I’ve been spending quite a lot of time quilting lately, and I’m really enjoying it! There is something so satisfying about choosing fabrics, playing with colours and shapes, and slowly seeing a pattern come together.
And quilting can be so many different things. It doesn’t have to mean making a huge bed throw. You can start small, try out the techniques and make something that is both fun to sew and actually useful.
So, what is quilting?
If you’re new to quilting, there are a few different steps involved.
First, you create the quilt top by sewing pieces of fabric together. This is called piecing, and it can be anything from a very simple design to a much more detailed pattern.
Then you add batting and backing fabric to create a quilt sandwich (yes, that’s actually what it’s called!). The three layers are stitched together with quilting stitches, and this is where the project really starts to come to life.
You can quilt simple straight lines, follow the shapes in your patchwork or create completely different patterns with your stitches. There are so many possibilities!
Start small!
If the thought of making an entire quilt feels a little overwhelming, you definitely don’t have to start there. For beginners, I definitely recommend to start with smaller projects: bags, cushions, pouches, placemats, pot holders… Basically, you can create your own quilted fabric first and then turn it into something else.
And smaller projects are a great way to play around with different colours, patterns and quilting stitches without committing to a huge project.
I made a quilted laptop case
One of my latest projects is this quilted laptop case, which I improvised along the way.
I really like using quilting for projects like this. The batting gives the fabric a lovely structure (and extra protection for the laptop too), while the wavy quilt stitches makes even a fairly simple project much more interesting.
And it’s a very manageable project if you just want to have some fun with quilting without making a whole quilt.
Once the quilting is finished, you basically have your own piece of quilted fabric that you can turn into whatever you like. I think that opens up so many fun possibilities!
Want to learn quilting?
I’ve also just added a brand-new quilting course to Threads+!
If quilting is new to you, this is a great place to start. We go through the process step by step: choosing materials and tools, cutting your fabric, piecing the quilt top, making the quilt sandwich and, of course, the actual quilting.
My hope is that after the course you’ll understand the basics and feel ready to start experimenting and creating your own quilted projects. Follow along with my and quilt a pot holder with the classic Log Cabin quilt pattern (included in the course!).
And if you’ve already done some quilting, you might pick up a few new tips and ideas along the way too.
And there’s more quilting to come…
I’ve definitely caught the quilting bug, so this won’t be the last quilting content you’ll see from me! There are more quilting courses coming to Threads+ this autumn, along with plenty of new projects and inspiration.
So maybe it’s time to dig through your fabric stash, find a few fabrics that look lovely together and start playing. A quilt, a bag, a cushion… or perhaps a laptop case? Let’s see where the fabric takes us!
