How to Create Quilts

Contrasting fabrics work well in many quilt patterns.

Quilting is an old American craft that continues to appeal to every generation of crafters. Quilts can be made in traditional patterns and colors or abstract shapes and patterns. Quilts come in every size, from tiny doll quilts to wall-size contemporary art quilts. It takes practice and patience to create quilts. Once you know the basics, you can vary the patterns and fabrics to make an infinite variety of quilted masterpieces.



To keep it simple, these instructions are for a 15-patch checkerboard pattern baby quilt, approximately 36 inches wide and 60 inches long.

Things You'll Need

• 1 and 2/3 yards 45-inch-wide light colored cotton fabric
• 1 and 2/3 yards 45-inch-wide dark colored cotton fabric
• 3 and 1/2 yards 45-inch wide coordinating cotton fabric for backing
• Steam iron
• Ironing board
• Rotary fabric cutter or scissors
• Sewing machine
• Thread
• 15 square feet of quilt batting
• Sewing pins
• Optional:
• For hand-tied quilt: darning needle and 7 feet of yarn
• For hand-quilted quilt: quilt pattern and chalk, quilting hoop, needle and thread

Instructions

Cut and sew the quilt top

1. Preshrink the fabric by washing and drying it, then iron out any wrinkles. Cut the light-colored fabric into seven squares, each measuring 12 ½ inches square. Cut the dark-colored fabric into eight squares, also measuring 12 ½ inches square. Cut the backing fabric into two strips measuring 36 ½ inches wide and 60 ½ inches long.

2. 

   Sew the squares together in strips of three with a 1/4-inch seam allowance as follows:

   With right sides together, sew three strips with two dark squares on the outside and a light square in the middle, and two strips with two light squares on the outside and a dark square in the middle. Press the seams with the iron. You should now have five strips, each strip being three squares wide and one square high.

   Sew the strips together along their long edges, right sides together, so the completed quilt top looks like this:

   Dark - light - dark

   Light - dark - light

   Dark - light - dark

   Light - dark - light

   Dark - light - dark

   Press the seams with the iron.

3. Sew the two backing pieces together lengthwise, right sides together with a 1/4-inch seam allowance. Press the seam with the iron. If you are hand-quilting your quilt top, transfer your quilting pattern to your quilt top, using chalk for the dark squares and washable pencil for the light squares.

Assemble, quilt and finish the quilt

1. Assemble the quilt. Place the backing face-down on a flat surface. Spread the quilt batting in a single layer until it covers the backing. Place the quilt top face-up on the batting. Secure the layers with sewing pins, using at least one pin per square. Use one of the following three methods to quilt the layers together.

2. Make a hand-tied quilt: To make an easy tied quilt, thread the darning needle with yarn in a coordinating color. Pull yarn down through the three layers, leaving a three-inch "tail" on the top side. Return the needle 1/8 inch from the entry point. Cut the top thread to three inches in length. Tie the two ends into a square knot. Repeat until all 12 seam intersections are tied with knots.

   Make a machine quilted quilt: To make a machine quilted quilt, sew down and across the quilt top along the seam lines through all three layers of the quilt. Start from the middle and work outward.

   Make a hand quilted quilt: To make a hand-quilted quilt, stretch the quilt in a quilting hoop, one section at a time, and use a quilter's needle and quilting thread to stitch along the pattern lines traced on your quilt squares. Use short, even stitches, with dark thread on the light squares and light thread on the dark squares for contrast. If you don't want to use a quilting pattern, you can also "stitch in the ditch" -- quilt along the seam lines with white thread -- and leave the center of the squares unquilted.

3. Trim the batting and quilt top so they are 1/2 inch narrower along all four edges than the backing. Turn the raw edge of the backing in 1/4 inch and press. Bring the folded edge of the backing over the quilt top so it covers the batting and the raw edge of the quilt top. Machine stitch or hand stitch along the bottom edge.

Tips & Warnings

• If you quilt by hand, thread several needles at a time to keep the flow going once you get started quilting. Ease any excess fabric out from the middle of the quilt to the outer edges as you quilt so you don't get stuck with extra fabric in the middle of your quilt.

• If you quilt by hand, use a thimble to protect your fingertip from getting pricked.

References

• University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service: Quilting
• University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service: 4H Member Project Guides
• PBS: Quilts