Hey there.  I’m Nicole Gilbert and you’ve joined the Stop Scrolling, Start Sewing podcast. Are you new to sewing and want to start quilting but have no idea where to begin?  Each Wednesday join me as I share the ins and outs of that quilt life. If you don’t have a sewing machine, have no idea how much fabric you need, or you’re just trying to figure out where the heck to stick that bobbin. This is the podcast for you. 

Hey folks, Nicole here. Welcome to Episode 48 of the Stop Scrolling, Start Sewing podcast. On today’s episode we’re chatting about learning to quilt and even about up leveling your quilting. So, more specifically what I really want to be talking about is 10 things you need to know before you start quilting. Quick housekeeping though, I currently am having my studio resided, AKA my house, and there’s a lot of banging, there’s a lot of music being played outside by the construction workers, there’s the potential that you’ll hear my doorbell ring. I apologize I’ve been trying to record this thing for days and finally I’m just like, “I just gotta suck it up,” because I don’t want to skip a week of recording the episodes. So, if you hear banging or hammering or anything in the background that is why and hopefully my house is going to be pretty because guys it’s super ugly before. 

But ok, before we get into the things you need to know before you start quilting, I wanted to talk about – I know that one of the things many people wonder about and wonder if maybe they’re even ready to quilt is whether or not the machine you have is ready to quilt with. So like not even about yourself and your personal skills but whether or not the machine you have can do it and it’s totally a valid question. If you want to take a deep dive on how to best set up your machine for quilting, head over to nicolegilbertquilts.com and right there at the top you’ll be able to download a guide that will show you how to set up your machine. And it’s really good and it includes a little bit of maintenance that you should be doing and it’s just really helpful, so keep that in mind and go get that. 

All right let’s get sewing. So, 10 things you should do when you – before you start quilting or when you start quilting – not all of these need to be done before you can even start quilting but these are all things that I want you to keep in your brain when while you still have beginner brain. Because beginner brain is special, beginner brain is amazing, it’s curious, it’s inquisitive and open. And unfortunately, as we get better and better at things we also know too much sometimes and we know enough to not listen to other people, which kind of stinks if you really think about it, but beginning brain. Oh, I love me some beginner brain.

Ok so let’s keep these in mind while we’re just we’re still learning. The first thing I want you to do, is invest in 1/4 inch foot and a walking foot. Now many of your machines will come with one if not both of these presser feet for your machines. Many, many come with both, but finding 1/4 inch foot is more likely than finding a walking foot in your kit, unless you have a higher end machine. My machine, I have a Janome Continental M7 Professional and that machine came with like almost every foot I would need like I mean I could get like a couching foot and a binding set, like some really weird random stuff like a ruffler, but things that I’m not going to use. Now my Brother that I got at a big box retailer, that came with a 1/4 inch foot without a guide and it came with a few other feet but as far as quilting feet went it came with a 1/4 inch foot without a guide. Now there’s 1/4 inch feet and then there’s 1/4 inch feet with a guide. So, with a guide means there’s this little metal piece on the side that you can actually like but your fabric up against. I personally don’t really like them I think they get in the way and I tend to end up butting my fabric too hard against it and then it rolls under, so I never really used the one with the guide, but some people swear by them. It’s like a personal preference thing. But either way we want to make sure we have 1/4 inch foot. 

Also, keep in mind because you know how much I love to like do the job with what you got. A lot of times you can also use the feet even if it’s not a specific 1/4 inch foot and figure out how that foot will become a 1/4 inch foot. So, with a 1/4inch foot the whole point of it is that when you line the end of your fabric up with the end of your presser foot your needle will hit at a 1/4 of an inch and so it like is a way to maintain 1/4 inch seams. Now you might not have 1/4 inch foot, however, you could also use the foot you have by measuring the end of the foot and where is a 1/4 inch in from there. And then you can align your needle with that spot and in that instance, you’ve created a 1/4 inch foot. Or if you’ve got like a really wide foot that’s got like the clear plastic in the middle, a lot of times when the needle is in the middle the inside of the metal part before it turned into plastic is 1/4 of an inch so you don’t have to go out and invest in new things but I do want you to have like an “everything is figure out-able” brain set about it and you’re going to need something that’s going to keep you on that 1/4 of an inch because 99.9% of quilt patterns do follow 1/4 inch seam allowance and if you do not have that your blocks will be off. They’ll end up too small, too big, your points will get cutoff, things will end up being crooked, and it’s not necessarily because you’re doing things crookedly but it’s because your seam allowance is off. So keep that in mind. 

