If I may make a suggestion, why not start out with an easy wall hanging or pillow cover just to get the hang of cutting, piecing and quilting to make sure you enjoy it, before diving right in and making a bed size quilt. Also, maybe pick up a magazine or two about quilting (there are always quiting magazines sold on ebay, sometimes in a lot of 5 or 10 magazines for a few dollars.)

I am a real believer in reading all I can about a craft or project I want to tackle. I can suggest "Quilters Complete Guide (Fons and Porter) or, as someone else mentioned, "Your First Quilt Book". You can't go wrong with either of these. And you could probably find a used copy of either of these on ebay, too.

I hope you enjoy your new endeavor! It's very addicting!

Hi Becky,

greetings from the Sacramento Vally. I find the book "Quilts. Quilts, Quilts" very useful because it has great instructions and it progresses you from very beginner to more advanced (but manageable) projects.

I used a rail fence as one of my early projects, and I am partial to 4-patch or 9-patch combinations. For your very first quilt, I would recommend to stay away from triangles.

When I first started, I signed up for a sampler class at a local shop. When the teacher told me to make sure and bring my stash, I realized that I had NO stash to bring. Since then THAT problem has been remedied, lol

Hi everyone, wow so much friendly advice. I appreciate everyone's reply.

I am not locked into 10 inch blocks, but I'm looking for something really unintimidating to start with and 10 inch blocks seemed like a good idea. But I am not experienced enough to really know for sure what I want to do at this point, so I will definitely put more stock in the opinions of experienced quilters if anyone has alternate suggestions.

My two year old wants a purple pony quilt and my four year old wants a race car quilt of undetermined color. Most likely red, but it will depend on which race car pattern(s) I choose.

I do have the book "Your first quilt book (or it should be)" but I was put off by all the complicated-looking diagrams and lack of photographs. I am probably being unfair, this was just a first impression and I haven't really sat down to read it yet. Also I don't want to do any shapes other than squares for my first quilt ... I just want it to be really straightforward so I can go from there.

Thank you again ... the "Simple Nine Patch" link does look like a simple one. It's also probably a good idea to do something a little smaller first ... I'll have to put some thought into what.

Becki

Martina, what part of the Sacramento Valley are you in? I am in Rough and Ready, near Grass Valley.

I'm in Elverta, which is just outside of Sacramento. Are you planning to go to the Grass Valley Quilt Show? I am (and so is Mr. Incredible unless he has to work - lol)

My first quilt was eight inch squares. I alternated pink and some princess fabric I had found. It went together fast and I could quilt in the ditch so it was easy to quilt. I made it for my Grand daughter. It was so easy. If I can get it away from her I will post a picture.

Welcome from NE CA. Glad you joined us.

This place is brilliant for advice.

And something else to keep in mind... google is your friend! :-)

There are a LOT of tutorials available on the net and on youtube. Sometimes watching someone helps heaps. And I like books with lots of photos, I want to be able to see what they mean, there's too much room for misinterpretation if you just have to imagine it.

To use up some of my stash, I just did a disappearing nine patch in bright greens and pinks. That thing worked up SO quick you would not believe. I really helped me get good at squaring up blocks too.

Oooh, I didn't know there was going to be a Grass Valley quilt show. When is it? At the fairgrounds? I wonder if I could talk DH into watching the kids or coming with ...