Welcome!
It is time to get started with our ‘Dream to Achieve’ Quiltalong Preparation.
MATERIALS LIST
This will make one quilt that will be approximately 60″ x 90″
To make the quilt you will need the following:
0.5m of each of 4 fabrics – the ones going across the quilt – you can see that I have repeated each one Of course you can use a different fabric for each one, 0.25m of each
0.5m of a feature fabric – this will be cut in half and joined to make the long strip running the length of the quilt. It is important to think about this as it will be turned sideways to the other fabrics. So does it have a print that can be turned on its side and can the print be easily joined? (take a look at the quilt and notice that it looks like one piece because I was able to join the pattern well)
1.25m for the sashing – black
0.5m for the binding – I chose to use black for the binding as well.
I will chat about backing and wadding further down the track.
It would be easier for you if you have a rotary cutter, self healing mat and quilting rulers – I will chat on as if you do BUT if you don’t, don’t panic because you can certainly do it all with tape measure and scissors! You will find some useful tips here [1] !
I will be sewing along with you and this time I will be using this fabric:
Galaxy by Sue Penn for Fine Lines
You will see that this is an ongoing debate with quilters – some do wash, some don’t. I do – I always have and guess I always will.
Main areas of contention appear to be:
Why wash?
Shrinking
Dye Run
Remove sizing (chemicals)
Why not wash?
Good quality quilting fabrics don’t shrink or colour run
Easier to cut accurately
You can pop a colour catcher in when washing the finished quilt
Now some of the worst fabric that I have experienced came from a reputable Quilting Store, I have never had a problem cutting and aside from the ironing 🙁 I don’t find it a hassle to wash. As fabric comes into my house, it is washed before being added to the stash so it is ready when I am.
So the answer is: It is a personal choice – make it wisely and be prepared for any outcome! (bit like life!! lol)
NOTE: You don’t try to wash pre-cuts like charm squares, jelly rolls or you will end up with a tangled, fraying mess
2. Cut your fabrics
You can’t assume that all fabric has been properly cut. It is often rolled crookedly onto the bolt and if a tweak diagonally doesn’t fix it, we have to trim!
This is why I have given approximate sizes for the quilt – you may not end up with the full amount when you trim although most fabric sellers do cut that extra bit larger!
Don’t worry if your piece ends up being narrower – the beauty of this quilt is that it won’t really matter. Instead see it for what it is – a learning experience.
This is one of my pieces. You can see that it is at least 1 cm off straight, and of course that means that underneath on the other end is short the same amount. This is just one of the little ‘delights’ of quilting! You will see this piece again further down the page.
(a) Straighten the edges: I have set my fabric piece so that the fold is going along the bottom line to show you how ‘not straight’ this piece is. If you follow the edge up the green board you can see how much it varies.
To straighten this, I take the folded edge at the bottom and fold it up to the top to make it half as wide. When you do this be sure to smooth it all out to avoid s bends in your cut!
Using your ruler to keep square, trim the sides and the piece is now 19″ wide
Do this for each piece of fabric and measure each when done. Depending on how much you had to trim each one, the final measurements will vary. For example, this is another of my strips that you saw earlier:
You can see that I do not have 19″ in this piece and so I decided that I would cut ALL of my strips at 9″
(b) Cut off the Selvedges:
The Selvedge is the (often)white strip down the side of the fabric width
This side is obvious 
but this side as not so obvious.
You need to cut BOTH sides off by squaring off from your newly straightened edges
(c) Cut your strips
So with the fabric double folded as before, measure 9″ and cut and then another 9″ and cut. You will now have two strips, width of fabric, 9″ wide.
Continue that process for all of your strips.
(d) Cut the Sashing:
The sashing is the smaller black stripes in the quilt. You will follow the same process to straighten, remove selvedges and trim these strips to 2.5″.
You should end up with:
10 pieces 9″ wide and
8 pieces 2.5′ wide
4. Please, please just ask if you need any help – there is a contact form at the top of the Blog page or ask on the FB page
5. Share your photo, join the chat and be in the running for a prize!!
Don’t forget to share a photo here in the Flickr group [2] and/or here on our FB page [3]
Until next time
Nanny xx