MadQuilter

Yes, but you don't need to spend your money. Everything you ever wanted to know about quilting can be learned/found here.

butterflywing

guess why?

Oklahoma Suzie

Sandy1951

Yes, there is! :D I've read a lot of the books for beginning quilters, but I haven't read "Quilting for Dummies." I saw it at the library, but it didn't have enough pictures to satisfy me. I can recommend:

"Quilter's Academy Vol. 1: Freshman Year" by Harriet Hargrave I haven't actually read this yet, but I've read Harriet's other books and she's excellent. Someone else on the QB bought this and recommended it, too.

"The Quilting Bible" created by the editors of Creative Publishing International
I bought this book after getting it out from the library because it has a LOT of pictures and I thought it was one of the most understandable books for a beginner. The quilts included aren't especially pretty, but there are other projects besides quilts such as table runners, a quilted jacket, a quilted vest, a sleeping bag, a baby bunting, and a couple of tote bags. I didn't buy it for the projects though, but to learn the basics of quilting.

"Your First Quilt Book (or it should be!)" by Carol Doak This one is also good.

If you go to Amazon and pull up any of these books, Amazon will recommend similar books and you can browse to your heart's content to see which ones might be best for you. I like it when they let you "look inside the book." I used Amazon to figure out which books I thought would be good, then I got them from my library.

There's a wealth of knowledge on the QB, of course, as well as other internet sites. Even so, I'm the type of person who likes to hold a book and read, especially when there are lots of pictures when reading about something like learning to quilt. I think a book makes it easier, especially when I need to read a section over and over to completely understand it. :roll: I also tend to get distracted when I'm trying to learn how to do something while online, it's too easy to click the links and go somewhere else.

Naturalmama

You know, I actually do already have a couple of quilting books :oops: , but it's still kind of a foreign language to me. I keep trying to tell myself that it's just like my journey into soapmaking - in the beginning it was all foreign - and even scary! Now it's old hat. So I know I need to jump in to start to fully understand what's what. But right now, I'm having trouble figuring out how exactly to do that! Besides growing a fabric stash I mean - I've already been starting that! :lol:

And as far as the cornerstones, my heart is kinda set on that splash of color mixed in the black. I even picked out a brightly colored/matching fabric to do the binding with. I guess I just need a "step 1" "step 2" etc - more than what I've seen in the quilting books I have. I will just do more searching here - and then asking!

Thanks for all your help - you have all been great!

Carol W

Personally, I wash all fabric first. If you are giving an I Spy quilt to a child, you would want all the chemicals and sizing washed out before they use it.

deranged_damsel

if you decided to use the corner blocks ( I think they are WAY cute) then how I would recomend stitching them together is blocks at a time and not strips. strips are harder to get lined up and more of a pain to unpick! even with the sashing it can be difficult to line up!

take your Ispy square and sew a black strip to it, then take your corner square and sew it to the end of another black strip. then sew the small square/strip to the top of the large square/strip.

do this with each Ispy block, lay them out to make sure your pattern matches up ok, then sew two together, then two more, then those two to make four, and so on... you will need to sew more on at some point for one side and the bottom, but that will be easier after you start getting the hang of how they need to go together.

at least thats how I do it, I hope it makes sense.

Elisabrat

There is a quilting for dummies book but its so much better to come here and get real advice from REAL quilters!! And fun too! I never wash my quality fabric prior to quilting and never ever small pieces. They would be a huge mess after they got out of the machine.

littlehud

I usually don't wash first. After the quilt is done I wash and I love the crinkly look of the quilt.

Naturalmama

Thank you Deranged Damsel - I printed that off. It actually clicked in my brain, although I'm sure once I start that I will have more questions.