Any quilters?

[Apple]

I probably won't wash it then, except maybe the red (if it didn't also have white, I'd worry less).  It's going to be quilted at small enough spacing that the batting should prevent any extra shrinkage.  I'll also toss in a color catcher the first time I wash the full quilt.

Thanks!

[Sharon]

I am absolutely in the camp of pre-wash everything first.  If you are a heavy steam iron user that will also shrink your fabric.  I like to steam the crap out of my blocks so I always pre-wash first.  Depending on what batting I am using I will pre-wash that too.  Sometimes the fat quarters will come out way out of square but if you pull cross corners that will help and sometimes, very rarely, I will either pull a thread and then cut along that line or I will rip the fabric.  Either one of those things will put you back into square.  Most of the time it is not that bad so I don't worry about it.

[Apple]

I haven't been one to use much steam, but I haven't been ironing for quilts yet!  I wash pretty much everything but towels/underwear in cold water, so how I wash stuff in the end shouldn't cause much shrinkage there...

This may be my "pot holder test":  Make two potholders, one with pre-washed fabric, one without, but everything else identical (same fabric, pattern, etc).  Then I can decide which I like best as an end result.  Sometimes I hate that I'm so analytical, lol.

Thanks for the advice on the other side of the options!

[Apple]

As for starting...  I'm going to have a smallish "practice sandwich" to get me started, maybe try different techniques to see what I like (hoop, loose-ish, with an "aunt betty"; lap, without a hoop, with and without "aunt betty"; hoop on a stand, with and without "aunt betty"...)  I'm hoping to become proficient with the "aunt betty".  I work in a job where I can get into some nasty stuff (oils, carbon dust, asbestos, sewage, etc), so the more I can reduce finger pricks (aka "open wounds"), the better. 

For after the test piece, I found some kid material I'll do up to get my hand quilting down.  It will be about 36" x 44" to make it a reasonable size.  I found this fabric recently...




The green fabric was found at St Vincent de Paul for $1, but is only about 2 feet long (by 44").  I went to Joanne's that night and found the blue cars and chevron fabrics in the remnant section.  The chevron is a full yard, so it will be my backing (I prefer patterned material for a backing, or a solid non-white color).  Then I have almost a full yard of the blue vehicles/bear fabric.  I'll put a 6 inch strip on the top and bottom of the green fabric to get the 36 x 44 size, and then possibly use it for my binding.  I could also practice some applique by cutting out a car and stitching it to the road.  I'll just save the extra for the scrap pile.  Or... I could make little "stuffed cars" by cutting out some vehicles and they could go with the blanket to play with--maybe make a pocket on the quilt or a carry-bag to store them.  Including the batting, the project will have cost $10 (and a lot of time!), but I hope it will be priceless to some little kid

This will make it so I don't have to piece right away and can get confident on my quilting stitches  There are straight lines and curved areas to quilt, so I can practice all of that as well.  I'd like to wait on my larger/nicer quilt, to get my stitching more even, but I want to work on something fun and productive soon!

[Apple]

People need to start having babies, I am falling in love with some of the quilt patterns I'm finding!

[Apple]

I had to wash some of the red fabric so I could use it as a lining for a cow tote I'm making, and it didn't bleed in the sink at all, so that's promising!  I did add a little vinegar to the water though.

[Apple]

I want to make one like this too, there was a bunch of grey fabrics in remnants and bargain bin.  It's so cute! I'd do other animals though, I know owls are "in" right now, but they remind me so much of the '70s...  (frogs, elephants, giraffes, etc)



So simple, and if I decided to do the sewing with a machine (it would be easier with the long strips), it would go pretty fast.  I could even do it as a "quilt as you go" setup so I wouldn't have to sew everything and then quilt it...  

[Apple]

Finally started hand piecing a practice square, and I'm doing better than I thought I would with keeping my stitches even!  I do need to find the right needle for me though, this one the eye is too big and hard to pull through (I left my needles at work, but hopefully I have the right ones there).

Where do you buy your 50 wt cotton thread for piecing (if you do?)  The Jinny Beyers book mentions using Conso thread, but I'm not finding a good source for that, at 50 wt, online.  She says it's good thread and inexpensive, so that would be nice, but again, just not finding it.

I've bought YLI and another brand at Joanne Fabrics for the quilting portion, but it's too thick for the piecing.

[Blonde Granny]

I don't want to seem uppity, but I spent over $9K for my Bernina 830LE.  I only use Gutterman thread in my machine, including for machine quilting.  I've tried other brands, and quickly determined that if my Bernina liked Gutterman, that was what I was going to use.  For my machine embroidery I only use Isacord.

I buy the Gutterman when it's on sale @ 40-50% off.  In the long run, the better then fabric and the better the thread, you projects will turn out much better.  That's not to say at times I don't turn to Coats and Clark for some projects, but if I am taking the time to do things right or it's a gift to someone, I use the best.

[Apple]

I'll see if I can find that.  I agree that the better "ingredients" the better the outcome.  I want my quilts to be well loved and well used, so the more ideas I have of what is out there and good, the better.

My mom doesn't like coats and clark for machine sewing because she said it leaves too much lint, but she'll use it when she needs to.

[Blonde Granny]

Another quilting trick my SIL told me (and I still do it) I usually use grey thread when making a quilt.  It blends with almost any colors in the fabric and the stitches then don't show.  Of course when actually quilting it all together you might want the stitching to show and become decorative, but for the actual sewing the pieces together, grey works best.

[Sharon]

My go to thread brand is "Mettler".  That is what I started using when I upgraded to "better" thread and I stuck with it.  It works really well in my machine.  I will also second the use of gray thread, although for actually piecing I usually use white thread.  No particular reason, just because.

Sometimes when doing hand applique I will also use silk thread.  It is very fine and will disappear (stitches be almost invisible).