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Top 10 Tips for New Quilters – Introduction

Posted on: August 12th, 2014 by Lorna McMahon

I spent quite a few hours this past week densely quilting a runner with organic wavy lines.  During these hours, I contemplated how much experience I have gained along the way in my quilting journey.  How many little tips and tricks I have managed to learn.  And I decided there is nothing I wanted more than to pass along those little nuggets of information – to share them with new quilters and even with seasoned quilters.

That’s what quilters do.  We share.  We share tips and tutorials.  We share our experiences – what worked on a project and what we would have liked to do differently.  We share praise and admiration.  We share because we are all part of the most helpful and welcoming online community – the Quilting Community!

 

Introducing a New Series for New Quilters.  Each week I will cover a new topic.  I have added a page tab beneath my header, entitled Top 10 Tips.  And links will be added to this page as posts for each of the following subjects is shared.

Week 1.  Fabric & Thread

Week 2.  Cutting Accuracy

Week 3.  Quick Piecing Techniques

Week 4.  1/4″ Seam

Week 5.  Pressing Seams

Week 6.  Get to know your Machine

Week 7.  The Seam Ripper is your Friend

Week 8.  Borders

Week 9.  Quilting with your Walking Foot

Week 10. Binding by Machine

If you have any tips to share, or if there is anything you would like to see covered in these posts, leave a comment below!  Share what you know… or tell us what you would like to know.

A few words of advice…

To keep it interesting and fun, always be willing to try something new!

Try new things:  Partial Seams, Y Seams, Curved Piecing

Try different methods:  Some will work better for you than others

Practice, practice, practice.  While gaining experience of your own, continue to learn from the experience of others.  There are a lot of good tutorials out there to show you “how to”.  Here is a link to my Tutorials page.  Each time I share a new tutorial, it will be added to this page.

Made a mistake?  Don’t beat yourself up… Count it as experience.  Learn from it.  Keep in mind that the mistake will always be more obvious to you than to anyone else.  And always remember to…

Keep On Quilting On!

 

http://www.bloglovin.com/en/blog/5578781

 

16 Responses

  1. Ruth says:

    Lovely idea Lorna! I have tried partial and curved but have yet to sew a Y seam! I'm surprised by that!

  2. Jessica says:

    This is a fab idea, Lorna!

  3. Wow, thanks for adding this to your blog. I believe we never stop learning and am excited to read your tutorials. Thanks

  4. Marly says:

    Great idea Lorna. I'd like hints on making a Drunkard's Path block using the sewing machine. I've done them by hand but that's so slow, and all those pins …!

  5. Yes…wonderful idea. I'll be peeking in!

  6. Unknown says:

    Great idea! On the FB pages I'm on there are always new quilters and their questions are typically the same…prewash or not….press open, press to the side…..why doesn't my block finish at the size it is supposed to……what is a walking foot…… there are so many women (and some men) teaching themselves these days that a good series of tutorials is always needed. It will be nice to be able to point people to your blog for answers.

  7. Cheryl says:

    What a wonderful idea for a series! I am looking forward to your learnings.

  8. margaret says:

    Lorna this sounds a great idea I am sure I will learn loads, thank you

  9. Lara B. says:

    Lorna, I am very much looking forward to reading what you have to say in your ten tips! \”The seam ripper is your friend\” is of particular interest to me LOL. I love what you wrote about \”that's what quilters do\”!

  10. Sew Jacky O says:

    Great idea as you say what we quilters do best is to share……. Our experience, tips, mistakes, fabric and encouragement. Looking forward to reading on.

  11. Jacqui S. says:

    This is a great idea, thank you Lorna. Machine quilting and tie-ing off the threads, I still haven't really got it.I am looking forward to your series.

  12. Vicki says:

    I am really looking forward to this series! I love learning from my fellow quilters.

  13. Janarama says:

    Measure twice, cut once is a tip new quilters should know and seasoned quilters need to remember. Ask me how I know. : )Looking forward to your tips.

  14. Anonymous says:

    Lorna, what a great idea!! It is always great to read about others' processes and techniques. There is something to learn from each of us. Thank you for taking the time to create these posts. I am looking forward to them. 🙂

  15. Vera says:

    You are always up to something. Your drive is unbeliavable!

  16. CeLynn says:

    A lot of what I have learned in my own sewing experiences has been from reading others posts on quilting/sewing. That is one of the perks of being in such a wonderful sharing community! Looking forward to learning something new.