I have been making baby quilts for a while (recently gained the confidence to try other things) and now my friend wants to learn.
We found some "sale" fabric and I told her I would teach her by making a "quilt for kids" I also ordered their "kit" to go along with them.
I do have enough confidence to know that mine will be nice enough to donate....but I have never seen any of her sewing.

My thought is we can just work through them side-by-side each step together. Anything she needs I should be able to help her with.

Any other advice for teaching someone who has never quilted?

Measure twice, cut once (smile).

Has your friend sewn before? Does she/he know how to use the sewing machine comfortably? Knowing this for starters may help you know where to start with your information. Have fun! I loved sharing with my good buddy and daughter!

LOL...
That is my motto for life... my dad taught me that....I even have a silver tape measure with that engraved on it.

Nice, straight, accurate cuts remove so much frustration.

She says she is comfortable with her machine, but has just never quilted. So we will see. Hopefully it will be more fun.

Everything is better with a friend. This friend is also in my knitting/crochet group.

How wonderful. If she knows her machine you'll have such fun. Trust your instincts and take it slowly. Good luck and happy teaching.

Yes, I would say just have her follow what you are doing and explain every step as you do it; answer all her questions, and just go a little slower than you would if you were by yourself. And just be patient. Good luck and enjoy the process!

Patience...lots and lots of patience. We all started somewhere. But, most of all, relax and have fun. And don't forget to introduce her to the infamous "seam ripper"

Just one word of advice about having her use a "Quilts for Kids" kit. I have been quilting off/on for 20ish years and am comfortable with my machine. I just finished my first kit from QFK and was a little disappointed in the kit. It is wonderful that they provide these kits for free and a great charity, so please don't misinterpret this criticism. That being said - these kits are pre-cut by someone else. I found inaccuracies in the cutting. The large focus squares were not all uniform in size and the long strips were cut somewhat wavy which made for inaccurate piecing on the 4 patch squares. You may do better to use the kit yourself(since you have experience and can more easily deal with these issues) and help her do the cutting for a matching quilt from your stash. Hope someof this info is helpful for you. Good luck to your friend on her start to becoming a "quilt addict"!!

Yep.....this is the basis of it! I am teaching HS girls, and boy - I am exhausted by the end of the class, but they are soooo proud that it makes it worthwhile.

Rotary cutting safety, new quilters do not understand how sharp they are, someone here on the board just posted the other day she cut the tip off her finger, so even experienced quilter have mishaps!

The motto of the day 'RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER', saves a lot of ripping

Just have fun and don't be too picky.

For the stash fabric, starching & pressing.

Careful with the rotary cutter.

Accurate cutting. There is more fudge factor in other types of sewing. 1/4 inch isn't as forgiving as 5/8 is.

Measure and mark the 1/4 inch on the sewing machine for her. Garment construction is different & we are taught to watch the markings on the plate to the right of the needle to maintain seam allowance. Quilters watch the foot (if they have a 1/4 inch foot) or make a 1/4 inch seam stopper in front of the foot.

Press to the dark. Another difference in garment construction is they normally press open or serge seams together.

The above list were the "culture shock" issues for me when I started quilting. I'm sure there were others but those were my big issues.

I like to have fun when I piece, not fight the fabric. So teaching her accurate cutting (which sounds like you already do) and sewing an accurate 1/4" seam would be my priorities. Taking a few minutes at the beginning to figure out where a 1/4 inch is on her machine, and encouraging her to maintain it will save loads of frustration. Oh, and how to press, not iron, having said all that I would not worry too much if some points don't match!

This is such a good thing you are doing. My suggestion is to her get a good handle on the basics and explaing the "whys" as well as the "hows". Why we us a 1/4 inch seam allowance, why we don't use the selvage, why we use a shorter stitch length and things of that sort.

Exactly what I was thinking.

when I teach someone sewing or painting I make sure they have a notebook they can write in so they can refer back to it if they are alone and have questions I also sometimes do easy printouts of steps on my printer that way they have pics to look at too nothing fancy just a little bit of help because when you are learning you are under pressure and you sometimes forget directions and different steps in the process

Ditto Just to add practice cutting 1.5 in by 3.5 strips. Then sew them together they should be 3.5 by 3.5 if they are not do until they are. Practice on small then you are ready for the other fabric. Learning is the fun.

Try the tube quilting method. That is a great way to start and it is easy and makes the process much quicker. I have used this on Quilts for Kids several times.

patience, patience, patience

That will be fun. Teaching accurate cutting and 1/4 inch seams are most important. If she knows her way around a sewing machine, it shouldn't be too hard. Having a sewing buddy is fun.
Sue

There are 3 thing to master to have your quilts be accurate.
1. cutting accurately, 2. sewing accurately 3. pressing correctly. I do teach this in my classes. In my beginning classes I remind myself just because I know what a common quilting term means someone who is just starting to quilt (even if they have sewn alot) might not know the term, be sure to explain. Hope this helps. Have fun.

Crack open a bottle of wine, it will help ease the tension.

Working with her side by side sounds like fun, but before you start, make the 1st lesson about cutting, sewing straight 1/4" seams, and introducing her to tools of the trade.

Have fun.

That was my first question. If your friend has sewn anything, she'll do just fine. Don't let the word "quilt" scare you or her.

You might even consider getting trial blocks for her to put together also..then make a mug rug with batting, batting, X quilting and binding! Then voila...she's made a quilted "something".... next step...QFK kit!
Go for it.

I can relate-I agreed to teach a couple of local (native) ladies in Vanuatu a couple years ago, not realizing they have never used a sewing machine! We made a VERY simple 4-patch lap quilt, and it took 6 full days to get to the BASTING stage. I also had to teach them math (they learned only metric in school, and how to use a sewing machine. One also had never used an iron before. But, we got thru it with TONS of laughter, and as I have the patience of a Saint when quilting, I felt so good when BOTH ladies informed me they enjoyed it so much, they actually wanted to buy a machine and rotary mat and cutter and continue! One of the days we had a lady from Australia come and teach us to dye our own fabric, so we started to make a quilt from that fabric for charity. I recently pieced it and hand-quilted it and posted it on the board last week. Unfortunately, one of the ladies passed away last year, so I named the quilt after her. I got alot of pleasure seeing their enthusiasm, and the fact I had never taught before didn't make a bit of difference. No matter what experience, if any, your ladies have had with sewing, it will still be easier than what I went thru, but if they are even half as enthusiastic as my ladies were, it will be all worth it-plus you'll have more quilting buddies!! Good luck!

If she dosen't have the quarter inch quilting foot have her get one and that will help her out. Have her practice on scrap material first to get use to sewing if she hasn't sewen before

Make sure she knows that mistakes are not the end of the world. Most can be easily fixed and if not use it as a learning tool. Good luck. I love teaching quilting only I call it sharing my knowledge.

Have fun - do one step at a time