Learn To Quilt Online!
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Have you ever had the desire to quilt, but were afraid that the “hobby” was too hard for you? If the answer is, “No”, then this is your day to begin! If the answer is, “YES”, then, well, get over it!!!! |
Quilting is much easier to learn than you would ever imagine. In fact, it is so easy that I learned how to quilt! And believe me, that is quite remarkable because I hate to sew! I fell into quilting literally by accident. You can see how I began by reading my profile here on this site.
There is a beginning tutorial available for you if you are serious about learning. I try to be very careful when writing tutorials so that the audience that is reading/learning/studying the tutorial is able to understand. In this case, the tutorial is pretty much based upon the premise that you know very little (or nothing) about quilting. This tutorial should be enough to get you on the road to quilting, where you can join the millions of us that already addicted!
There are quite a few reasons to learn how to quilt:
- Quilting is fun! It cannot get much simpler than that!
- Quilting is utilitarian. By “utilitarian”, I mean that it is a very practical hobby. There is not a single household in the world that does not have some type of cover/quilt/blanket in it. In fact, your first quilt could be made just for yourself, so that you can practice your newly-found hobby and also so that you have a hand-made quilt.
- Quilting can serve as a source of relaxation. Yes, it is true. Quilting is an excellent way to relieve stress!
- Quilting is an excellent hobby to begin because it gives you a unique way to give gifts to those you care about. Not just a plain, little gift, either. This is a hand-made gift that the recipient (and his/her heirs) will cherish for decades. It does not matter if it is not perfect, either. In fact, 99.9999999999% of quilts are NOT perfect. Each quilt has its very own flaws, which is one aspect that makes the quilts so unique to each individual. You will learn to embrace your uniqueness in quilting and accept it for what it is: Typical and normal.
- Quilting enables you to form friendships with people that you would never have had the honor of meeting, had you not taken up the hobby. Once you begin to quilt, join a local quilting guild or an online quilting forum. You will make new friends, quite a few of which will be in the same boat you are in: A new quilter. Guilds and forums give you many different activities to practice your newly found hobby and to also broaden your horizon and help you figure out what you really love best about quilting. If you had told me years ago that my favorite method of putting a quilt together involved appliqué, I would have laughed. On the other hand, I have found my least favorite method, too: Paper-piecing!
- Quilting can be profitable. You may be thinking, “What?? You have got to be kidding! I’m sitting here thinking, just thinking mind you, about learning to quilt, and this author is already talking about me using my skills (that I haven’t even learned yet) to make money??? Is she nuts?”. Well, am I close to what you might be thinking? If you would have told me 14 years ago that I would be taking orders for commissioned, personally designed quilts, I’d have told you that YOU were nuts. The old adage, “Practice makes perfect”, is really true.
So, what are you waiting for? Begin learning to quilt today! You will enjoy it immensely for the rest of your life… and so will all of those people that receive a quilt made by you.
And if you already quilt, please feel free to share how you got hooked!
Quilting By Design Site Map.
Original article first published on Quilting Passion by Terry Crawford.
quilting, quilts, beginning quilting, quilting tutorial, quilting lessons
April 13th, 2007 at 9:19 am
Another wonderful thing you can do to learn many techniques around quilting is to check out the classes on http://www.quiltuniversity.com.
They don’t cost much; they are taught by professionals in the fields; best of all, you learn right at home and it’s FUN.
Once I began quilting about 3 years ago, I took a class there and was hooked. I’m just finishing up a beading-on-quilts class as we speak.
April 13th, 2007 at 10:09 am
Great idea!!! Sometimes my brain wants to shift into “overload” when I think about everything quilt-related that I would like to do and learn!
April 13th, 2007 at 8:10 pm
Awesome article Terry! I wanted to mention that making baby quilts is a great way to get started in quilting. The expense is minimal, the project is small enough it is easy to handle, and is finished relatively quickly. This way you don’t overwhelm yourself from the get-go.
April 14th, 2007 at 12:56 am
My grandmother quilted and my aunt. At my aunt’s memorial, I walked around the room, looking at many of her beautiful quilts hanging on display and thought to myself, “I can do this!” When I returned home, I bought some fabric and pattern book–a beginner’s book with great pictures, good description, and step-by-step instructions and made quilted pillows for everyone. The next outting I bought a pattern and fabric and have never looked back. What a joy it is to sit and create and release all that positive energy out into the atmosphere!
April 14th, 2007 at 10:58 am
I am agreeing with Valerie………Start small so that you won’t be overwhelmed. A baby quilt is so perfect………then maybe a “lap” quilt. These quilts are small enough to feel the results fairly quickly, they are manageable for the beginning (and experienced) quilter to finish from beginning to end and they are soooooo appreciated by the recipients. Another great way to learn is to join with a group that makes quilts for a hospital or shelter. It is a fun way to make friends while learning the craft and believe me, the acceptance level of work is much less stressful! AND above all, HAVE FUN WITH IT!!!
April 15th, 2007 at 12:13 am
Great article! I consider myself still a newbie because of all the different techniques and patterns to experiment with. I got the bug when I saw a quilt I just had to have! Thank goodness the person that made it said I will teach you….little did she know I didn’t even know how to sew! BTW, I love paper piecing! LOL! =)
April 15th, 2007 at 12:49 pm
Thanks, all!
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In some respects, I still consider myself a newbie. LOL. One of those areas is in paper-piecing. It isn’t that I can’t do it, it’s that I don’t like to. However, when I need a block that requires, I’ll grit my teeth and go for it. Watch this site for an article on paper-piecing this week. I can’t remember off the top of my head what day it’s published, but I think it’s Tuesday.