Karen Lincoln asked:


Quilting has been an age old tradition. In days gone by, women used to gather around and do quilting work together. This was quite exciting for them, as they would get to meet one another, as well as do things that they enjoy together. Quilting has also passed down to generations, and is still carried out by many. Quilters love to spend their time, sewing and patching different pieces of fabrics together and seeing their designs taking shape.

In the olden days, quilts were made by hand, as no machines were available then, and this was quite a time consuming process. If the quilt was small, then it would not take much time. However for larger quilts, time taken to complete was much longer, and these were quite tough to handle. Can you picture, a group of women, all sitting together, making a large quilt, and constantly having to get up and move, in order to cover each part of the quilt. Sounds tiresome doesn’t it?

Thanks to technology, all this has changed. Though there are many, who still prefer to make hand made quilts. Nowadays, you have machines to help you with your quilting. These days, women don’t have the patience, nor the time to sit and hand make quilts, more so if its a large quilt. In today’s age, you’ll find mostly machine made quilts, as hand made quilts have become extremely rare. Machines make the quilting process much quicker, and a lot easier. You can either use a regular sewing machine, which has quilting capabilities or you can use a long arm quilting machine, which is exclusively meant for quilting.

The long arm quilting machine is extremely popular. These machines are specifically meant for quilting larger quilts. Its arm is around 18 inches. These machines are electronic, and make the process of quilting rather quick, as it covers a wider area in a short span of time. Moreover, its much more comfortable as you don’t have to keep getting up and changing your position or the quilt’s position. This long arm machine makes the quilting process much more efficient, and is time saving as well. You can now make a quilt with a long arm quilting machine in a short period of time, and with not too much of effort.

A regular sewing machine can also be used for your quilting purpose. However the main draw back with a regular machine is that, its arm is just seven inches in length. And so the person who’s making the quilt, can focus only on a portion of the quilt, at a time. Moreover, you have to keep shifting your position, along with the quilt, so that it fits into the sewing machine. This lands up being as uncomfortable and uneasy as making your quilts with hand, where you have to keep moving.

You can purchase a long arm quilting machine at various prices. The difference in prices is mainly due to the quality of the machine. Machines of well known brands, are naturally much more higher than the lesser known brands. It all depends on you, your budget and how much your going to be using your long arm quilting machine. You rather spend a little more than compromise on quality. Alternatively you can wait for sales or discounts.



Jerry

Karen Lincoln asked:


Quilting, like painting is a wonderful art. It is similar to painting in the sense that paints and brushes are replaced by threads and needles. Paper is replaced by fabrics. Quilts were traditionally made by hand, but not with the advent of sewing quilting machines, many prefer to use machines. This is because, machines make quilting work easier, faster and not to mention a lot neater. You have the option of using an ordinary sewing machine which has quilting capabilities or you can use a machine that is specifically designed for quilting.

Small patches of different fabrics are used to make quilts, though you can use the same fabric as well. It’s really interesting and can be likened to working on a jig saw puzzle. Only difference is, in a quilt you need to stitch up the entire thing. Quilting as a craft has been around since many years. Some quilts are passed down to generations, and there are many happy memories associated with these quilts.

If you’re a beginner and your interested in quilting, you can start off by using two or more different fabrics. Basically, you should start collecting left over fabrics or materials that has remained from previous stitching. Once you’ve collected these, you can then start by sewing all of these together. You should be able to use the sewing machine quite adeptly. It’s advisable that you practice using the sewing machine, as much as you can, as handling the machine while quilting is no easy task. You could also create designs of the quilt. Start with simple, basic designs, and then once you have enough experience, you can move to more complex designs. The Internet has a number of sites where you’ll be able to get some free quilting designs. If these seem too complicated, you can just get some ideas and create your own unique designs.

Quilt designs need creativity, so make sure you gear up all your creativity while your quilting. You can create various designs on a quilt, it could be floral designs, geometrical patterns, landscapes, plaids etc. Basically, the choice is so much, you can choose whatever design you think you could work with. If you’re new to quilting or quilting designs, you can try out mini or miniature quilts with easy designs. There’s no hard and fast rule that it has to be a large quilt. Once you gain experience, you can move to larger quilts. It’s basically up to you, and what your comfortable with.

Once you decide on a design, the next step is to draw it on a fabric and cut it out. Place these cut out designs on the quilt in the way that you want it to. Mark these designs using pins on the quilt, or you could also run a needle (without a thread) around the designs. This creates an impression of dotted marks, which will then make the quilting process much easier.

You can choose from an extensive range of colors to make your quilt. Generally a single color is not used for a quilt. Multiple colors are used, which make the quilt attractive and unique. Choosing colors may seem simple, but its important that you choose the color after giving it some consideration. Think of the colors of your bedroom and what would blend in. You can also think of cool and soothing color tones. For a guest room, a brighter color will work great, as they can enjoy your handiwork.

People generally design a quilt on a certain theme. Quilting the theme is the toughest part though. The designs have to fit into the main theme that you have chosen. For example, if your making a quilt for a baby, you can use common things that are attractive to babies such as toys, animals, alphabets etc. Also since it’s a baby, choose the color wisely. Don’t choose dark colors, but go for soft baby colors such as light pink, light blue, light yellow etc.



Anita