Wait for a sale on quilt books and buy a couple of easy ones to start with and follow thier instructions. Good luck.

I to am new to quilting, could you please tell me what an awl is, and how you use it. Thankyou

Acquire as you go! Once you have the basics.. take it one step at a time..
ENJOY yourself as you learn. Don't stress over having everything at the beginning.
Buying is part of the fun, for me anyway!

Remember... re-purpose! re-purpose! re-purpose! re-purpose!!!!

If you are starting out in a dining room that has a table / china cabinet / buffet...
Use the table as your work surface. Place the machine at one end and cutting mat at the other.
Use the china cabinet for fabric storage and the buffet for quilting tool storage!

Eventually you'll find what system will work for you.
More than likely, you'll create your own personal system that works best!
HAVE FUN!

ROFLOL>>>>............right!!!!! thats gonna happen !!!!!!

having more than one project going at a time is great....if you have to stop one for a while you can work on the other

and given some time i can think of other excuses for works in progress.......those who know me, know that i just finished a quilt my grandmother started in the 1920's

you are going to have so much fun and it is just beginning !!!!!!

My favorite storage item is the Busy Box from The Container Store. It has several compartments which all lock together and is on wheels. I keep current projects in there while I'm at home, but the great thing is that it's awesome to take all your things with you to a retreat or workshop. It has a handle to pull it by. In fact, I bought a second one just to make it taller. You can connect them together for as tall as you'd like. One of the containers is shallow, so it holds all my tools, patterns, thread, etc. The deepest one holds the fabric and the middle one usually holds my travel iron, small fan, bottle of water, pressing mat, etc. It's a great organizer!

If I were you, I'd find a quilt store with a helpful staff. I would explain I was new to quilting and tell them what size mat and rulers you have. I would ask them if they have a simple beginner's quilt kit and buy that. I would ask them to explain the terminology of the pattern and tell you the tips for making that quilt. After you make your first one, I'd go back to the store with the top of the quilt and ask them to help you find someone to long arm quilt it. And I would then ask them what they thought of your top and where you should go from there. That's how I started and now I have a $10,000 Bernina 830 and a spare room that I call my quilting room that is stuffed with only my quilting supplies. I started at my dining table years ago and now I have everything you could think of for a quilter. Start small. I did a table top quilt so I could see the results fast and decide if I wanted to keep quilting. You probably will. It's so addictive. I suggested buying a kit because finding a pattern and then picking out all the fabric to go with the pattern can be nerve wracking (even now) at first. Good luck. I'm 99% sure you'll love quilting and soon be fantastic at it. Remember, we sew 1/4" seams. That is the most important thing to know. And to cut exactly the correct size of each piece of fabric.

I'm a new quilter. I joined a local quilting guild, which has been wonderful. If one is in your area, you might go visit.

I started just a few years ago. On the dining room table with 1 mat and a rotery cutter. I got my first machine shortly after from Walmart and it snowballed from there. I now have an entire room - and although small I love it! I just got the Accuquilt Go Cutter so I know I have come a long way in just a few years. I remember looking at some of the first magazines I got and just dreaming of something that would actually cut my fabric accurately!

Take your time - get what you need and use your Joanns coupons! The fun about being new is you want/need so many different things - there is always something you want that is not on sale! Often that is the trouble - the coupon is for a regular priced item and we have all that stuff already!

What a fun thread. It brings us all back to the fun and excitement of the beggining. I got so much help and insperation on this board. I also got as many used magazines as I could get my hands on. I got a ton of that stuff from the used bookstore at $0.50 each.

Like others mentioned - don't worry - before long you will have so much you won't know what to do with it!!

But more importantly - HAVE FUN!

Always use joanns cou[pons for rulers and best of luck to you