nwmud

Hi,

I have spent time looking for a quilt for my wife for a long time. We have a beautiful double wedding ring hanging above our bed that her great grandmother made. We both love older things. we evn live in a house built in 1910. I do not sew well, but I have been sewing by hand for over 40 years. Its something my mother taught me - she said every man should know some basic things like how to mend things.

Here is my goal....
I would like to make my wife a twin size quilt in her favorite colors of red. I figured I am going to have questions - and I do not plan to let her know what i am doing. I am hoping you all will help guide me through the threads and fabric of my project.

my idea is to make 8 inch squares and make a 2 inch border on the outside. To make an overall size of 68 x 92.
Now do i make the squares first,
then sew them together
add the outer edge
add the filler and backing
then start the wonderful paterns in the over all quilt to hold it all in place??

please advise.

Ritch

Tartan

Welcome from Ontario, Canada. Yes you can hand sew squares of red fabric together and then sew on borders to make your quilt top. If hand sewing quilts was good enough for our ancestors, you can hand piece and quilt your quilt by hand. You might like to view the many quilt tops done by Jenny Doan for the Missouri Star Quilt co. on youtube. She uses a machine but it will help you to see the process of making a quilt top.

orangeroom

Welcome Ritch! I think it would be very nice of you to make your dw (dear wife) a quilt. Most here use 100% cotton fabric. Some wash and dry prior to piecing (the actual act of sewing fabric pieces together). Others don't. If you want the quilt to have a wrinkled look, then you may not want to wash the fabric before cutting it up. If there will be lighter colors in it (mixed with the red), then I suggest you wash and dry first. That (hopefully) will prevent any bleeding of the red onto the lighter colors in her quilt. Hopefully I haven't totally confused you already. Do you have a date in mind of when you want to present this quilt to her? That may speed up your whole process. Good luck, at any rate and welcome to the qb (quilting board).

Misty's Mom

Welcome from Spring, Texas

omacookie

Welcome from Louisiana, and Good Luck. She will really be surprised. Hugs

tessagin

What a fantastic idea! hey my boys both took an easy credit (home Ec) in high school a long time ago. They can do anything except give birth. LOL! They gave me 4 GDs. There are tutorials on making quilts on YOuTube. Just look up the pattern (Google). You can get instructions for the different patterns. One of your best friends will be a rotary cutter and cutting mat. WalMart sells beginners kits. have fun and good luck!

kiffie2413

Hi and welcome from Texas! What a thoughtful thing for you to do for your wife. I am a mostly self taught quilter, my grandma showed my by hand way back when I was little. A few years back I took it up again, and also learned by machine.
In addition to lots of helpful advice here, I would also do a google search...there are a lot of good articles for newbie quilters..Also Amazon has many great books tailored for quilters of all skill levels.
Here are a couple of links..I also buy books used, you can get some great deals:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...ing%20quilting

Link to google search articles for beginners:
https://www.google.com/search?q=help...l=np&source=hp
In the search box here on QB you can type in help for beginning quilter, or words to that effect, it will bring up lots of helpful posts. You can also ask any questions you may have. There are no stupid questions! We were all beginners at one time..and many of us still are!
Good luck, and please post pics of your progress!
K

jbj137

Welcom Ritch.
You sound like a very caring person.
Good luck with the quilt.

Lovequilting22

Yes, that is how I learned! . She a good teacher. (Jenny Doan)

Lovequilting22

And welcome aboard!