It takes many hours to make a quilt but the finished product is just so gorgeous. The eye-pleasing aspect is the way that a quilter takes assorted colors, solids, and patterns, and combines them into an interesting arrangement, like squares, triangles, and more. For most any quilter, theres a lot involved. Measuring, cutting, arranging, pinning - its a whole lot of work, for sure. But the easy part is the quilt pattern; you can make it yourself without any trouble. Its just a matter of geometry; dont worry, you wont have to re-study the subject.
The first order of business is deciding how large you want the quilt to be. Then, you have to cut square blocks of fabric to equal the length and width of the desired quilt size. Its important that every square be perfectly square. There are many cutters and other implements to help a quilter get exact measurements but, if you have none of those things, cut a square of cardboard. Make sure that one square is perfect and use it as a pattern. Lay it down, draw around it, and cut out the square. Always use the square of cardboard; dont use each cut fabric piece to cut the next one. When you buy something called a "charm pack", the squares are already cut for you. Youll find those, in a huge variety of colors and patterns, online or at a nearby craft store.
The design on a quilt is done by starting with quilt squares. Once you have those, there are no limits to what you can do with them, in order to add interest to the quilt. For instance, cut each square in half - so that you end up with two triangles - and then swap one of them for a triangle off of another quilt block. Or, take each triangle, cut it in two, and trade for two different types of fabric, from the other patterns. It isnt hard to cut squares and triangles in half but, when you do, you can create all kind of interest on the quilt. It can be helpful to draw a grid on paper. Draw or color the design you want in each square of the grid. You can later look at the grid to follow patterns for creating images, color combinations, and more. Besides triangles, you can cut quilt squares into slender rectangles, or you could even cut a circle out of the middle of a square, and trade it for a different color of circle. Cut the circle in half, and trade each half for a different pattern or color. Or, cut a doughnut shape, and then cut the doughnut into sections, and swap sections for other designs of those same sections. There are no limits as long as you make each quilt block to be the same shapes as the others. Or, make one mixed-shape quilt block, and sew it to a plain quilt block, for a different look. You can also create various quilt patterns by using a counting technique. For instance, every fourth block will be blue, or every center block - of each row - will match. There are literally millions of different designs you can create simply by starting with squares, and cutting them into triangles or other shapes, and mixing them up to create new looks for the blocks. Try different designs yourself and youll be stunned at your own handiwork!
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