Your first Quilt

Quilter's Newsletter Magazine - May 1984 - Issue 162

"A first quilt is a very special quilt. It introduces you to the wonderful world of quilt making where you will find many unexpected pleasures and satisfactions. It gives you a great feeling of accomplishment when you take that last stitch to know that you have produced something with your own hands and heart that is both useful and beautiful. And it offers a benchmark from which you can record your progress in future years. Every quilter looks back fondly at a first quilt - often in surprise at how beautifully it turned out for the work of a beginner.

There are many pretty quilt designs that will give the beginning quilt maker a chance to learn new skills. But, how do you choose? Let's look at some of the things that can make a difference in wether you enjoy making your first quilt or you find it such a chore that you give up before finishing it. If you choose wisely, you'll enjoy the first quilt and many more to come.

Part of the choice will depend upon the sewing skills that you already have. At this point you shouldn't have any preconceived notions about machine work versus hand work. Either is okay, if it is what you like to do. If you have used a sewing machine and feel comfortable making clothing or other household items, why not piece a quilt on the machine too? You'll find that the piecing goes more quickly and can be done just as precisely as hand work. If you already use your machine to do embroidery on clothing or in other craft projects, you'll find machine appliqué a breeze.

On the other hand, if you don't have a sewing machine, or if you are looking for handwork that you can do while waiting in the doctor's office or when you wish to relax, you'll think that hand piecing or hand appliquéing is just right. You can perfect your skills by either method with a bit of perseverance.

The size of the quilt can also influence how much you enjoy your first quilting project. Your feeling of accomplishment can be enjoyed much sooner if you can see a finished product quickly, so this is not the time to begin a quilt for a king-size bed. Perhaps you'll choose to make a wall quilt because it can be as small as you wish, and you will see results right away to give you positive feelings. Some quilters start out with a patchwork block or two, and make them into pillows, or combine them into a sampler quilt that can be used as a reference later on when doing other projects. If you do choose to make a bed quilt, try to make it a morderate-sized one with no more than 500-800 pieces. You don't want to bite off more than you can comfortably chew the first time and get discouraged about the whole experience."

I love reading these advice as I feel as if time has no influence on quilt making, reading this you would not think it is almost 40 years old.

Do you remember your first quilt, mine started with a cross stitch design that I made and that I turned into a quilt, I didn't use quilt fabric to make, it was made out of pieces of old pillow cases and upholstery fabric, none of the fabric had the same weight as I had coton and linen. 

The quilt on the picture is it, the design are all the initials of my family and some square have cross stitch flowers. My quilt had a lot of success when it came out in 2007. Can't believe it has been 13 years!!

Have a nice week.

Emmanuelle