questions

[grandmaof12]

Hi all, I am very new to this and have just began to buy fabric and over the summer have got a good start on it. Question....I want to make a log cabin quilt or a rail fence cause they are easy right? Does the squares on the log cabin all have to be the same? Alot of fabric but just don't know how to match up HELP! Jan

[ipquilter]

Hi grandmaof12! Welcome! Yes, log cabin and rail fence are easy and between the two rail fence is the easiest. My first quilt was a rail fence. I'd start with that one. You'll get a feel for the process but probably won't get real frustrated. Here's a little advice--

Measure twice-cut once.
Use a sharp blade on your rotary cutter and be safe with it.
It's your quilt and you can use any fabric you want to. Don't be afraid of color.
An accurate 1/4 inch seam doesn't come naturally to anybody. After you make up all your blocks make sure they are all the same size. Trim them up if necessary.

One more thing, what was it.....? Oh yeah--Have fun with it! Quilting is a glorious addiction!

Sherry

[sewbug]

My first quilt was a long cabin. Don't match up color match up dark and lights. For a long cabin use darks/med colors on one side and light colors on the other side. The center square does not have to be the same, that is your choice. My DD made a rail fence quilt top using dark, med, and light color fabric. The hardest part will be deciding how to arrange the blocks after you sew them! There will be dozens of possibilities and you'll think I'll make another one like this and another one like that.

[Evie]

You could always buy one of the fabric kits here:

http://www.quiltinaday.com/shoponline/f ... ric=yk_log

I did a rail fence for my son called "Don't Fence Me In." Pattern by QIAD. I would have to look, but I think the pattern is in the "Still Stripping" book.





It took me nearly an hour to find all the fabric at the LQS. I had to make sure there were no flowers in it! I chose two color groups, browns and blues with a nice cream/tan that fit both. After I did the blocks, I squared them all up, then laid them down on the floor to get them in the right order. Then I labeled the rows and carefully picked them up in order. I used flannel for batting and minkee for the back. I didn't use any binding, just pulled the minkee around and hemmed it. My son loved it and it was an easy quilt to make.

Don't stress over the fabrics. Just lay the fabric down next to each other and see if they play well together. If you like it, then go for it.

[grandmaof12]

Thank you Sherry,sewbug and evie. I have some fabric and a lot of fq but just did not know if you use the samew material or if all the block are suppose to look the same. Thanks again for answering me!!! Have a great day! Jan

[grandmaof12]

oh by the way Evie your quilt is beautiful. Have never made one so don't know about minkee what kind of fabric is that? Jan

[Evie]

Thanks Jan. Minkee is very soft and cuddly, like velour only more so. I know they sell it here in some of the kits, but so far I haven't noticed it by itself. Bought mine through the local quilt store. They special ordered it for me. All the colors they had were pastels and I wanted a solid smooth brown. It's heavy enough that I did not want a thick batting, that's why I went with flannel for the batting.