Quilter's Academy Freshman Year: A Skill-Building Course in Quiltmaking

274 Pages·2009·8.53 MB·English

by  Harriet Hargrave

Copyright
Quilter’s Academy Vol. 1—Freshman Year
Copyright © 2009 by C&T Publishing, Inc.
ISBN 978-1-60705-106-0
Published by C&T Publishing, Inc.,
PO Box 1456, Lafayette, CA 94549.
www.ctpub.com
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DEDICATION
We would like to dedicate this book to a very important woman who has
influenced the world of quilting in untold ways, but whose name is
unfamiliar to today’s new quilters.
To Barbara Johannah, one of the earliest innovators of strip piecing and a
passel of other fantastic ideas that we take for granted today—
continuous-curve machine quilting, the use of mirrors for design, sheet
method half-square triangles…the list goes on. Thank you for your
inspiration and ideas.
We would also like to dedicate this book to all the thousands of Harriet’s
students who have influenced her desire to be the very best teacher she
could be during the past 32 years. We hope the passion for quilting runs
as deep in them as it does in us.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A special thanks to everyone at C&T Publishing for giving us the
opportunity to build a true study program through this series of books
that brings us back to the very basics (and beyond) of great quiltmaking
skills.
Sincere thanks to SewEzi for providing us with one of their wonderful
portable tables and to Dream World, makers of Sew Steady tables, for
providing us with a sewing table.
A big thank-you to Harriet’s Treadle Arts for providing all the fabric,
thread, and batting we could possibly use. Shopping after hours is such a
joy! Also to our employees—Linda, Cindy, TJ, Georganne, Shar, and
Kari—who kept the store going strong so we could stay home to write
and sew for endless hours.
The authors take full responsibility for the contents of this book,
including the technical accuracy of the information. Please direct
any questions to [email protected].
Contents
PREFACE
A NOTE FROM HARRIET
CLASS 110
Lesson One: Setting up a sewing area
Lesson Two: Sewing machines
Lesson Three: Rotary cutters and cutting mats
Lesson Four: Ruler basics
CLASS 120
Lesson One: All about fabric
Lesson Two: Washing your fabric
Lesson Three: Preparing fabric
Lesson Four: Working properly with a ruler
Lesson Five: Cutting straight strips
CLASS 130
Lesson One: Why ¼″ seams don’t work
Lesson Two: Measuring for accuracy
Lesson Three: Sewing for accuracy
Lesson Four: Pressing for success
Lesson Five: Let’s sew!
Lesson Six: Cutting segments accurately
Lesson Seven: Your first quilts
CLASS 140
Lesson One: Upgrading your sewing area
Lesson Two: Cutting and ironing area refinements
Lesson Three: Useful gadgets
Lesson Four: The next step
CLASS 150
Lesson One: The basics of base grids
Lesson Two: Determining the grid size needed for a block
Lesson Three: Beginning drafting
Lesson Four: Making fabric mock-ups of blocks
Lesson Five: Planning a quilt layout
Lesson Six: Expanding piecing skills with Four-Patch blocks
Lesson Seven: Four-Patch quilts
CLASS 160
Lesson One: Fabric collecting basics
Lesson Two: Choosing fabrics for a quilt
Lesson Three: Constructing perfect Nine-Patch blocks
Lesson Four: Continuing with precision piecing
CLASS 170
Lesson One: Understanding terminology
Lesson Two: Reading the blocks
Lesson Three: Working through the Double Irish Chain baby quilt
Lesson Four: Combined grids
CLASS 180
Lesson One: Checking the quilt for squareness
Lesson Two: Using a ruler to straighten edges
Lesson Three: Measuring for border lengths
Lesson Four: Borders with mitered corners
CLASS 190
Lesson One: Quilt backing
Lesson Two: Preparing the quilt for binding
Lesson Three: Basic binding
Lesson Four: Quilting design ideas
YOUR FINAL
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
RESOURCES
Preface
note
We do not address the quilting process in these books. The most thorough
book available about machine quilting is my Heirloom Machine Quilting
(see Resources, page 112). I strongly recommend that you study it as you
are learning to piece and that you learn to do simple quilting as you
progress with your quilt tops. Nothing is more satisfying than finishing
the projects as you go. By the time you are into the more advanced
techniques, your quilting will have evolved, and you will be creating
wonderful quilts.
You are holding the first in a series of six books. The purpose of the series is to
build your quiltmaking skills—from beginner to advanced—on a firm
foundation. This first volume is to be used as a workbook. It contains a complete
sequence of classes, lessons, exercises, and projects that will build your skills
from one project to the next. We highly recommend that you make the quilts in
the order presented, as we have placed them in order of complexity. Each quilt
offers new challenges and involves new techniques that will help you
continually build your skill level. We have chosen designs that are timeless and
very adaptable to traditional fabrics as well as to more trendy fabric and color
choices. Use these quilts to explore your color and style preferences.
This book and the next in the series deal with quilts made of strips and squares.
By mastering the techniques presented in these first books, you will be laying a
foundation for precise, high-quality piecing. There are hundreds of quilt designs
based on strips and squares, so you can spend a long time exploring these
stunning quilts before you jump into the more complex piecing featured in the
following books.