when I'm teaching......

When I'm teaching patchwork and quilting.....

the thing I start with is usually learning how to use a rotary cutter and cutting mat and accurate (ish) piecing.

I've been reminded this most recently when all my classes for the year started last week and I had lots of new students - which is great!

It can seem daunting at first but its not so bad once you get use to it and work out what works best for you.

Every one does things differently

this is how I do it :)

for this project I have cut 30 X 7 inch squares 

Finished quilt size

33 inches X 39.5 inches

perfect for a baby rug

When cutting fabric you should always try to fold fabric selvedge to selvedge. 

1 - I use the grid lines on my cutting mat to help line up my fabric and keep it square and then trim the end to make it a straight edge.

2 & 3 - once I have lined up the fabric and it is trimmed I then measure my width strip that I need - in this case it is 7 inches

4 - I then cut this strip into 7 inch squares

repeat until you have all 30 squares cut

Lay out your squares in your desired layout - in this case I have gone with a random placement of pattern and colour.

Sew the squares into strips and iron the seams. 

I iron my seams open, lots of people iron their seams all sorts of ways - to the side all in one direction, to the dark side etc Its personal preferance. I sew mine open as I find it easier to quilt on my machine and the long arm machine quilter I use prefers it too. 

Once the strips are sewn then sew the strips together

here you have one finished patchwork quilt front!

next steps are 

1 - making a backing

2 - wadding

3 - making a quilt sandwich and basting

4 - machine quilting

Squares are a very versatile shape in quilting and can be very effective in lots of different sizes and colours

Hope that helps some new Quilters

:)

Xx Siobhan