Patterns for New Quilter, that has never sewed
 

I need your advice, my friend wants to learn to quilt. I thought I might start her out on a lap quilt. Thing is she has never sewed. I guess first I'll have to show her about the sewing machine.
What pattern would be good to start with, no triangles, please.

I was thinking the same thing with my best friend. I came up maybe with Warm Wishes or Falling charms. I am not sure if D9P is good for a beginner since she bought some charm packs at MSQC.

For learning how to sew - my suggestions:

Basic instructions on how to thread and run the machine, for starters.

Then a fairly easy project - and potholders is NOT on my list.

A pillow case
Pajama pants
Place mats
Table runner
Tote bag

Do you know what her expecations are?
Her aptitude?

I would have to say nine patch or rail fence are great ones to start on. My first was a nine patch. You might consider looking for websites that are for beginners. Not just quilts but sewing. Tutorials for learning the machine etc.

I would go with a rail fence. Sew all the stratas, then measure the widths. If her seams are not consistent, you can either trim them all to the same width or unsew any that are way too narrow. Use this same measurement to cut the blocks and she will be working with squares for the final assembly.

I would suggest a simple rail fence, with just a three strip block. This would only entail sewing three WOF strips of fabric together, then cross cutting into blocks and sewing the blocks together. If you used 3 1/2" wide WOF strips, the blocks would be crosscut at 9 1/2" to finish at 9" square, and a nice lap quilt size would be 5 blocks wide and 6 blocks long, only 30 blocks. I make some like these for charity and they go together really fast.

I had my 4H girls each do a 9 patch then sew them together for a donation quilt. They did fine with that. We also did one, I don't remember the name, a rectangle maybe 2.5 x 6.5 sewed onto a 6.5 sq. These are sewn into vertical strips. These are then laid every other direction. We only used 2 colors but I have seen all the squares 1 color and all the rectangle scrappy. Clear as mud? Sorry.

excellent advice... i vote for rail fence, too. it was one of my first attempts

There's nothing wrong with squares for a first project. I started my 4-H girls out on stitching 6 1/2" squares together to make a lap sized quilt. When trying to learn to sew straight, maintain a 1/4" seam and get the rows to line up, there is enough learning going on without adding any additional complications. We did Rail Fence as a second project.

I would try to find a pattern that doesn't require matching seams. A brick fence type pattern comes to mind. A pillow case would be a good first project. It would teach her stitching a straight line to begin with. Also, all the patterns that Jenny Doan shows on YouTube are fairly simple to do. I believe that a useable finished product would encourage a beginner to continue with a new wonderful hobby.
Sue