And now a walking foot is that foot a lot of times it’s got a big plastic oval attached to the back and what it does is it allows the top fabric to move at the same speed as the fabric underneath. And you’ll need that if you’re going to be quilting your quilt sandwiches on your domestic machine. If you plan on sending that thing out to a long armor, you don’t need a walking foot. However, I suggest everybody has it because I think everybody should try to do it on their own but that’s that.  

So that’s number one. Number two, I want you to purchase beginner friendly tools. And when I say beginner friendly tools what I mean is the best tool that will do the most work. I don’t want you to invest in a ton of different tools, if you feel like you’ve got 1,000,000 rulers and you’re just starting out, you’ve got too many rulers my friend. The same thing goes with rotary cutters.  So I want you to look at it like, “What will I get the best bang for my buck out of this,” because it can be very disheartening when you’re starting a hobby and you’re like, “Ok I’m on it, I’m doing all the things,” and then you’re like, “Holy cow I just spent several $100.00 and I haven’t even started, I haven’t even picked up my fabric and once I’m done with this quilt I have to buy more fabric.” And then you kind of start tallying up and you’re like, “Oh wow this is like a huge investment.” It doesn’t have to be. Is it an investment? Absolutely, I will not lie to you there. It is an investment, however, it doesn’t have to be like the soul sucking, “Oh my gosh, I spent hundreds and hundreds of dollars at a time.” When it comes to acrylic rulers when you just start out, you only need one. And that is a 6 inch by 24 inch acrylic ruler. If you have that ruler, you can do so much, you can trim half square triangles, you can trim 1/4 square triangles, you can cut your yardage, you can square things up. It’s amazing you can do so, so much with that.  Rotary cutters, you will often see 25 millimeter, 45 millimeter, and 60 millimeter. A 45 millimeter rotary cutter will do the job. It will really do almost every job. I dislike my 60 inch – 60 millimeter rotary cutter – can imagine a 60 inch? A 60 millimeter rotary cutter it’s too dang big, it’s like a giant pizza cutter. I don’t like that thing. My 25 millimeter rotary cutter that I have I use and I use often but it’s because I use – I do English Paper Piecing and I cut out around my small acrylic templates and that is why I use it. If I did not regularly English Paper Piece, I would not use that rotary cutter at all. In fact, I didn’t use any rotary cutter besides my 45 millimeter rotary cutter for a good eight or nine years in my crafting journey, so keep that in mind. 

Same thing goes with cutting mats. You will see all sorts of cutting mats. A 24 by 36 inch cutting mat is the perfect size and will last you forever. I mean the mat itself won’t last you forever, but it will last you awhile as long as you take good care of it. But you don’t need an 18 by 24, and a 24 by 36, and a 6 by 18 and a 10 by 10 and a rotary. You don’t need all those things to start, eventually you’ll think of reasons why it would be cool to have those other sizes, but you don’t need them. An 18 by 24 or 24 by 36 is ideal and that’s all you need. I would – I would suggest going with the 24 by 36 if you’ve got space for it.

Now next, number three, I want you to really think and learn how to select the right fabrics. Quilting is an aesthetic hobby, it’s about making beautiful things, it’s about making things that you love, that it’s fun and bright. I’m telling you right now I’ve bought so much fabric and I’m just like – I just pet it – that’s all – I just pet it because I haven’t decided necessarily exactly what I want to do with it but it’s flipping awesome. And learning how to select the right fabrics for every project is really important. A lot of that comes down to some basic principles of color theory. My students in The Modern Quilters Academy know that I do teach the basics of color theory within the course. I also have a one hour workshop just about color theory if you’re interested in that, Nicolegilbertquilts.com/colortheory. There’s more information there for that but when you’re thinking about it a lot of times you’re like, “Well – and I’m speaking from my own personal experience here before I really, really dove in and embraced color theory – I was like, “Well I dress well, my colors don’t clash, I don’t look like Miss Frizzle from The Magic School Bus – like things are good, things are good.” And so I thought that I was picking out good colors and I was. I was picking out good colors that went well together, however, when you really master color theory you’ll understand that there is a relationship of tints and shades and tones that you need to recognize.  There’s a relationship between colors where you know, this family is complementary to this family, however, you’re on this side of the basics and you should be on that side of the basics with the other family. And so colors that go together, if you really break it down there’s one of those that could be a better choice. Like you chose well but there’s a better choice and those little tips and tweaks that you make, make all the difference in your quilt. You will be amazed so keep that in mind as well. Sorry I’m getting a little rambly and this is – I said 10 steps, right? I’m only on step three. Yikes guys sorry I will pick up the pace for you. 

