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 ??? ....