Quilt questions!

[mamabeeof3]

Hi! I am new to this community and to quilting! Actually, I have no idea what I'm doing, so I thought I would ask my questions here! I want to make my daughters a quilt. I was going to make it a 72x88 using 8" squares. How much of a seam allowance do I need for my overlap? I was going to use 9 different fabrics and I needed to know how many yards of each fabric I will need. I am just a little overwhelmed and any advice or suggestions is very much appreciated!

[auntjana]

Normally we use a 1/4 inch seam to join the pieces together. So in using 8 inch blocks, you need to cut each one at 8 1/2 inches, to add enough for the seam alloances.

As to how many yards - just see how many blocks of each color you need and then how many you can get out of a 1/4 yard of fabric. The reason for the 1/4 yard is that is the closest yardage measurement that you can use, that a fabric store cuts in.

I can see that your quilt will be 9 blocks across and 11 blocks long - in a 42 -43 inch wide usable fabric width - you can get 5 blocks cut per strip of fabric. Go from there to use all the colors you want.

Hope that this can get you started
Jana

[mamabeeof3]

Thank you so much! I found a chart and according to it I can get 16 (8 1/2") squares from 1 yard of fabric. Does that sound right? Haha, I'm sorry if I sound dumb, but again, I have no idea what I'm doing. I want a new hobby, and would love nothing more than to make something special for my babies. Working on the girls room first, then it's on to my son's room.

[auntjana]

Charts are great - just be sure that the usable fabric is the width that you have - the fabric makers have down sized our fabrics - we are used to a 44 - 45 inch width and most are now running 42 - 43 - those little buggers!

good luck! I have a question for you - are you going to use borders on the quilt or are the squares going to be the outside edge as well? If you use a border - you won't need as many squares to reach the desired width and length of the quilt - the border takes up some of that space. If you do use a border, you need to add that for fabric you need.

Over in the video section of the website are tons of videos that are lessons in assembling and making quilts by El. Her methods are wonderful! Love all of her rulers - they make short work of making blocks. Check it out.

This is a great hobby - I have been quilting for many years and still learn new tricks -- but be careful - fabric is addicting! LOL

Jana

[MainelyMe]

If you really want to make quilts my best suggestion for you would be use your local library. Most libraries have books on how to make a quilt. Or, if you have a local quilt shop that offers classes, I would urge you to consider taking a basic quilting class. You can learn so many things from a good teacher that you may never hear about otherwise.
Good luck to you and we are here to help if you need it!
Joan

[Sosew55]

If you have extra left, you could make a pillow, pillow case,or fabric bowl. Sometimes we get busy and time passes till the quilts are finished. And if it''''s going to be a very special project. I think what I am trying to say is the collections disappear quickly.