at a quilt shop, or if you prefer to learn from the comfort of your home, online video tutorials are another great way for beginning quilters to study the basics and complete a project. The biggest benefit of choosing online videos for learning is the flexibility it offers. You can pick and choose videos that highlight exactly what element you want to learn about, you can pause and come back to it later, and even watch them over and over again!
3. Start with a small project to build your confidence.
Starting something new often requires just taking the first step. Making a small project that you can accomplish in a short amount of time is a great place to start. Try to select simple shapes and patterns when tackling your first few quilting projects. Squares, rectangles and strips are going to be much easier to line up and sew together than more difficult shapes like triangles or diamonds. Additionally, a smaller-sized project like a pillow, wall hanging or table runner are great options for first projects because they won’t be too overwhelming or take too much time to complete. There are so many wonderful FREE patterns on our website that are perfect for beginner projects!
4. Choose colors and fabric that you like and will enjoy working with.
Once you have chosen a simple pattern, buy all of your fabrics you’ll need to complete that pattern at your local quilt shop. Ask the professionals at the quilt shop for help in choosing the perfect fabrics for your project. 100 percent cotton is most popular for quilting and is the easiest to work with. Plus, there are many, many color and pattern options to choose from. Be sure to look for colors and patterns that work well together, but also has some contrast (lights and darks, purples and yellows, etc.), so you can see your quilt block pattern when your quilt is finished. Lastly, be sure to buy a little extra so you don’t run out. You can always use it to make a scrappy quilt later!
5. And last, but certainly not least, get started with the Ready. Set. GO! Ultimate Fabric Cutting System to get the most accurate and perfect cuts!
The Ready. Set. GO! Ultimate Fabric Cutting System is perfect for beginning quilters and those new to AccuQuilt! It includes everything you need to get started...just add you! This system is designed to save you time and money by including all of the must-haves in one set. You get more than 15 items including the GO! Fabric Cutter, 8” GO! Qube Mix & Match Block, 2 ½” GO! Strip Cutter, the cutting mats you need, plus 70 FREE patterns!
A big “Thank you” to our AccuQuilt Facebook family for sharing your expertise and giving much-needed quilting tips to beginning quilters everywhere. Now, let’s start quilting!
Do you have any favorite quilting blogs for beginners or quilting tips? If so, leave them in the comments.
Why Quilters Love GO! Fabric Cutters
The GO! Qube - Just Add Fabric™
The GO! Qube Mix & Match 9" Block includes eight GO! Dies, a 6" x 6" cutting mat, an instructional DVD, PLUS a FREE 20-page pattern booklet which includes 14 Mix & Match block patterns.
The GO! Qube includes eight dies, each labeled with a number. The included patterns tell you which die number to use for each shape. This is the same numbering system in the Eleanor Burns GO! Sampler Pattern Book and the 72 Block Mix & Match System.
GO! Dies included (with quilt shape number)
- GO! Square-5" (4 1/2" Finished)
- GO! Square-2 3/4" (2 1/4" Finished)
- GO! Half Square Triangle-4 1/2" Finished Square
- GO! Quarter Square Triangle-4 1/2" Finished Square
- GO! Half Square Triangle-2 1/4" Finished Square
- GO! Square on Point-3 11/16" (3 3/16" Finished)
- GO! Parallelogram 45°-2 15/16" x 3 7/8" Sides (2 1/4" x 3 3/16" Finished)
- GO! Rectangle-2 3/4" x 5" (2 1/4" x 4 1/2" Finished)
