A friend of mine (male) is a really good crocheter and has made some beautiful things for the house and his wife. He saw my WIPs and now wants me to teach him how to quilt. Where do I start? What's an easy first quilt? I was thinking maybe a D9P? With that he would get the rotary cutting practice, also the piecing and matching seams, and SID work. Maybe use Charms for the 9 patch?

What do you think? I need advice.

Sounds like a good idea. I love it when men do what are traditionally what women do. My dad did all kinds of things. He did even more than my mom. Guess that's where I get my creativity from.

I just finished my very first quilt top and did a 9 patch. It was simple yet I learned sooo much!
hope this helps
Merry Christmas!
David

I always teach a sampler for the beginning class. That way they learn all different techniques. Quilts Quilts Quilts is a great beginning book.

I agree with davidwent. I was taught by an experienced quilter and she began me with the basic nine patch. I learned how to rotary cut, make strip sets and match corners. We also put sashing between the blocks. It turned out adorable, but there are so many basics to learn, don't make the pattern too complicated, or he might get frustrated and never get bitten by the quilting bug. tee hee

I am glad you said a DP9...I am going to use that pattern to teach a class in January...I have been preparing some samples over the holidays to show them how colour and placement of fabric changes the look of the whole quilt, and I am learning too...with this pattern, you can learn measuring, cutting, string piecing, seam pressing, etc, and I even tested to put some sashing in between...

My first (and only) we made an Irish Chain 9 Patch? and it was great too...learned the same things...

Both are good for beginners...

I'm going to use the D9P and the D4P for my beginning classes, too. These patterns are perfect for learning the basics - squaring up fabric, measuring, rotary cutting, using the mat with the ruler, consistent 1/4" seams, pressing and assembling blocks. They're also forgiving and can be easily fudged.

We're going to start with childrens' prints and fluorescent colors so that nobody takes it too seriously or expects a major life's work out of the classes. :)

A D9P has a lot of seam matching for a beginner... JMHO :D:D:D