So, number four. I want you to make friends with your local quilting shop. Now this is not before you start obviously, but maybe when you first go for your first big fabric purchasing trip, make friends with the people at the quilt shop. That may or may not be intimidating I know for myself personally, a lot of what has driven me to create the business I have today was because my first trip to a quilting shop was not the greatest. And since then, I have found fantastic quilt shops. Really, I want you to just not be intimidated by the people, be open, be friendly. The reason why I want you to make friends with the quilt shop and if you don’t find like your people at the first one go to another one. But the reason why I want you to be friendly with them is one, if you become a frequent customer – as I am at some of my local shops – they will start ordering the fabric you want because they know you will buy it. Which is awesome because fabrics get printed usually only once fabric collections and then they’re gone and then you end up going on eBay and spending $40.00 a yard on something that could have cost $11.00. So I know from personal experience. Two, they usually have the inside track on retreats and guilds and classes and again if you’re friendly with them and you’re like, “Hey, I’m interested in doing XYZ.” They will start putting XYZ available in the class, it’s pretty awesome. We are a strong, large community but we’re also a quiet community. You are not going to see the droves of people at a quilt shop that you’re going to see at Walmart and so they listen to their customers. They want to make you happy. It’s really good.

Ok moving on, number five.  I want you to get super comfortable with your iron, like super comfortable with your iron. Your iron is like your bestie. You are going to be ironing your fabric before you cut it, you are going to be pressing at every seam that you stitch, you are going to be ironing when you baste. I know that’s weird; I personally spray baste and I find that if I iron after I spray baste things stick together and it almost gets a little bit of a starchy feel and it’s like butter when you quilt it. Just a little tip from me to you, but you’re going to be with your iron a lot. You don’t need to have a fancy iron, as a matter of fact I have a fancy iron – it’s up on a shelf. I have a $10.00 iron that I got from a big box retailer, use it every day. Here’s why – there’s different things about different irons everybody is going to like. My – I have a Rowenta, Rowenta Focus – it’s a wonderful iron, I have had nothing but good experiences with it, it gets super hot which is fantastic and it’s got super pointy nose on the tip of it that is great for getting into places. And I know you’re hearing this and you’re like, “Well, well then why is that not the one you use?” The reason why it’s not the one that I use is I tend to quilt for long periods of time and that iron has an automatic shut off and so what will happen is after I’ve done like a whole long chain of chain piece pieces I will turn to my iron and my iron will be stone cold because it will have turned itself off. Now my $10.00 Walmart iron doesn’t get quite as hot, but it doesn’t have that automatic shut off feature so it’s more helpful for me. But if I’m you know just pressing fabrics before I’m prepping them for cutting and stuff like that, I’ll pull out the Rowenta because it is a hotter iron, but you don’t have to invest a lot like I said my, my little iron that I use every day, $10.00 bucks. So pretty cool the Rowenta one not so much $10.00 bucks – probably about 10 times that but it’s a really good iron too. I really want an Oliso Mini.  That’s like my next iron but don’t tell my husband because he’s going to be like, “I didn’t even know you had two. Why are you getting a third one?” So keep that on the DL.

Alright, number six. Gather inspiration, ok, so here’s my thing, you know Pinterest – Pinterest is my jam. Oh my gosh it’s my jam but I want you to not only look at Pinterest, I want you to also look at Instagram because you will be amazed at the stuff that people are making. And a lot of times you’ll be like, “Oh I love that, I want to do that but I don’t want to do it like that,” because it is a creative art. Quilting is creative – be creative and don’t say, “Oh I’m not that creative, I can’t do this.” You’ll be amazed and you need to work that creative muscle because that creative muscle is also like your intellectual muscle. It’s a whole thing – I won’t go down that rabbit hole but every single person is creative and don’t tell me that you’re not. But I want you to gather inspiration, I want you to look at other people’s quilts that they’re making, I want you to really look at them and decide what you like about them, what you don’t. And then I want you to search on Pinterest for different quilt patterns that fit your needs, you know like you saw this awesome rail fence, but they did this really cool shadow color thing and now you want to see black and white versions and you want to meld the two styles together. I’m guaranteeing you there’s a quilt pattern out there for that. I know it sounds weird and totally rando but I’m telling you there’s something out there for it, just look for it. The biggest thing I want you to do is just get inspired because I mean I just make patterns off of people, so like there’s some quilt pattern designers that I absolutely love and no matter what pattern they put out I buy it, like Emily Dennis, I think she’s wonderful. And some of her patterns are like are like epic, beautiful star quilts and then some of them are pretty basic like variations on a rail fence but I like them all. That being said, sometimes you want to get a little funky and so I just always be gathering inspiration because this is your fun time like please don’t forget this is your fun time – I’ll get to that later in a bit.

