How to Quilt?

Do you know how to quilt, or are you looking to learn? Quilting can be so much fun. Quilting can be a very relaxing and rewarding hobby, or it can even become a well-paying career, depending on your skill level.
Quilting is actually an art form, and some of the quilts that people make today are beautiful enough to rival any art that is hanging in the finest museum, anywhere in the world. The process of quilting is somewhat straightforward, however. Let’s look at the mechanics of quilting and how to quilt using different methods.

How to Quilt by Hand or Machine

When you first learn how to quilt, you will need to determine if you want to do a lot of the work by hand, or if you want to use a sewing machine to help you put together the pieces of your quilt. Hand quilting can be quite time-consumptive, but the results that you achieve can be so delicate and eye-catching that many people only use hand quilting to make quilts. It will take much longer to make a quilt if you make it by hand, but the added time and effort also make the quilt much more valuable than a machine stitched quilt. Nonetheless, many people lack the time to invest in quilting an entire quilt top by hand.

Creating a Quilt Top

Once you have decided whether to use the hand quilting method or to use a sewing machine to create your quilt, you can begin working to create a quilt top. A quilt top can be made from quilt blocks that you cut out yourself or that you purchase already cut. If you cut the quilt blocks yourself, you will need a pattern to go by, and you can use fabric of your choice – including scrap fabrics. When creating your quilt top, it is always a good idea to press the seams of the quilt blocks. This will help the quilt to lie flat when it is actually being quilted. Once you have the pattern for your quilt ready, and your blocks either cut or purchased, you can begin to stitch them together by aligning the seam and either sewing them together by hand or using a sewing machine.

Adding Batting and Backing

After your entire quilt top is finished, it is time to add the part of the quilt that no one will see – the batting. The batting is simply the middle part of the quilt, and is the part that of the quilt that is largely responsible for giving the quilt its bulk and softness. Most people choose cotton batting. If you want an extra thick quilt, simply add more layers of batting. You can find batting in various thicknesses, so compare them when deciding how thick to make your quilt. Choosing the backing is the next step. The backing of your quilt is the underside and is rarely ever seen, but most people choose to use a solid color that coordinates with the quilt pattern on the front, or to use a plain white backing. Some quilters use muslin, but others use a flat bed sheet in the size of the quilt that they are making.

Putting it All Together

Once you have the quilt top, batting, and backing, it is time to put your quilt together, which is a big part of the process of learning how to quilt. Quilting the layers together is what makes the quilt an actual quilt, and usually involves stitching around the individual blocks, or stitching a particular design all over

the quilt. At this point, you can choose to either quilt the quilt by hand, or you can use a large quilting machine to quilt it for you quickly. Many crafters offer machine quilting from their small businesses or homes, and this is a wonderful way to turn your homespun and homemade quilt into a masterpiece.