Yesterday, my friend Mary T. came over to start learning how to quilt. She is interested in learning to hand quilt, so we decided to make a smallish quilt (probably a doll quilt for her granddaughter) and then she can try quilting on it. This is the basic design that she is planning to use. This pattern was created using EQ.
She first picked out a main fabric and then had fun selecting two fabrics of each of the colors to include in the scrap quilt. Here are her final choices….
Next, I showed her how to use a rotary cutter and rulers, and she practiced cutting on some old fabric. Once she figured out how to hold the cutter at the correct angle, she was ready to start cutting the fabrics for her quilt.
We started with the background small squares. She cut 2-1/2 inch strips and then sub-cut them into squares. The only problem that she had was with the long ruler slipping as she cut, so I held the further end in place while she cut.
She next cut the 3-1/4 strips (squares) that were needed for the half-square triangle blocks. I had her cut these much larger than the needed 2-7/8 inch size so that they could be trimmed down to the proper size after being sewed.
While she cut the squares out of the other fabrics, I drew diagonal lines on the background squares. She then put the 3-1/4 inch squares together and sewed along both sides of the drawn line. It was good that we made the squares larger as she messed up on a few of them by sewing much farther than 1/4 inch away from the line. BUT, because we had extra to work with, we were able to trim them down to the correct size.
Her final step at my house was to make one of the modified nine-patch blocks. She has taken the rest home to finish at her leisure.
I think that the colors in the trash can at the end of the day say it best…..it was a bright, fun day of quilting with a friend.
