Originally Posted by JJBlaine

When I decided to make my first quilt, I knew nothing about quilting, knew no one who quilted, and didn't even own a single quilting book. It was also before I had a computer to look things up. Basically I was clueless!

Lesson one: Measure the bed, lol! I happily stitched away, making an enormous quilt that would have puddled on the floor even if I had a California King!

Having sewn clothing for years, I used a 5/8" seam allowance, and, when the pieces didn't fit, I simply eased them together. No amount of starch or steam would ever get the dang thing to lay flat.

I tried to quilt it using 2" thick polyester craft batting, which, of course, wasn't even close to being as wide as the quilt top. I laid a piece of the batting somewhat diagonally, with the backing also skewed, but at an opposite angle, neither of which reached all the way across the width. Basting never even entered my mind.


As if that wasn't enough, I didn't know what a quilting stitch was, so I just started embroidering my way thru this enormous, fat bubbled mess!

Needless to say, it did not take me very long to give up, and not long after, I bought my first quilting book.