Penny Halgren asked:


ou have never made a quilt, you can start a quilting business.

We’ve been taught all our lives to share – share toys, share money, share food. Why not share your quilting knowledge? You can start a quilting business by sharing what you know about quilting.

You don’t have to be a veteran quilter with 50 years of sewing experience to have sound advice to share, either. If you have quilted for a month, you know more about quilting than someone picking up a needle and thread for the first time. Start a quilting business that teaches basic skills.

Your most basic quilting information could teach some important skills. A lot of wannabe quilters won’t even start a quilting project because the chore of selecting appropriate fabrics seems like such a daunting task. Perhaps you start a membership based website that offers quilting tips to beginners about how to start a quilt. You could also start your quilting business with an old-fashioned paper printed newsletter that you mail out monthly or quarterly to beginning quilters. Some of your topics could be how to select a quilt pattern, how to select fabrics, which threads to use, etc.

Of course, the longer you quilt, the more information you can share with your subscribers. But you sharing information is not the only kind of quilting business you can start.

If you are like most quilters or crafters, you have a lot of leftover fabrics taking up storage space! You could start a quilting business that concentrates on selling your fabric leftovers (and just think how much fun it would be to spend the money you make on new fabric)!

Maybe you could start a quilting business by developing a quilters consignment store online. People could pay you to sell their leftover fabrics, threads and other notions.

If you love quilts, but haven’t ever quilted and are afraid to try, you can still start a quilting business. You could coordinate quilters retreats for others. You can make arrangements at a local hotel or bed and breakfast to get great room rates for any overnight guests. Reserve a location, plan a few games, prepare snacks, whatever the quilters need you to do. They’ll benefit because they got a retreat without having to do a lot of the work and you will benefit by being around quilters and quilting. Maybe you’ll even be encouraged to start your own quilt project!

The two ideas that usually come to mind when people think about starting a quilting business are to sell quilts or to provide a quilting service for tops that have already been pieced. Both are good ideas.

If you choose to sell quilts, you have a lot of options. You could sell only appliqu?uilts (like pieced quilts, baby quilts, etc.). You could sell them online, through a small newspaper ad (or word of mouth since that’s free), or at area craft shows. If selling quilts at a show, take a project along to work on between customers. When shoppers see you working on a project, it draws their interest more keenly to your work which will hopefully lead to a sell.

Don’t let lack of experience be an obstacle between you and your quilting business. Your quilting business can grow right along with your quilting skill level. All you really need to start a quilting business is a love for the art and a desire to succeed – you don’t even need a lot of money. If you’ve been thinking about starting a quilting business, decide today to do it. You’ll be glad you did!



Wesley

Penny Halgren asked:


just have a lot of denim fabric lying around. Or, maybe you’re recycling old jeans and are looking for a quilt project. If you use your favorite search engine for free denim quilt patterns, you will likely uncover reference to a rag quilt.

Rag quilts are sewn with the seams on the top of the quilt. Snipping the quilt seams, then washing and drying the quilt give the desired ragging appearance. Most people consider it a “shabby chic” style. Rag quilts are very popular and denim’s natural fray would be an added accent to your denim rag quilt.

If you are looking for free denim quilt patterns, there’s good news. You can use any quilt pattern to create your denim quilt.

While you will find many free quilt patterns online or at your local library, there are few quilts designed specifically for denim. Denim is a fabric like any other. So, you may use it in any quilt you feel like trying!

If you plan to use denim in your quilt patterns, there are a couple of things you will need to keep in mind.

First, will your quilt be all denim or just feature a piece throughout the pattern?

Second, will you be using light or dark colored denim? Denim fabric comes in more colors, not just light and dark. There’s stonewashed denim for an extra worn look, and even colored denims.

You will need to consider the weight and colors of your denims as you create your denim quilt. Patterns may not have instructions for denim use so you will have to rely on your judgement.

If you are making a quilt using only denim fabrices, you will need to be certain that the denims are of the same weight range. Interspersing a heavy weight denim with a light weight one without putting some planning into it, could leave you with an awkward quilt. You wouldn’t want too many heavy denim quilt pieces on one side or the quilt’s final weight would be awkward.

Likewise, if you are planning to use denim as an accent fabric in your quilt, keep the weight of the other fabrics in mind, too. Nothing can ruin a quilt faster than mismatched fabric weights.

As important as the weight of your denim pieces, the color of your denim fabric is also important. For instance, if you are appliqu?g an “Overall Sam” onto a quilt that uses mostly cotton fabrics that portray an old, worn look, crisp dark denim overalls would look out of place. Weight of the denim in the same example would also be an important consideration.

