cricket_iscute

You have received great advice from everyone, and I agree with all of it. In addition to cutting and sewing accurately, the one thing that will help a lot is to either ALWAYS hold your thread tails at the start of a seam or put four stitches in a scrap of fabric, leave it attached, sew on air for one stitch, and then start your seam.

Join a guild, hang out at the quilt shop, and find a quilting buddy that is more experienced than you. I have 24 years of quilt-making experience and I wish you were close as I would gladly take you under my wing. (I'm in Western Mass/Northern Connecticut should anyone be interested.)

MargeD

Besides going on the Quilting Board, where the quilters are the best, try to take a quilting class, don't expect perfection the first time out (I still have a problem with that from time to time), get good tools, rotary cutter, mat, ruler - 6"12" to start and try to maintain a 1/4" seam. Most of all just have fun, jump in and get your feet wet. I was mostly a self-taught quilter in the beginning, then I took a quilt class, joined a quilting guild and took as many classes as I could afford, you'll always learn something you didn't know before. Good luck and enjoy the process and the journey.

HouseDragon

Pre-wash your fabrics so you won't be heartbroken when you wash your first quilt. Yes, that happened to me after finishing my first quilt which was made in a year-long sampler class at a LQS in CA. This was a loooong time ago when quilts were hand-sewn and hand-quilted. I never made another quilt until quilting arrived at the modern age of rotary cutters, sewing machine sewn seams, and machine quilting. Haven't stopped since.

Buy good equipment. Wonky rotary cutters, non-self-healing cutting mats, and dull scissors will make your life harder.

Take a class at your LQS if at all possible. Keep coming to the Quilting Board and never be afraid to ask a "stupid" question: I can guarantee someone else has the same problem.

Most important: Have fun!

Morag

Accurate measurements !!!!!

Sheilz

For me the most important lesson was to measure twice and maybe twice again before cutting. When I first sat at my sewing machine, my sister advised me not to worry about the quarter inch seams or slightly off cutting as it would all disappear in the quilt. After having to remedy the inbuilt errors this slapdash approach creates I opted to be very careful with the basics. I find that when I've been ultra careful the progress of the quilt flows more naturally. I gave my sis a right telling off for having been a bad teacher !

alisonrose

I love this thread! *Following along and taking notes*

Mousie

the one thing I learned that made all the diffence and most ppl might say, "duh", was that more important than the size of my seam allowances, was the size of the block itself.
I was always cutting out a block and then marking the 1/4" seam allowance with a mechanical pencil for the thinnest line I could get.
When I learned to measure for the "finished" block and then put the seam lines there, then I was getting accuracy.
I know, it may sound simple, or to some complicated, but it made all the difference between my feeling I was stumbling along, and I now actually becoming a quilter

Grandma Cindy

Do one complete block before cutting up all your fabric into pieces. If the contrast is too low you will know before cutting up all those yards of fabric...ask me how I know?

Mousie

ohhh, good tip!

margecam52

start with a "no brainer" project (single Irish Chain is a good one). The nine patch block is easy to do.

When doing your first quilt, make a template that has NO seam allowances...trace onto the back of the fabric...leaving at least 1/2" between pieces...which becomes your seam allowance. You sew on the lines you drew. This will help you have success with your first quilt.