good beginner quilt pattern?
 

Hello.. my niece called me yesterday saying that she wants to make her first quilt. :) She has the fabric on order now and she wants me to help her

I am more than happy to help her, but I don't want her to get discouraged either

Any suggestions for a good beginner quilt pattern?

I think the Yellow Brick Road pattern would be good. There aren't any matching seams in it & it's all just rectangles. I've made about 3 like this in the past. Here's a pic of the most recent one. Also, with 2 people working on this quilt it goes really fast. Of course since she's already got fabric on order, this one might not do. It's made from fat quarters.

My first quilt was a pinwheel quilt, but an Irish chain would also be a nice simple pattern.

I would do a brick pattern, like this: http://www.thelinusconnection.org/20...quilt.html?m=1

It showcases fabrics nicely, goes together quickly, and doesn't require any matching of points. You can make the bricks larger or smaller, depending on the scale of her fabric prints and her personal taste.

Does your niece sew now? That would make a difference, I think.

How about rail fence? I do like the YBR and the brick ideas, as they'd go faster and she would likely enjoy the design/placement process. If she ordered a jelly roll, there's always a race.

hugs,
charlotte

I agree on this one. ANd Jenny has other videos that look complex but she makes them so simple.

I would also go with a rail fence or 4 or 9 patches alternating with a solid block.

I agree with Charlotte that it really depends on whether she has any sewing experience. If not, I would definitely stick to a small project (not sure of her age -- if young, maybe a pillow; if adult, placemats or a table runner).

The other thing that I really struggle with as a beginner was precision cutting. I had already been sewing for a while & the 1/4" seams were easy enough, but figuring out how to use a ruler & rotary cutter was a massive challenge. I didn't realize that fact that some of the lines on my ruler were thicker when used one direction vs the other would throw everything off so much. I just started zooming away with strip cutting & strip piecing, and next thing I knew my Irish Chain was a massive disaster. I sorta forced it together, but it was frustrating for me to have all those intersections to fiddle with -- even after having sewn for 25 years and done some minimal piecing on previous (applique-heavy) quilts. Ironically, my first quilt had better points & intersections ... but it was a laser-cut kit from JAF so I started out with properly sized pieces to sew. There is definitely some skill involved in using a rotary cutter & the right ruler can make all the difference.

My first "quilt" was a table runner sampler. I liked that because I got to learn different techniques.

How about irish chain ??? ....

Rail fence.

1) It's easily made with strips to practice her measuring and cutting skills .
2) It'll give her an easy way to practice her 1/4" seams.
3)She can play around with variations without going crazy deciding .
4) No points to match or cut off (so it's forgiving).
5) It goes together quickly. New quilters love the Nearly instant gratification .

Thanks everyone for your suggestions

I love your quilt osewme

She has not sewn since high school in Home Ec. She is now 30.

My first thought was a rail fence - but I am afraid that cutting the strips will lose the pattern on the fabric. Motorcycle fabric

I am going to look at the other suggestions and see how those work for medium to large print fabric

I gave her a link to MSQC on YouTube and told her to check it out

I made quilts for kids and I am going to suggest that she work on one of those small quilts to get her feet wet

2nd Quilt of Kansas Granddaughter
 

My 12 year old granddaughter was here for a week. We completed the quilt with everything but the binding and she helped me iron that before she went all the way back to Kansas. We started the quilting on the machine and she picked out the colors and the design (several times...sigh) and then I finished the rest of the quilting and the binding and sent it out to her the next weekend by USPS. She was thrilled.

The Wickedly Easy Quilt is another top notch beginner's quilt!

I'd wait till I saw the fabric, then decide!

4-patch, 9-patch, roman square, triple rail fence are all great beginner patterns. I would stay clear of triangles for a complete beginner as there are so many things to learn (proper cutting, proper seam allowance, proper pressing, etc)

I've never made one, but what about a Warm Wishes pattern? That would definitely give her space to feature the motorcycle fabric ... of course, it depends on what the other fabrics are. I always think the WW quilts look nicest when there is a dark fabric for the large squares, a medium fabric for the sashing & a light fabric for the interior stripe. Here's an example with Classic Cars fabric as the feature: https://images.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=...132990.jpe&f=1

When I first began quilting, I decided to begin with a small pieced wall hanging. I learned a lot of skills in the process and gained confidence to take on a quilt. I was also able to see a finished product quickly. A table topper would do the same thing. Little chance for discouragement.

I would suggest the Warm Wishes pattern also. It is a pattern that goes together quickly. Here is one of the ones I have made. It is very good when you have a focus fabric you want to use.

Dina

I have to agree with the DNP, as well as YBR. Both are very "forgiving" and it's pretty much impossible to go wrong with either of them.
Except....
Be very stingy with yellow.
Unless your niece loves yellow.

A little yellow goes a LOOOONNNNGGGG way in a quilt. It is worse than kudzu, which pretty much covers all the of the South.

