Tuesday, 3 February 2015

How To Make A Quilt

By Ines Flores


Quilts are one of those few pieces of ancient art and attire that are making a comeback into the fashion and domestic scenes. Since quilts have traversed cultural, ethnic and regional boundaries in the past, they are quickly being taken up by a lot of enthusiasts today. This rising interest has made a lot of people search for ways and procedures on how to make a quilt, as they seek to infuse a bit of their style into this unique item.

The initial steps in quilt making largely involve preparation of the tools and materials needed in the process. The procedure to be followed to achieve the desired result may either be the traditional one which is rather manual, or the newer methods which involve use of more automation by several machines to ease the workload and reduce and time required.

Some of the tools required include a cutting apparatus either rotary cutters, or well sharpened scissors. A comfortable cutting surface and a long enough ruler: about 12 to 30 inches in length, as well as needles, thread, and a sewing machine are also needed. Quality fabric should not be forgotten. A basic pattern guide and batting material, either polyester or cotton, are also needed.

When all required materials are in place, the work on the quilt begins by cutting up the material for the front part. Most designs will make use of shapes usually squares and rectangles. Others such as circles and triangles may be used by the creative daring types. Squares are however easier to sew and create a symmetrical and appealing design with appropriate choice of color.

When all the shapes have been cut out, what follows is to lay out the pieces with guidance from the pattern guide. Sometimes the quilt may be too large for your workspace. In such a case, you may work around this by working row wise or column wise. The laid out pieces are then sewed together. In the case of a big quilt, the rows and columns are also sewn together to complete the front part.

Now that the front part is done, the batting and back need to be prepared. These are simpler to make since they only require appropriate cutting. These are cut slightly wider and longer than the front part. This allows for any space taken up by scrunching of the fabric during final sewing. It also provides a nice border seem layout for the whole design.

Now that the three parts are complete, they are prepared for final sewing. This is achieved by arranging them in their respective orders and holding them together, either by sewing or using an adhesive. The sewing is then done, starting at the middle sections toward the outer regions. Diagonal seams are also made as support, and also to avoid the batting material from moving about. A binding material is then sewn in to give the quilt a finished look.

Making quilts and sewing of different things in general has been deduced to having several therapeutic benefits. In addition to this, other benefits of learning how to make the quilt include making use of extra and unused material laying around. It may also evolve to be a nice hobby as well as a source of joy when the quilt is given as a gift.




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