Quilting A Blanket Easily

For making perfectly straight cuts, choose a thick, clear acrylic ruler. A good size to start with is a 6x24" rectangular ruler marked in 1/4" increments.

Blanket Quilt Now it is time to start the actual quilting process. You need a small set of scissors, quilt needles (these have a larger eye but are very sharp in order to go through all the layers), quilting thread, thimble and a very comfortable chair.

For each block you want to make also cut a five-sided piece of solid fabric. Make the sides angular, not parallel. Don't make it too big or too small roughly about a ninth of the block (like a tic tac toe pattern on the muslin foundation square). It will serve as your crazy, off center middle of your design.

String quilts made by women in Gee's Bend, Alabama, and Mid-western Amish communities, have become an art form. Their stringed blocks are often square in shape or close to it, with one above the other. Sometimes sashing strips divide the blocks. The Amish string quilts can look like stacks of small squares. This pattern is named Coins.

Place a few straight pins at random places on the surface of the quilt. (Anywhere but on the lines.) This will keep the pieces from shifting during sewing.

Just as with many string and selvedge edge quilt blocks, women took the cigar ribbons and arranged them to form designs. The blocks were usually square, with strips laid in log cabin designs, on the diagonal, or in quartered designs. The color would add another dimension as the secondary pattern that formed when the blocks were sewn together.

The size of blanket that you will give will have to depend on the recipient. Smaller blankets are ideal for kids while large ones will be more appropriate for adults that usually have king size beds. Materials that are best for blankets are fleece, alpaca, merino wool, and cotton, to name a few.