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Old March 4th 04, 01:37 PM
Tia Mary-remove nekoluvr to reply
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From: Patti

...... Try to stick to patterns with squares and/or
rectangles at first. Don't buy expensive fabric until you have a little
experience of cutting (the sewing is often easier than the cutting). ........


To add to what Patti has written -- unless you have a lot of general sewing
experience DO NOT try anything with a bias or diagonal cut when you first start
out. It is tricky dealing with those types of pieces as they tend to get wonky
just looking at them :-)! Anything with a straign cut is good -- 4 patch or 9
patch being some of the easiest.
As for the fabric, again, DO NOT try to work with slithery stuff right away!
Many newbies to quilting who have done some regular sewing often have some of
this in their stash and want to use it up to "practice" on. Don't do it
because it is difficult to deal with. Your best bet is to go with 100% cotton
of a decent quality. It doesn't have to be really expensive when you are just
learning. OTOH, you don't want junky fabric because it won't behave well or
take a nice crease when you go to press your seams.
As others have said, practice, practice, practice!!! The more you do the
better you get. Classes are great too. DO NOT expect your first efforts to be
terribly precise -- you are a beginner and it's to be expected that you won't
be perfect. That's the whole purpose of *learning*.
Try putting together a small quilt top -- maybe 24" square. Then practice
making a quilt sandwich and quilting it. Do you have a kitty or other small
pet? Well, that practice quilt top with it's mis-matched seams, wonky
quilting, etc. will be just perfect for a pet's bed. You get some practice and
the pet gets a new bed cover! If you don't have a pet, then send the piece to
Jill (
http://community-2.webtv.net/critter...itterComforts/ ) who
makes quilts for homeless shelter animals!
Just remember, no matter HOW wonky a finished quilt might be, there is
always someone to love it! Good luck with your learning -- you'll have a great
time I am sure. OH, Debbie -- you forgot to mention a few things! What type
of chocolate do you prefer? Do you have any QI's( Quilt Inspectors of the pet
persuasion)? What part of the world do you live in? CiaoMeow ^;;^
..

PAX, Tia Mary ^;;^ Queen of Kitties
Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about their
WHISKERS!!
Nothing is complete without a few cat hairs!

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