Number seven, I want you to start simple. If you are just starting, like beginner never have put together a quilt, I want you to start simple. It can be really tempting to start with kind of bigger star blocks or or something like that because they’re pretty and they don’t seem that intricate and you think you can handle it, but frustration typically ensues and then what ends up happening is it’s it robs the fun. This is your hobby don’t rob your fun, especially because usually what happens is once you’ve robbed your fun – you quit – you’re not a quitter and don’t let a poor decision early on affect how you feel about quilting moving forward. I think that’s really, really, really important. 

I also want you to join a guild and you don’t have to like jump all the way in – first of all thanks to the Rona – I didn’t think I’d ever say anything saying thanks thank you Rona – many guild meetings are on Zoom. So you could like literally lurk at a guild meeting, like so much more so than you could pre-Rona. So, find a guild in your area, show up to a guild meeting, if you want keep your camera off, keep yourself muted, sit in the corner and just watch. But the people in your area are doing cool things and guilds are worth their weight in gold because they will bring in quilt instructors, like myself and others to teach new techniques, to show you how to do things, to run workshops, so I mean there’s just there’s such a wealth of information and knowledge at a guild. You just need to find the right guild for you, usually there is a modern quilt guild and then like a traditional quilt guild in every area but then like in really big areas there’s a lot of different types of guilds. So really look into it.

Number nine, see now I’m speeding through them because I was paranoid that I was spending way too much time at the top. Whew what happens here people? Ok, number nine. Keep your machine running smoothly, this goes back to the frustration when I asked you to keep it simple. Sometimes especially when you’re a beginner and you’re not really sure exactly how to troubleshoot. If your machine is not in great working order it will drive you bananas because you’ll be like, “How come my fabric is getting sucked under my plate? How come it’s making this th-thunk sound? How come my thread keeps hopping out of the thread take up lever and I’m getting errors on my machine? How come I’m getting a nest on the back of my fabric?” Side note if you have an internal thread snip in your machine and every time you start a seam you get a nest on the back, it’s totally normal use a leader which is just like a little piece of scrap fabric that you run through there before or even like have a side project that you don’t really mind if there’s like a nest on the seam and run it through before it and then you’ll be fine. What ends up happening with those thread snips is that the tail ends of the thread end up inside the machine and so when the next stitch happens that little – those little tails get sucked up and they get attached to the back of your of your seam. So that’s a little thing from me to you, it’s super frustrating for many people especially if the first time they’ve moved from a machine that did not have internal thread snips to a machine that does, that could be a little bit of a, “Oh yikes,” but anyway I digress, yet again. But we want to keep our machine running super smoothly, that means cleaning it out every few bobbins, it means routinely changing our needles, especially at the beginning and the end of a beginning end or end of a large project, that means making sure that we’re properly oiling it if your machine requires oil, that means making sure we’re using a quality thread. I’m not sure what the episode number is, but I did an episode all about thread earlier, about a year ago or so – so I will make sure that’s in the show notes so that you can go listen to that if you want. But there’s a lot of things that you can do to just make your life easier because I don’t want you to be frustrated. Frustration when we’re learning a new skill -is like the number one thing that will make you be like, “Well you know I’d rather watch Bridgerton,” you know and I don’t want you to do that.

And so, number 10 and I think I’ve been building towards this, is just to remember to have fun. This is your hobby, this is the thing that you’re carving out time for because you enjoy it. Period, like hard stop because you enjoy it. How many things in your day do you do 100% just because you enjoy it? You might enjoy your job, but you do it for the money, you might enjoy playing with your kids, but you do it because you’re trying to raise good human beings, you might – you know what I mean there’s so many things that you do during the day that you enjoy but there is another reason why you do it. With your hobby the only reason you do it is because you enjoy it. If you are not enjoying yourself, figure out a way to make sure that you are and if you need help and you need tips or you need tricks contact me nicole@nicolegilbertquilts.com, I am always here to help and I love hearing from you guys. 

Whoo, alright guys there you have it. You have just finished another episode of the Stop Scrolling, Start Sewing podcast. Thank you for hanging out with me and make sure you never miss an episode by hitting subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. Now stop scrolling and start sewing.