Mimi Sews

I think you have received some great advice. I just wanted to say hello and welcome. I'm glad you decided to follow in your mom's footsteps.

GailG

Welcome to the board. What a wonderful way to use your time and energy while you are healing! Your mom must be smiling!

Dina

Welcome, I think you are in the right place! You want fabric that is 100% cotton. If you are playing around online, check out some of the free quilt patterns. Order some fabric, and then go for it. It is a great hobby and I hope you love it! I haven't looked, but there are probably some videos on "learning to quilt" too. Just google and see what you learn.

Dina

cjsews

if you are starting with squares, I suggest 5 inch squares. These are called charm packs. They come in precut coordinating fabrics. Most quilters will use 100% cotton. As mentioned MSQC has wonderful fabrics and tutes. Some of the less expensive online shops are Connecting Threads, Whittles. Others will have their favorite shops to add to this. Welcome and enjoy yourself.

dtdthornton

I browse and purchase quilting fabric on Amazon. The nice thing is they have "packs" of precut fabric, like 5" squares. I've been very pleased with the quality of the fabric. Usually I get the ones that come from "Hancock's of Paducah" or Fabric.com. (These are some of the vendors on Amazon.).

welcome to the world of quilting!

Thanks Lori,
This is a big help. I am feeling more confident now. I have just been worried that I make a quilt and after a few washes it turns to a ball of thred. I quess I should ask is there any fabric or fabric shop I should stay away from. I am sure that most of my questions would be those of a beginer and the answers are found here in the arcives and on You Tube. Thanks again to everyone.

PS. this is the first Board I ever joined. It kinda feels like I am part of a team or club. Feels Good.

Dan

Maureen NJ

Welcome! I love Hancock's of Paducah and the Country Store (Intercourse, PA) for online fabric. I also like Craftsy kits and I recommend checking out their classes. They also have free classes. I do also like the MSQC site but find the fabric.com site too large. 100% cotton is the way to go. There are several great manufacturers - Moda, Robert Kaufman, free spirit, windham, among others. Good luck. Your Mom must be looking down from heaven and smiling!

sewbizgirl

100% cotton for quilts, and be sure to take a 1/4" seam and keep the edges lined up so you are sewing 1/4" from both sides of the seam. Other than that, it's hard to mess up a quilt! Just enjoy and be happy. Glad you are following your urge to quilt. It is so wonderful and makes lots of people very happy! Hope you will be one of them.

NJ Quilter

Welcome from NJ. This board is a great resource. I will second Maureen NJ's suggestion of Old Country Store in Intercourse, PA. They carry many manufacturer's fabrics but all of high quality and very reasonable prices. You'll find that quilting patterns are all based on 1/4" seams. Some refer to a 'scant' 1/4" (a few threads less than the full 1/4").

I'm a believer in just jumping in. I would suggest looking at Quilterscache.com for some pattern ideas. I also do not believe you need a 'stash' to quilt. I buy for each project. I may buy a bit over to compensate for booboos but that's about it. I know my tastes change with time. Plus there's the whole 'how much do I buy' when you have no specific pattern in mind. Then you find a pattern you love and decide fabric A would look great but you need 3 yards and you only have 1 on hand.

Find a pattern that you like, purchase the required fabrics for it and dive in. I also second buying your tools (cutting mat; rotary cutter; rulers) at JoAnn's fabric with a coupon. Sign up online for coupons and you'll get at least 1 email per day with deals. Online ordering is very easy.

So what kind of leatherwork do you do? Sounds interesting.

mamagrande

You can order from Marshalls, I would start with a 3 fabric 6" squares arranged diagonally.

My only recommendation would be
1. precise cutting
2. even stitching of your 1/4 inch seam, if you measure 1/4 in and place a tape on your machine to guide you.

anyway, that's how I learned and when I don't have a 1/4 inch foot, I still use the tape method even after many years.

joe'smom

I guess we probably all have our favorite on-line shops. I don't think you can top Fabric Shack. First of all, you can buy as small an amount as 1/8 yd. Then, their website is quick and very easy to use, and they have a huge selection of fabric. Their shipping is the most reasonable I know of, and they are quick to ship.

http://www.fabricshack.com/cgi-bin/Store/store.cgi