Hi everyone

I have decided thanks to my friend to make a "Practice Quilt" first before I actually start making a bigger one. It is going to be a small Quilt and I mean Small.

I am using the material that I already have. I cut out Triangles and than I'm sewing them together to make Blocks. The colors won't exactly match up with one another but that is okay too. I may end up buying some material through Connecting Friends too.

Now granted this is not going to be a Perfect Quilt since this is the first time I have ever made one.

I need to make one first as a practice piece before I make a 12 x 12 or 24 x 24 size quilt. The only part that I'm having trouble with is my cutting due to the material wants to move even when I have my hands on the material. I'm going have to practice that more I guess.

I took pictures of my blocks so I am going to upload them to my Blog in a little bit and I will post them on here too.

Now granted my sewing isn't the best neither is my cutting at this time so please forgive me. This is just a practice one okay. In Due Time I'm sure I will get much better.

I think I'm going to put a strip in between each set of blocks too.

Thanks for reading this and for looking at my Practice Squares.

Hi Beginner,
I don't see anything wrong with your blocks that a little pressing, and squaring up won't correct, it's the same for everyone.
Good Job!

I think they look fine. Square them up and they will be great. Keep it up.

Looks great to me!
Like the others said...pressing and squaring and they will look fine.
I also have that fabric or I did have it. Might have given it away, not sure.

Thanks everyone for your encouragement...this really helps me especially since I'm just learning to quilt.

I'll keep practicing...LOL....

Be careful working with the bias edges as they tend to stretch. You're very smart to start with fabric in your own stash rather than buying some. Good luck - and Connecting Threads is my favorite online quilt shop!

Thank you for that tip....

I need to cut out more squares yet and I'm just using what I have from my own Stash...the colors won't match too well but who cares..it's just a practice quilt.

I have enough material to use for my squares but when it comes to the backing/binding than I will need to buy more material.

This is going to be a small one.

I've been practicing cutting out material and squaring everything up. I find that cutting out squares is much easier for me than cutting out triangles but I don't have a small Triangle ruler yet either...I have a big one but not a small one. I need to get more rulers.

I love cutting out squares...they are fun to cut out and you can do so much with them too.

I love being creative and coming up with my own ideas.

I'll keep posting pictures of my "Practice Quilt" as I put it together and cut out the squares, iron them and so forth.

Thanks for all of your help so far. It is very much appreciative...I will have lots of questions as I make this "Practice Quilt".

Some rectangular rulers have diagonal lines you can use to make triangles.

You have wonderful enthusiasm. Can't wait to see more pictures of your project!

Thank you :)

Are you teaching yourself?

I think you might have an easier time if you could see someone demonstrate rotary cutting, maybe at a local quilt shop. They can explain about how length vs. width vs. diagonal has different stretchability even within the same fabric.

Also, it's very helpful to have your fabirc ironed before you sew it, and then after sewing each seam.

If I'm telling you things you're already aware of, sorry. I tried quilting on my own once, long ago. Then I took a short class last summer, and it helped tremendously.

Thank you for your help...I'm having a friend that lives not too far from me is going to help me out. I also belong to two Quilting Groups in my town too.

There is no Quilt Shop in my town and I don't think there is a Quilt Shop in the Big City either which is a good hour from where I live at.

I am doing this slowly so I don't make a mistake and so that is why I joined this board so I could get my questions answered.

I love your enthusiasm..It will carry you a long way! Practice is all you need. Your first blocks are not bad...just a little "wonky." Ricky Timms got famous with his wonky quilting.. :D
Ditter

Well since that picture was posted I have squared them off and cut them into a smaller size square. They look so much better now than they did in that picture.

I didn't know anything about squaring them off until somebody mentioned it and so that is what I did.

Thanks Ditter...you made me laugh about Willy the Wonky... :)

I meant to say Ricky Timms...not Wonky Quilt...I was think of Willy the Wonky when you mentioned about Ricky's Wonky Quilts. I'm not wide awake yet. It is early yet and I haven't had my coffee yet either. :)

Hi, and welcome from Oklahoma. Great practice squares.

Looks like you are off to a good start with lots of enthusiasm.

Another tip for you. When you are making half square triangle blocks (we call those HSTs) it is so much easier if you lay two squares of fabric right sides together (RST), draw a diagonal line across the back of one square, stitch a 1/4" seam on either side of that line, then rotary on the line. When you open your fabric, you have made 2 squares with each side being a triangle. There are formulas to know what size to cut your squares to make different size blocks. This is so much easier to do than cutting and sewing 2 triangles together!

Here is a tutorial online that may help illustrate what I am talking about. http://quilting.about.com/od/quickpi...squaretria.htm

Good luck! You will be an expert in no time!

Thank you....they are much smaller now too. I got them squared off and they look so much better. I have started to put them together tonight.

That's the best way, friends and quilting groups!

Thank you for that Tip about the HST....I was wondering how a person made those.

Thank you all for giving me Tips and so forth. They do come in handy especially when you never made one before. :)

We all have to start somewhere and you're off to a good start. There's so many wonderful quilters on this board and they're all so willing to help with any questions, I can't begin to tell you how much I've learned in the last couple of months!

Thank you.... :)

I think you are doing a great job!!! :D:D:D

Thank you :)

Starting with practice stuff is just how I started. I made doll quilts for my daughter and baby quilts. Then I bought a red, white, and blue panel to practice adding bigger borders and quilting. Step by step... you are on your way!!

Thank you so much... :)