Disappearing 9 Patch is good, easy and looks like you did a lot more work than you actually did. Coconut chips is easy. It's just strips of varying widths sewn together and recut and restitched.

I'd say any pattern without a lot of matching that can be sewn up quickly would be a good for a beginner.

Since your fabric has a large pattern, why not keep it simple and make a whole-cloth quilt? She can outline the images on the fabric and learn how to put a quilt together. She will then know if she wants to take on piecing.

I was in my mid 40s when my mom convinced me to give it a try. I did a 1600 quilt. Very simple. Just 2 1/2 inch strips sewn together. I just used scraps from mom's scrap basket since I had no sewing experience and didn't know if I'd even like quilting.

I agree. Those of us who have taught classes for a long time often see these two patterns as producing good results AND giving great encouragements to beginners. :) This rail fence might be handy for her.

Jan in VA

I have an older friend who is just taking up quilting. She hasn't sewn for many years. She has made 2 quilts using the 10" square blocks in layer cakes and is loving quilting. She can make one in two days. The corners do have to match up, but it's less than a lot of patterns. Another good one is Just Can't Cut it. The only seams you have to match is on the corners of the blocks. A great quilt for a beginner and she can use her motorcycle fabric for the larger focus squares. https://millersdrygoods.com/patterns...t-pattern.html

FYI - You don't really need the pattern. It is easy to figure out if you base it on a 12" finished block. The mixed block is 2 finished 6" square blocks and 3 finished 4x6' blocks. The large block is a 12" finished square.

I used the disappearing 9 patch for my first quilt. It came out ok. I would not suggest that to anyone else for their first. There are easier quilts that look fine for the beginner. There is still lots of matching seams in it. The problem I found with the d9p is that all my squares were different sizes, so, I had to do the squaring up thing. Also, I had planned to have it look like the second top, but it wasn't even enough to do it that way. So, I had to lay it out another way. (The combination of mis-cutting and missing my 1/4 in. seam was the problem.) Not all the seams would nest when I cut and rearranged. Everyone says to press to the dark side, but when you rearrange the blocks, it doesn't always work.

I found it much easier to sash the blocks than do all that cutting and rearranging which is how I did my second quilt, on which I just finished the top. I still spent a lot of time with Mr. Seamripper, but it was easier to fix than when you did it as a disappearing nine patch.
bkay

My first quilt, followed by the top of the second:

Since you don't think A rail fence would work, warm wishes might. Also, go to the Tutorial section on this board and look at the one I posted called 'Five Easy Pieces Charity Quilt' as it is large pieces and no seams to match---great for beginners.

I would definitely recommend Warm Wishes it's easy and comes together quickly.

I would say Disappearing Nine Patch (D9P). Great quilt, easy to make. If she makes all the centers of her 9-patch the same, it makes a great quilt. An easy pattern with a great look. Another option would be to check out pinterest for easy quilts. Have fun!

Quilters cache has some easy blocks. My go to block using 3 or 4 colors is Autumn tints 2. Easy 4 patch and one larger square alternating.

My first quilt was a sampler with six 12" blocks, both appliqué and piecing. I taught myself from a book, so with you as her coach, your niece will be fine. I liked the idea of a sampler as a first quilt because I wasn't making many blocks all the same. There was variety and new things to continually learn. My 1st block was churn dash, 2nd was Ohio star, 3rd was lemoyne star, 4th was dresten plate, ect. Just the classic blocks. I'm sure you could find them at thequilterscache.com.

9 patch with snowball!! My favorite and a standard go-to!
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I am with Tartan-my first bed quilt (I had made two throws) was a disappearing nine patch. It was fun to make and I learned so much. I think it is good to teach your niece to press her seams so they can be matched and locked together because 90% of the patterns do require that basic skill. I loved cutting my strips, assembling my strata, and making my blocks--all essential skills for anyone learning to quilt.

Turning Twenty was an was an easy first, second and third pattern for me, has some larger pieces to showcase her focus fabric.

Thanks everyone!!

AZ Jane I love your quilt

I agree with Charlotte.

I'm with NZ Quilter-my first quilt was a sampler with similar blocks to hers. I didn't want to leasrn easy. I wanted to learn how to piece.[ATTACH=CONFIG]560499[/ATTACH]

I am one of the ladies that makes quilts for "The Linus Connection". Bricks is one of our most popular patterns and very,very simple to make. My version of Bricks: http://tinyurl.com/hwwjkfk
"Wickedly Easy" is another very easy beginner quilt, you need 6 fat quarters. http://www.byannie.com/shop/product/wickedly-easy-quilts/


My version of "Wickedly Easy",http://tinyurl.com/hpgsyry

Sharon in Texas

I would suggest a nine patch design. While that is simple, one can vary the design by using different colors, etc. It is simple enough for her (and if she has ordered her own fabric, she is obviously an adult) without too much frustration.
She could set the blocks on point also and that would be a whole new design. IMYOP, the simpler the better.

Love your quilt, AZ Jane. Looks so much more complicated than it is.