How to start quilting without making mistakes

No matter how many years you have been quilting, you’re bound to have moments where your quilting goes astray. But don’t worry! Even the most accomplished quilters make mistakes. We’ve put together a list of ways you can avoid the pain of an unpicking nightmare.

Common quilting mistakes and how to avoid them

Ever heard the saying, ‘we learn best from our own mistakes?’ While undoubtedly true, sometimes it’s nice to learn from others instead. So, we thought we’d share a few of our favourites. Whether you’re a beginner or well-versed in quilting, we hope you find something that helps you along your way.

The importance of pre-washing, starching, and pressing quilting fabric

Once you’ve purchased your quilting fabric from a fabric store, the first step to successful quilting is remembering to press, pre-wash, and starch your quilting fabric. This may appear time-consuming and feel like a waste of time, but believe me, it can be especially helpful when piecing patchwork blocks. A stiff piece of quilting fabric increases the accuracy of the piecing, ensuring the quilting fabric does not easily distort during the process.

Remember to square up blocks before assembling them into the quilt top

When it comes to sewing patchwork blocks, you will possibly end up with patchwork panels in different sizes. If you are following a quilting pattern that advises you to square up the blocks and make them a specific size, make sure you remember to do this. Otherwise, think twice before proceeding to chop off your blocks. But don’t worry about being too particular. If the difference between your quilting blocks is not too much. Then it is OK to have blocks of different sizes! You just don’t want the discrepancy to be noticeably different. If you are following a quilting pattern, and it fails to mention how to join blocks of different sizes, our top tip is to use lots of pins. Match the corners first, then any intersection points, before spacing the extra length evenly.

Adding a border to a quilt top

Sometimes, a quilting pattern may not give specific instructions on how to create the perfect border. While it might just be tempting to cut a long strip of quilting fabric and sew it to your quilt top, we urge you to err on the side of caution. It may seem like the quickest way to go about it, but it’s not always the most accurate way to add borders to your quilting. The best way to calculate the length of the borders is by measuring the top vertically, the left and right edges, and through the centre. Average the measurements and use that size to cut the vertical borders. Add them to the quilt top. Finally, measure the top horizontally, the top and bottom edges, and through the centre. Use the average size and cut the horizontal border. It’s as simple as that!

Are you looking to stock up on quilting patterns and fabrics?

At Fifi’s Fabricology, we are your ultimate quilt store! Stocking a huge range of quilting fabrics and quilting patterns, we also regularly host quilting workshops. We know all there is to know about quilting. Looking for a particular quilting product? Give us a call on (07) 55 20 3609. If we don’t already have it in stock, we’ll do our best to order it in. You can find our fantastic product range online.