If you are recycling your old jeans for your quilting project, maybe there are extra ways you can be creative. Depending on the quilt you are creating, maybe you could cut away the back pocket of your jeans to appliqu?nto your new quilt. If you happen to be making a throw, the pocket could become a handy remote control storage stitched right onto the throw! Maybe you could even recycle the belt loops. Sew them around the top and bottom border of your denim quilt and run a ribbon “belt” through them as an added decorative touch.

Applique quilts are a great way to use old jeans. Your old comfy jeans will transfer nicely to create a brand new comfy quilt for yourself or someone else. Have fun with your denim quilt project, whether you are starting with brand new pieces of denim fabric or simply finding a way to use your old jeans!



Jack

Penny Halgren asked:


Quilters who are not already a machine embroidery enthusiast just may find themselves engrossed in the craft once they realize they could incorporate machine embroidery into their quilting.

Embroidery is a traditional way to add special decorative touches to quilts. Whether by hand or machine, a quilter may accent his or her creation with embroidered flowers or other accents. But today’s machine embroidery – for those willing to try it – can make quilting quite different.

For instance, a quilter may use a simple embroidery design to let the machine “quilt” the project. Simple designs that can be stitched in one color work best, especially for the beginning machine embroidery quilter.

If you want to give this a try, look for an embroidery design that’s simple – one that you can visualize stitched into a quilt. Some redwork inspired designs work well. Other simple designs like flowers, circles, sun/moon, houses, hearts – there are all sorts of designs to choose from – can work well as quilting stitches.

Be sure to keep your quilt top’s theme in mind. We all know and love the traditional beauty of the double wedding ring quilt. While the quilt top is beautiful with its color variety, the quilt back is just as pretty with its simple stitching that follows the design on the top.

What if you used an embroidery machine to quilt hearts into the quilt design? That one unexpected touch would truly make your quilt unique.

Have you ever needed to throw together a quick quilt? Many quilting pros laugh at the notion, but sometimes we need a quick gift to give and want to make it personal. Lap quilts and baby quilts are very easy to create on an embroidery machine.

Simply hoop your top fabric, batting and backing fabric into an embroidery hoop. Pick a design and get to work! Even if you are quilting solid color fabrics, you can complete a quick, beautiful quilt with the embroidery machine in no time!

Some ideas for a baby blanket for a boy would be to use outlines of footballs, airplanes, trucks, trains, etc., for your quilting pattern. The hardest part of your job will be re-hooping fabric and pushing the “start” button!

Ideas for a baby blanket for a girl include outlines of flowers, baskets, dolls, kittens, etc.

The method above uses machine embroidery on relatively small quilts. Larger quilts can be done the same way or may be quilted with machine embroidery by individual quilt blocks. Experiment to decide which method is easiest for you and remember that the machine embroidery quilting method may change with each unique project.

If you can’t find a pattern you like already on embroidery file, ask a digitizer to help you create one. A digitizer is someone who takes art images like line drawings, clip art and fonts and alters them to become a stitch pattern. So if you’d like for your family tree wall hanging to be quilted with a tree pattern, a digitizer can create one for you.

Be sure to let your digitizer know you plan to use the image for quilting. The digitizer will need to plan stitches accordingly.

Quilting is rich in tradition and therefore many true-blue quilters do not like the idea of using machine embroidery to quilt their projects. Isn’t it great to try new ideas and techniques? Remember, not to long ago quilters refused to consider machine quilting at all! Embroidery machines will never take the place of quilters, but it can be a fun and rewarding sewing technique to try from time to time.



Lucille

Penny Halgren asked:


Americans relied on their local newspapers for more than information during the United States’ Great Depression.

Newspapers during that time also provided a service to quilters. Many newspapers published quilt patterns for their readers during the Great Depression.

1930 newspaper quilt patterns were very common in rural U.S. states. The Kansas City Star actually began printing patterns for quilters in 1926. The newspaper carried on the tradition until 1961. The quilt patterns were published weekly at first, then as interest seemed to dwindle, the patterns were printed monthly before being pulled from the publication all together. In all, just over 1000 quilt patterns were published by the Kansas City newspaper. Collectors have found copies of all of them and now offer a compilation for sale.

The Kansas City newspaper was not the only one to publish newspaper quilt patterns. Many other rural papers did the same.

The 1930 newspaper quilt patterns helped preserve part of the country’s heritage. Even though times were tougher than ever economically, the 1930 newspaper quilt patterns focused on the things that were truly important to quilters of that day and served as an emotional boost as well.

