Quilt Construction is Easy

Picture a sandwich. Ok, now picture sticking some toothpicks through it to hold it together. Good!

Now, change the bread to fabric, the meat to a big piece of cotton batting and the toothpicks to safety pins. Great!

You have just made a quilt sandwich and are on your way to making a quilt. (Check out the suggested books at the end of this page too!)

Putting it Together - Layering the Quilt

Once you have decided on the size of your quilt, you will need to determine how much fabric you need. Hopefully you are following a pattern and all the measurements have been done for you.

Let's assume you are making a small quilt. Find a place where you have room to lay it out, such as a dining room table (covered to protect it) or on a cardboard cutting board (or other hard surface) laid out on a bed. If your quilt pieces fit on your cutting table, great!

The fabric for your backing goes down first, face down. You will need to smooth it out and if possible, tape all along the edges or push straight pins through it and into whatever you have it on (hopefully something that pins will go into) in order to secure it. It's important to keep if from moving during the "sandwiching" process.

Next, lay the batting on the fabric and gently smooth out any wrinkles. Make sure you center it, leaving an even amount of material showing around the edges.

Add the quilt top. This piece is normally smaller than the batting and backing layers. You want your batting and backing to be larger than the top to allow for any reduction in size during the quilting process.

Keeping it Together - Pin or Baste

Find the center of your quilt sandwich and pin through all three layers being careful not to move the layers out of place. Moving from the center backward, continue to pin every six inches, smoothing the layers as you proceed. Go back to the center and moving forward, pin every six inches once again smoothing as you proceed. Continue inserting pins working in rows from the center to keep the quilt from moving.

If you prefer, you can baste your layers together with long, loose running stitches using a color that contrasts with the fabric so you can easily see it. Work from the center top and work down, smoothing as you proceed. Move over about four inches from the center and baste again. Repeat on the opposite side of the center. Repeat until the quilt is sufficently secured. Stitches will be removed during the quilting process.

Quilting - the Stitching Process

Quilting is the process of adding the stitching which makes the fabric "quilt" and gives it definition. People either hand stitch using a quilting hoop or they machine stitch on a regular sewing or specially designed quilting machine. Stitching techniques include fee motion (stippling, which takes a lot of practice), stitch in the ditch (straight rows, the easiest), or following the design on the fabric (motif stitching - also takes a bit of practice).

Finishing the Quilt - Bind It

Your quilt isn't finished until you bind the edges together. You have two basic choices.

Let's start with the easiest. Trim the batting to within one quarter inch of the top of the quilt. Starting on one side, fold the excess material from the back over the top fabric and turn under the raw edge. Pin it in place. Stitch close to the folded edge. Do the same on the opposite side. Proceed to the top, repeat the process and end with the bottom.

Binding by using a long strip of contrasting material gives a strong defined edge to your quilt. Your insructions will tell you what size to cut your strips and how to sew them together to make one long strip of fabric. Normally, strips will be about one half inch wider than your finished edge measurement. If measurements are not provided, you'll need to figure how many inches you need for each side of your quilt and add about four extra inches to each strip to allow for any overlapping that might be needed. Better to have too much than to come up short! Once your strips are cut and at the correct measurement, fold them in half, wrong sides together. Press with an iron. Open and fold each edge to the middle crease. Press again. Working from the right side of the quilt, place the binding so the middle crease matches the raw edge of the quilt. Make sure the folded edge is under and the other edge open. Pin along the edge and sew along the outer crease. (To hide the stitching, sew inside this crease and then fold the binding back over the quilt edge.) Turn the quilt over and working from the back side fold the binding over the raw edge and secure the binding with hand stitching or by machine.

I can't begin to stress enough how important it is to have one or two good quilting books that have numerous photos showing you each step of the quilt construction process. There are also several fine quilting magazines if you find yourself really hooked on this craft! If this page doesn't help you understand how to put a quilt together, please check out the many other helpful sites dedicated to quilting and quilt construction.

I want you to enjoy your quilting adventure!

"Happy Stitching!"

For your consideration!