When you’re just starting out it can be easy to feel overwhelmed by the hundreds of terms and techniques you’ll encounter with your first quilt. It’s a confusion that can be compounded by the many ways to accomplish every quilt-making task. Be confident that you’ll discover which quilting methods work best for you as you become more experienced, but getting comfortable with the must-know skills will help you sew accurate quilts on your very first try. You needn’t buy the most expensive fabrics but there’s also no need to waste hours making a quilt with thin fabric that won’t hold up during use and when it is washed. You’ll love the freedom that rotary tools provide, and speedy cutting is a fantastic motivation for continued success. You might think extra pressing will slow you down, but you’ll find that you actually save time when properly pressed quilt blocks fit together just like they should, without grabbing the dreaded seam ripper. It isn’t unusual to see beginning quilters determine border length by measuring along the outside edges of a quilt. If the quilt is skewed, that technique ensures it will remain skewed. Learn how to measure and sew borders that will improve the structure of a quilt. We all make errors, both technical and in our choice of fabrics, but our boo-boos nearly always lead to a better understanding of the quilting process. ‘Mistakes’ are really just learning experiences, so analyze them and tuck that knowledge away for the next project. Your skills will grow with every new quilt you sew.
