8 skills a quilter should learn to master

NOTE : I no longer promote Craftsy/Bluprint as I used to due to the way the subscription is currently being carried out. I had the issue of cancelling my subscription when the company changed hand and I find that cancelling through calls is inconvenient. However, I do still stand behind these classes I promote and if you are subscribed, you can surely check these classes I recommend on the platform. If you are looking for another online platform to learn craft such as quilting, do check out CreativeBug. It is much cheaper in subscription (subscribe now 3 months for only $5). Thank you.

Want to be a quilter?

Already one? Are you equipped with all the skills to make a great quilt?

In this post, I’ll share 8 skills to master as a quilter. If you are looking towards improving your skills as a quilter or a beginner quilter, you are going to love this post. There will be links to lots of tutorials and classes that will enhance your quilting skill.

Scroll down and read on, and put a check on it if you have already mastered each of these skills.

FREE class for beginners who want to start quilting: BASIC QUILT MAKING SKILLS

There are affiliate links within this post. Please find my full disclosure here.

♦ 1/4 inch seam ♦

Quilters are known to use 1/4″ seam. In garment making or other sewing areas, this is hardly the case, as the 1/4″ seam is a little too small and may easily rip apart.

However, in quilting, this is the seam we use due to the fact that these seams will not be showing in the final product and it will be stitched down to the other piece of the quilt sandwich, the batting and the backing.

It is also because in many cases, patchwork quilts involve many seams which may overlap one another. Therefore, reducing the bulk of those seams with a 1/4″ seam seems very relevant.

The 1/4″ seam allowance also allows us to save fabrics! Imagine how much fabric is gone unseen if the seams were bigger.

It is not wrong though to use 1/2″ seam but it would be such a waste of fabric not to mention it creates more bulk making it hard to quilt.

How important is it to have a precise 1/4″ seam?

Well, in a simple all-squares patched quilt, it is not that necessary. As long as all the seams are pretty much the same size, you can still end up with a pretty good quilt at the end. Points matched.

A precise 1/4″ seams are important especially in making various blocks in a quilt like a sampler quilt. If this is not given much attention, you will find that each of the blocks will end up in different sizes at the end. This will make it difficult to sew the blocks together.

How to sew 1/4″ seams?

Check out these tutorials for that:

3 Ways to Master the Perfect Quarter-Inch Seam
How to Sew an Accurate Quarter Inch Seam Allowance

♦ Cutting patchwork pieces ♦

Cutting the right size is the key to perfect piecing.

Always measure twice before cutting. You don’t want to end up having cut the wrong size of many, many little pieces.

We are blessed to have the rotary cutter these days, which makes cutting fabrics for patchwork so much easier and faster.

Always trim away you scrap fabric to have straight edges - make it simpler for next project

My favourite tip: Change your blades often. It makes cutting much more fun and smooth.

Products from Amazon.com

Check out more articles on rotary cutting below:

FREE class for beginners who want to start quilting: BASIC QUILT MAKING SKILLS

♦ Straight line quilting ♦

The basics of quilting the quilt sandwich together is definitely required if you were to make a useable quilt.

While there are options for hand-quilting or tying, I believe that all quilters should be able to quilt with their machine too. Sometimes, we may need a quick quilt and quilting it with simple lines may actually be enough to save the day.

For straight line quilting, you must have the Walking foot. It will feed your quilt evenly and avoid puckering.

I talked about a generic walking foot before here, so if you are looking for a walking foot to buy for your machine, read this article first.

♦ Free motion quilting♦

As an avid free-motion quilter myself, I highly recommend you free-motion your quilt too. There is so much potential and great textures you can achieve with free-motion quilting.

If you have been here for a long time at The Little Mushroom Cap, you’d know that I have tons of post that you can check out to master free-motion quilting with your very own sewing machine.

Check out my free course on free-motion quilting below. We have gotten lots of great feedback and many are loving it!

♦Colors and pattern♦

Even in scrap quilts, some thoughts in the colors can play a big role in making a quilt stand out even more. The distribution of colours across a quilt can make a big difference.

Apart from that, quilts can also be made in colour wash like here- my medallion quilt.

So take time to learn about colors and try them out in making your quilts.

Here is a value quilt my mom made using scraps. See those dark values and light values forming the pattern.

I love playing with various size prints.

Check out this post to learn more about picking fabrics for a quilt.

♦Binding♦

To finally complete a quilt, binding is necessary to hide the raw edges and to perfectly frame the quilt.

I love machine binding my quilts, but sometimes, I do love taking time to hand sew the final fold of the binding.

Learn the basic of bindings and then you can also try out different types of binding such as bias binding (like the one I use for scalloped edges), flange binding or many more fancy bindings.

Check out these articles for more reading:

♦Basting♦

Learn to master the right basting method to save your back and time. I personally love basting with a spray adhesive. But I also do baste with the curved basting pins

Check out these links to learn how to baste on a table or even on the wall.

This Kraft tape is one of the best to tape your quilt backing to the wall or floor to keep it as flat as possible. Try them!

♦Squaring up a quilt♦

I am guilty of cutting a quilt smaller and smaller as I go around and trying to square up the final quilt. It always seems to be wonky as I go along and I have to trim off more to compensate for the wonkiness.

Here are some awesome links that teach you how to square up a quilt.

Conclusion

Take time to master the skills in quilt-making and learn the right methods to make quilting so much easier and more enjoyable for you!

I believe that practice is key in all skills, so just keep on quilting!

FREE class for beginners who want to start quilting: BASIC QUILT MAKING SKILLS

Other than the free links provided above, also check out these paid classes which cover from the quarter inch, chain piecing, and quilting!

Quilting Startup Library
better borders – learn how put on various type of borders to a quilt
Check out my free course on free motion quilting below. We have gotten tons of great feedback and many are loving it!

You can watch all kind of classes for improving your skill via BLUPRINT.

Try BLUPRINT for FREE and start mastering your skill.

These are especially great for those who want to learn at their own pace at any time when you are free. Not everyone have the opportunity to learn face to face with a quilt guru. I was in that situation before – and I have learned tons from the web including some of these classes. I have learned a lot and would still love to learn new techniques and tips.

Feel free to drop more links in the comments if you have any more awesome classes/tutorials on quilting basics.

Here are 8 skills a quilter should master. the list include place where you can learn them for free too!

3 Comments

Doreen 6 years ago Reply

Excellent post. Anyone embarking on this quilting adventure would do well to master these skill steps.
Linda Fitzgerald 6 years ago Reply

Hi, Thanks for all the valuable information. I have learned so much from here. The cutting demo photos are perfection! I am so blessed by this post! Your sense of humor is a blast to read! Keep it up.
Tracy Suzanne DeLoach 6 years ago Reply

I just pinned your post and hopefully I will get the nerve to quite dreaming of making a quilt and actually make one. I’ve sewn for years and even made a baby quilt but it wasn’t a patchwork quilt. Crossing my fingers and going for it soon. Thanks for sharing. 🙂