How to Make a Quilt

Quilts - Wow! That reminds me of my grandmother. Quilting was one of the favorite hobbies of my grandmother other than exhibiting her culinary skills to others, which, for that matter were excellent. Nevertheless, coming back to quilts, they are made through the method of quilting. Now quilting is basically a sewing activity, involving a needle and a thread for joining two or more layers of material together to make a quilt. Generally quilting is carried out with 3 layers, the quilt top, the batting or insulation and then the backing material. Mostly a straight stitch or a running stitch is used to make quilts. If you want to make a quilt, here are some quilt making instructions.

Making a Quilt

• First of all, choose a quilt pattern and preferably choose fabrics that would not fade or shrink. After you do that buy the batting, which is the filler of the quilt. Keep in mind that the thicker it is the warmer the quilt will be.
• Ensure that the batting is atleast 3 to 4 inches bigger to the size of the quilt.
• Follow that up with cutting out the blocks, by going according to the instructions in the pattern. Be sure that you cut the correct number of block in each color or fabric type.
• Now sew the blocks together to form strips. Use a seam margin of half inch. Once you do this, to form the body of the quilt, sew the strips together.
• Now lay the 3 layers of the quilt on each other, with the backing material the last, in the bottom.
• Next, follow with laying the top of the quilt - face down on top of the backing material. Then put the batting material on top.
• Next, sew together the layers around the 3 sides of the quilt completely. On the fourth side, keep a two foot opening.
• Now flip the quilt and complete the edge by hand. For this you would need to turn your quilt inside out, that will actually get the top on the outer side and put the batting in the middle.
• Once you have flipped it to get the layers in proper order, tack by hand for closing the seam. And finally sew the layers.

This was the general process of quilting and how to make a quilt. A type of quilt is patchwork quilt which is made by putting together patches of fabric. Here is how to make a patchwork quilt.

How to Make a Patchwork Quilt
This illustration will explain how to make a four patch block quilt. So here it goes.

• First cut a 6 and a half inch square for making a template for a large square. Now using your rotary cutter and cutting mat, make 50 squares of this size made of various fabrics and different colors and designs.
• Next, prepare 3 and half inch wide strips from several different striped and gingham fabric by a rotary ruler and cutter.
• Sew 2 strips together on the right side together, along the edge which is the longest. Then press the seams on a side.
• Now cut the pieced strips into 3 and half inch wide ones amounting to 98 paired pieces. Press seams on a side.
• Now place two sets of pairs together on the right side. Then sew carefully, making sure that the sides are properly matching. Prepare 49 new blocks using this procedure.
• Now, let the larger squares and the four patch squares be rotated, while sewing the 9 blocks together to create a row. Like that you need 11 rows to finish making the quilt completely.
• Follow this by sewing all the 11 rows together for the quilt top. Make sure that the seams match. Press the seams after you are done.
• Then have the backing and batting larger than the quilt top. Now put the quilt together in layers - backing right side down and batting, and quilt top right side up. Meticulously pin the layers together to the quilt and have a zig zag around edges.
• Crochet cotton tie double knots at alternating blocks for holding quilt layers in place.
• Now complete the edges of the quilt and for getting the ¼ inch wrong sides are together. Now turn over the quilt top confirming that all the edges are covered. Now sew and pin using an invisible stitch.

Now I think you know how to make a quilt and more specifically how to make a patchwork quilt. So what are you waiting for? Go snuggle up in the quilt!

Happy Sleeping!