How to Design a Quilt

Once you have spent a little time sewing quilts designed by professional quilters, you may decide you want to try designing your own. Designing and sewing your own quilt will give you complete freedom to make the quilt of your dreams. If you enjoy the process, you can then go on to create custom quilts for your family, your friends or even for sale. Read on to learn more.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Quilt block patterns
• Graph paper and pencils
• Fabric and matching thread
• Quilting tools

1. Decide the size of your finished quilt. Choose to make twin, full, queen or king. Select the blocks to use in your quilt. You can use one favorite block pattern and repeat it to create your design. Consider a wide variety of blocks and combine them into one lovely quilt top.

2. Make a plan for joining the blocks together. Opt to place plain blocks between your pattern blocks or you may want to use sashing strips (long strips of plain fabric).

3. Draw out your plan to scale on graph paper. Know the exact number of blocks. Measure the length and width of your quilt based on the size of quilt. Add borders to your plan.

4. Buy fabric for the quilt. Purchase fabric you love for the quilt you're designing. Include light, dark and medium shades to add sparkle to your quilt. Multiply the amount of fabric for one block times the number of blocks in your plan. This number gives you the amount of fabric to buy.

5. Sew the quilt blocks together to form rows. Put the rows together to make the quilt top. Quilt your top, batting and back layers together and finish the quilt with a neat binding.

Tips & Warnings

• If you would like a little help choosing fabric for you quilt, see eHow's "How to Select Quilting Fabric." http://www.ehow.com/how_2042379_select-quilting-fabric.html

Resources

• Online quilt instructions and information.
• Free quilt and block patterns.