Quilt Making Secrets
…revealed by Eugenia Espinosa.
We are so happy to share with all of you step by step of the process of making a quilt, but first let’s get back to a bit of history.
Quilting
Illustration of a quilt
Quilting can be traced back as far as ancient Egypt and Asia. It spread to Europe and then was brought to the Americas by the Puritans.
Illustrative Quilt with Egyptian motifs
Quilting is the joining pieces of fabric together. It is a craft that served a purpose. Quilts were made to provide warmth as blankets, and they were used to cover doors and windows in the winter months.
Quilts were made with scraps of fabric when money and resources were limited. Often used to make a quilt was old clothing and other items that were no longer usable. These items were cut apart and the fabric recycled to make a quilt. The fabrics were patched together to create a quilt top.
Illustrative hand sewing and an Ancient Menonite Quilt
Many quilts were made from ‘blocks’ that were assembled by hand individually around the fire at night. Once enough blocks were made, they were all joined together to make the quilt top. The quilt top was then sewn together with a padding and a backing fabric.
A ‘mug rug’ is a coaster for a coffee cup. It is made from a 6-inch block. Quilting can be very precise, but it also can be very creative.
Let’s do a creative mug rug!
Everyone’s mug rug will turn out totally different and this is what makes it fun.
Eugenia’s materials pictured
Materials needed for the ‘mug rug’ project…(a coaster for a coffee mug)
FABRIC - Choose cotton blends for best results - silks and woven fabrics are hard to quilt
You need enough fabric to cut:
* One 6.5-inch (16 cm) square
* Four strips of contrasting fabric 6.5-in x 3-in (16 cm x 7 cm)
FELT enough to cut 6.5-in (16 cm) square, white is best.
* You can substitute fleece, batting or regular fabric but felt is the best.
* Michael’s has felt sheets 12-in x12-in for $ .49 each.
* cardboard cut into a 6.5-in (16 cm) square for block guide
* thread
* needle
* pins
* scissors
* pencil
* iron
* sewing machine…if you don’t have one you can sew the block by hand
After the Quilt block is complete you can choose to embellish and decorate it.
Optional items may be:
* beads
* embroidery thread
See process below step by step :
…continuation of the quilting process.
Quilt patterns examples
