Olivia's Grammy

First give your self permission to makes mistakes. We all do it in order to learn. I've been sewing all my life, quilting seriously for the last 10 years. I even teach quilting classes. BUT the last quilt top I just finished I unsewed three rows. I did not audtion the sashing. It made my beautiful feed sack blocks disappear. I always tell my students to audtion, audtion, audtion. I didn't listen to my teacher self.

elsieirene

Hi LeeAnne
Where did you get your rooster pattern. I have a girlfriend changing her kitchen to roosters.
Thanks much.

shrabar

Hi Welcome to the quilting world, I have been quilting only for a few years. It becomes easier the more you do. If you use a 1/4 " foot your seams will be right . If you don't have a foot get an index card thelines are a 1/4 " line it up next to your needle and put the edge of your block on the line . I hope this helps you. If not you can email me at [email protected]. Shirley

cjaye44

Just keep those practice blocks and the first thing you know, you have enough for a sampler quilt.

weezie

You are absolutely right. Making quilts is not for the faint-hearted! It can be pretty tricky stuff. I need that sort of challenge in my life. Although I've been sewing for more than half a century, each new pattern presents new challenges. I'm so proud of myself when I accomplish a quilting/piecing task to my satisfaction.

Farm Quilter

Yep, quilting is much more difficult then it looks at first! Going slowly and getting your cutting down right and that pesky 1/4" just right will definitely pay off in the end! If you can alter the speed of your sewing machine to a slower speed, you can still put the pedal down but not be going so fast that your seams get messed up.

Chain piecing feels weird at first, but it will save you so much thread, you would not believe! If you have some cut squares by your machine, you can use them for "leaders/enders" by chain sewing them at the end of your chain, stop with the needle down in the square, snip off the rest of your chain - eliminates thread tails and helps to keep your triangle points from disappearing into the needle hole. You get the added benefit of making two-patches to make into anything you'd like.

Also, if you make a sample block out of scraps with every quilt you make, you will quickly have a sampler quilt as a bonus!

mrs. fitz

Talk about feeling dumb, I can't get a picture of the pinwheel. But whatever you're working on for your first, you're doing it right, scrapping along and saving the Moda, and whether you realize it or not you're learning something almost every minute. Hope you learn to love quilting and welcome to this board, you'll love that too.

MadQuilter

I started with a scrap sampler but it had some straight-line patterns for the first few blocks before moving onto triangles and curves.

As for cutting: I thought I had to hold the ruler in the center - press like crazy and give the yardage a rolling whack with the cutter. Instead, I am supposed to hold the lower half of the ruler - firmly - cut just to where my fingers are, walk my hand to the other half of the ruler - pressing firmly and cutting the rest of the yardag.

I think everyone needs to learn what works for them, and making a mistake can be such a wonderful teacher. Even if you want to kick yourself - odds are, you won't repeat that mistake too often. Of course, there will be new ones.

oma66

I just finished a pinwheel design and it seemed to take me forever as I sewed slowly to insure even seam allowances...yeah, right...they still were off a smidgen here and there. I made it for a silent auction at the church and it sold for $350.00 so I suppose one could say it was not too bad.

Rhonda

Try my method of cutting out half square triangles for your pinwheels. you do need to keep your rotary blade close against the template and don't let the template move while you are cutting it out.

http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-37915-1.htm

I have templates I send out free. If this interests you just send me your postal address in a pm.

Half squares triangles(HSTs) and pinwheels can be tricky if you don't start out with a Half square triangles square that is square. Once you learn to make a square HST then you should be able to enjoy the process without the struggle.