One Wee Bird: Ultimate Beginner Quilt - Supplies and Getting Ready

Hi Peeps!

It's the 1st of August and the means it's time to prep for the Ultimate Beginner Quilt!!

Kimberley from the Fat Quarter Shop will be hosting videos on their You Tube channel starting to day and she will teach you everything you need to know about making your first quilt from beginning to end....how awesome this would've been when I first started quilting!!

I won't blather on here as I'm sure everything will be covered in the tutorials, but as I sew along I will let you know little tips and tricks I've learnt that may be helpful and any notions I find helpful.

1. Rulers and Rotary Cutters are a must, I have far too many but they have a weird habit of disappearing under piles of fabric LOL but you really only need one of each to get started.

I still have my very first ruler that I bought years ago, made in NZ and warped when I left it too close to the heater... oops .. but 16 years later it works perfectly fine with a little help from these sandpaper sticky circle thingys that stop it slipping on the fabric.

I use 80/12 for piecing and change my machine needles regularly, if you have tension issues, change needle and clean the fluff from your machine...ask me how I know?! LOL

Try to buy the largest mat you can afford and/or have space for and throw out pins that bend or get burrs on them, they're cheap and the thinner the better...glass heads so you don't melt them with your iron....ask me how I know that also LOLOL

My fabric hasn't arrived yet...but this bundle sort of made itself on my table and looks pretty cute dontcha think?

My last piece of advice is to make friends with your machine and it's manual!! This is Lady Muck's screen ( Elna Innovate 720 ) and I had her for almost 2 years before I realised I could move the needle position left and right. 3.5 is factory setting for 1/4" but 4.5 is a scant 1/4".

Hard to photograph but stitching between 4 and 5 is factory setting and around 2 is a scant seam, just inside the 1/4' ruler line....makes a difference on tricky blocks.

These are great blocks to learn multiple skills on and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's different fabric choices. I'm also sewing along with some very clever quilters so if you know anyone who would love to learn our crazy habit feel free to share and visit the people below :)