Let's Make a Cot Quilt - Part 1

Today's post is the first of a six part series, where we will make a beautiful cot quilt from start to finish. We will start off with the basics today; fabric selection and basic quilting tools.

Now, for most projects that I do, I use 100 % quilters cotton. I try not to mix my fabrics, as they will wear differently over time. I also generally, don't pre-wash my fabric. It makes it easier to cut and if you stick to good quality fabrics, there should be no problem with colours bleeding.

Choosing your fabric can be the most fun part of making your quilt, or it can be one of the most daunting and time consuming. With over 5000 reels of fabric at the shop, you can be in there for a long time. That being said, there are a couple of things I suggest you ask yourself before you head to the shops. What colours are you thinking? Do you like florals, patterns, block colours or geometric patterns? Would you like bright colours or pastels? Once you have this nutted out, choosing quilting fabrics will be less overwhelming.

Perhaps the best thing that you can do to keep motivated when you begin quilting, is to opt for a quilt in patterned fabric of your favourite colour. The benefit is twofold; you will enjoy working on it and you will enjoy looking at it after it's finished! 

Once the colour scheme is determined, you can choose complementing (or contrasting if this is the look you are after) fabrics to go with it. There are a couple of ways you can go about this.

1. Designer Fabric Range: You will notice when you walk into a quilting fabric store, that the fabrics are sorted into colour, with some feature designer ranges on display. By selecting to use the same range of fabrics, you are guaranteed to have a good range of coordinating colours and patterns in your finished product. But best of all, by choosing the same range, you will know that the fabrics in your end product will all work beautifully together!

**Hint: if the ranges aren't on display, you can identify them by looking at the edge of the material where the designers name is printed, along with several little coloured circles. These circles indicate the other colours that have been used in the rest of the range and you can use these to move to the appropriate colour area in the store to find the designer's fabrics.

Sample Designer Fabric Bundles
Image Courtesy of Vias Place Etsy Store

Fabric Inspiration
Image Courtesy of http://www.vintagemodernquilts.com/

Fat Quarter Bundles
Image Courtesy of www.thefatquartershop.com

2. Focus Fabric: Find a patterned fabric that you like and choose your colour scheme based on that fabric. There's no need to perfectly match the colours in the pattern, but try to stay with the same tone (i.e if your focus fabric is soft, stick with pastels). Don't forget to throw in some small and large coordinating print fabrics as well.

Image Courtesy of http://www.diaryofaquilter.com

Lastly, don't be afraid to ask for help! Most independent quilting stores have knowledgeable and helpful staff who can help you with your selection. Whilst an actual person is probably the best source for an opinion, you can also draw inspiration from quilting magazines and books for colour schemes. I recommend Alex Andersons, Baby Quilts with Love (Amazon link in the side panel) as good resource for nursery quilt inspiration.

There are a lot of fancy tools and equipment our there for quilt making but in the end there are really only a few important tools to have in your sewing basket!

1. Self-Healing Cutting Mat - comes in different sizes, but a 18 x 24" mat is a good start.

2. Rotary Cutter; this is like a pizza cutter for fabric. The blades are very sharp and it quickly and accurately cuts fabric.There are many different sizes. I recommend the medium blade for all beginners

3. Rulers - there are many different shapes and sizes available as rulers are very important in the quilting process. I suggest getting your hands on a ruler no smaller than 6 x 24". This way you will be able to cut across the width of normal quilting fabric.

4. Scissors - important for all sewing projects really!

5. Fabric - see above

6. Thread - make sure it is 100 % cotton also.

7. Pins - both normal sewing pins (I prefer the ones with the big, coloured head) as well as safety pins for later on down the track.

8. Machine Walking Foot - this will make everything a whole lot easier later on.

The price for these items can add up BUT keep an eye out for package deals. Spotlight and Lincraft often have quilters specials with rotary cutters, mats and rulers offered in a bundle for a greatly discounted price. I purchased my gear from my local quilting store in a bundle for less that $70, including an extra blade for my rotary cutter!

Just a final word about sewing machines and iron! Neither of these need to be fancy. In fact, I use a $30 iron from Target. Make sure you regularly get your sewing machine serviced though and a simple needle change can make the world of difference when it starts skipping threads.

Stay tuned for next week, where we look at Choosing a Quilting Pattern!

Phoebe

xo

This post is a part 1 of a 6-part series, see below for other posts in this series.

Let's Make a Cot Quilt - Part 2, Choosing a Pattern

Let's Make a Cot Quilt - Part 3, Strip Quilt Tutorial

Let's Make a Cot Quilt - Part 4, Piecing the Strip Quilt

Let's Make a Cot Quilt - Part 5. Introduction to Machine Quilting
Let's Make a Cot Quilt - Part 6. Attaching the Binding