How to make a Quilt
Quilting is really not as hard as it may seem. If you can sew a straight line, you pretty much are good to go. Making a quilt is done in several stages, below a description of making a quilt with fabrics from clothing:
Gather your fabrics
This sounds easy, but really is one of the hardest things for a lot of people. In case of memory quilts, gather all the fabrics you’d like to use, make sure they are clean (if not: wash, dry, iron them) and then start cutting out all the seams. In the end you’ll end up with a pile of fabrics that you will be able to use for your quilt.
Choose a pattern
Most quilts are made from a pattern and typically, memory quilts are scrappy quilts. Googling scrappy quilt patterns will give you so many patterns to choose from, it can take weeks to find that exact right pattern for the quilt you want to make. In case of a memory quilt, you are somewhat bound by the fabrics you have and the amount of each pattern. But it is definitely worth your time and effort to go through this phase. If you are making a T-shirt quilt, it’s all about puzzling out where to put what item, you do not need a pattern.
Sew the top
A quilt is made from three parts: the top, batting and a backing. But making the top is the first step, traditionally this is called piecing (since you use all the different pieces to make a bigger whole). Following the pattern you chose: start cutting your fabric in the right shapes and sew your top together.
Make the Quilt Sandwich
After your top is finished, it is time to make the quilt sandwich. This means you are putting the three parts of the quilt together: top (also called flimsy), batting (also called wadding) and backing.
Depending on how the sandwich will be quilted (by hand, by sewing machine or by longarm), it needs to be basted either by thread basting, glue basting or pin basting. Or not at all in the case of a longarm.
Quilt the Quilt
Then the actual quilting is done. As far as we are concerned, it is the most rewarding process; we love seeing the quilt come to life as depth is added by the stitching.