One popular 1930 newspaper quilt pattern was “The Magic Vine.” The design was presented as a series in a newspaper column written by Florence LaGanke Harris. In addition to the weekly quilt pattern, Harris wrote a fictional story about a quilting group. Readers followed the antics of the group and its fictional leader, Nancy Page. As readers followed the goings-on of the imaginary quilting group, they also stitched along with each week’s pattern. Readers were so engaged by the weekly column and quilting that they submitted their own quilt designs for consideration. The end result from Harris’ column was a quilt of beautifully appliqu?flowers with vines that entwined. Another of the popular 1930 newspaper quilt patterns included in Harris’ weekly column was the “Memory Bouquet.” The quilt featured 9×12 inch blocks appliqu?with various flowers. Imagine the cheery look of the finished product with its hollyhock, tulips, violets, carnations, zinnias, jonquils and more!

The weekly 1930 newspaper quilt patterns gave quilters some much needed enjoyment and thrifty entertainment. In addition to providing reasonably priced quilt patterns during The Great Depression era in the United States, the quilts also focused on an important part of life in the 1930’s: the children. Many patterns for children featured nursery rhymes. Some quilts featured one single nursery rhyme while others compiled several children’s favorites onto one quilt top. The patterns were designed so that they could be appliqu?or embroidered. Redwork was popular on quilts at the time!

The 1930 newspaper quilt patterns were a direct reflection of life during the Great Depression. Quilters saved money by using the patterns. They continued providing necessary warmth for their families and offered the quilts they made from the 1930 newspaper patterns as gifts for many occasions.

If you would like to create your own quilt from 1930 newspaper quilt patterns, they are available — usually as copied images or in books. There are several collections available that could be appliqu? embroidered or hand painted. To find your own collection of 1930 newspaper quilt patterns, check your favorite hobby or book store for a book or dvd of all the available patterns. The Internet is another great source of finding 1930 newspaper quilt patterns.



Sandra

Penny Halgren asked:


Did you know that more than 6 million beginner quilters decided to learn how to quilt during the last 3 years?

That brings the total number of quilters to about 27 million – that’s just in the United States. And most of those quilters, just like me, are presented with limited drawing and painting abilities.

Quilting is a fantastic way to create a work of art with fabric. It is well understood that the “painting” will not be perfect, and that colors and patterns are limited to what’s available in a quilt shop or hand dyed fabric.

Here Are My Top Tips to Help You Get Started in Making Quilts for You, Your Children & Grandchildren:

Combine blocks of fabric to create your quilts. By changing the shapes of the pieces within a block such as substituting triangles for squares and switching light fabric for dark fabric you can create a whole new quilt design. And, you will still keep the construction of your quilt the same.

Simple is the name of the game for many quilters. As a beginning quilter, focus on learning and practicing basic quilt making techniques that you will need to develop your craft.

Use one or two shapes for all of the quilt patches. This makes it easy to sew a quilt together. Squares and triangles offer many advantages in terms of simplicity.

Remember, interesting variations in quilt blocks are achieved just by where you place the fabrics in your quilt block, in addition to how each patch is divided in the quilt block pattern.

8 Easy Quilting Patterns to Get You Started

Quilt Pattern 1: A simple nine-patch quilt block can be used as an example of how different a block can look just by changing the placement of colors within the nine parts of one block. Using only two colors of fabric in alternating squares creates a checkerboard design.

Quilt Pattern 2: With the same nine-patch of two colors of fabric, using only square patches in each block, you can create a quilt pattern that looks like a big X.

Quilt Patterns 3 and 4: Want more of a challenge? Take some of the square patches in the blocks and divide them in half from corner to corner (commonly called half-square triangles in the quilting world), and create an Ohio Star or Pinwheel quilt block.

Quilt Patterns 5,6,7,and 8: Change the placement of your fabrics once again, and your block turns into a May Basket Quilt Block, a Maple Leaf Quilt Block, a Bow Tie block, or even a series of diamonds, called Slanted Diamonds.

Increase the number of colors in your quilt, and your design changes once again. And, by using only two basic shapes (squares and triangles) you can create all of your design changes.

Quilts are amazing works of art that have survived the test of time, and will continue to do so as long as there is fabric and quilting imagination.

Happy Quilting!

This article courtesy of theQuiltingCoach.com.

You may freely reprint this article on your website or in your newsletter provided this courtesy notice and the author name and URL remain intact.



Paula