how do you make a quilt?:shrug

I'm making my first one right now and I'm shocked at how easy it has been so far.... I bought fabric, washed it, cut it into 7'' squares with my mom's rolling blade thing.... and today I started sewing the squares together.

It's been easiest for me to start out sewing two squares together..then opening them up and ironing the seams open & flat... then sewing two sets of two into a block of four (does that make any sense?).... then sewing the blocks of four into long strips.... then sewing the strips together... and then the top is done.

Not entirely sure from there, but from watching my mom... you layer the quilt top over the batting (the white fluffy stuff that fills it) and the bottom layer... pin it in place... and start to either a)handstitch each individual square (real quilting).... or b)tying each corner of every square with a heavy thread or yarn (not sure how this is done, but it's a heck of a lot less time consuming.

From there... the border. There's a few different ways to do it... but I just bought the edging stuff at the fabric store. I think you just fold it over the edge and stitch it.

The most important advice my mom gave me was to iron the seams flat. She said it helps the top lay better... and will help keep squares aligned when sewing them all together so they don't end up crooked :)

I really recommend signing up for a quilt class-most fabric stores will have them and teach you all the basics!

I'm lucky because my MIL is an award winning quilter, and she taught me the basics.

I agree with Jennifer to take a class if you can. There are so many little tips and tricks you'll pick up, and then if you decide to keep up with it, you'll have some really good habits under your belt that will help if you decide to move onto more complicated patterns.

I only do the piecing and the binding. I send my completed tops out with batting and the fabric backing for long arm quilting by a professional. Some say that's cheating, but they have such beautiful patterns that I could never duplicate, and they make my quilts much stronger than I can on my own.

I hope you enjoy it!

thanks guys, I am going to look into taking a class, I'm sure its more complicating than I think it will be!!

I need to sign up for a class too. I also need to get a sewing machine, I've been looking for a used one!