June, Rain, Wood fires and Quilts (Part 2) Tips and Tricks

Here are some Tips and Tricks on how to save:

1. Instead of going to the quilt fabric shop to buy your supplies, ( though sometimes you might have too), check out the dress fabric on the roll, there are good quality cottons to be found for a minimal price, especially when there is a sale. Just go and “hunt” for those wonderful colours and collect them, it’s amazing how excited you can get when you find a treasured piece. Arrange them into colors, then when you are ready to make a quilt, small or large you have what you need to patch work. It’s fun!

2. Another idea is, instead of buying  “wadding” which costs an “arm and a leg”,(as the saying goes), go visit the “Op Shops”. It’s amazing what you can find there, look for “ mattes protectors”, they are the best, you can buy them from just $2 to $5 single or double or sometimes even queen-sized. They are just perfect for padding  instead of wadding. Wash them at home, cut of the sides and the elastic and they are ready to use. If one is to small, stitch two together, it’s no problem.

3.Then you have the “backing”. Once again shop ahead of time, keep your eyes open and look for something neutral  or for the colors you are looking for. Sheeting is a good way to go as this is wide enough to back in one piece. You can also buy it on the roll!. A plain colored cotton or even poplin does the job well. If you prefer a print, buy two lengths or widths and sew them together. It’s always better to get to much then not enough, as you can use fabric on another quilt. Leftovers are great, save them. They will come in handy at a later date.

4.  Quilting, when you have the three layers together lay them on the carpet, stretched out anchoring the corners down. Then use safety pins to keep the layers together. Once you have done this then comes the quilting.

Each part of the quilting process is so different, this makes it exciting.
Oh, what a great feeling it is to have completed a piece of “art”, You can hardly wait to start the next one.

Written by Guest Blogger
Mrs Janet Wieske