Originally Posted by ohmisslizzie

Wow what a great post! As a beginner quilter, (who really cant figure out where to start), this post has given me sooo much insight of what to think about before picking out fabrics and who I am going to give them to, I am picky and havent completed my first because I can not decide how to quilt it, I found an easy tutorial for a very beginner quilt but the thought I am putting behind the fabrics for each inividual is very extreme and even after picking my fabrics the placement of them is also something that I am spending alot of time on, I was planning on trying to learn the stitch in the ditch technique but love the look of the hand quilting. I am just concerned about the time, especially as I am not into wall hangings, the quilts I want to make would only be given to very close family and friends. I have already selected in my mind who will appreciate and who will not, its not so much how they are used for me- I want them to be loved and used but would be sad to learn that they were stuck in a closet or under a car tire...but would not mind if ones animals who already slept with them were allowed to sleep on them, I want them to be used. They will end up being very expensive as I lean towards the organic, and designer fabrics, I just love them, so 7-13 dollars a yard- and I am terrible with wasting fabrics, I need to learn better rotary cutting skills, I guess I will have lots of scraps to make those scrappy strip quilts when I get more experience at least, just sad to waste!! Anyway thanks soooo much for all this insight, it has been a great read and given me even more to think about, when you do the picnic quilts do you ever think about using the wipable material for the bottoms, I dunno I would not want to make it look cheap but that sounds like a possible way that you could just wipe down?? I love my fabrics though- then they can take a nap with it too! but that would be good for making baby activity mats, using the soft plastic foam then covering it with the quilt top and batting for extra softness, I need to get my first quilt done before I think about all that ;) ;)