How quilts are made


Quilting - Beginners and Fabric Collecting

With an estimated 130 completed quilts to herof books out there that tell you how much
credit (and counting), Trudy Schwader at agematerial, say for instance for a log cabin.
75 has had a rich lifetime of quiltingSimple ones like that will give you a good
experience. Conversations with Trudy to makeplace to start. Those simple ones are the
a record of these experiences resulted in aones that I make now to use up my scraps.[Q:
series of articles. What follows here isSpeaking of books, do you have a big
article Number II.[Question: You have acollection or library, or how did you get
legendary fabric collection - enoughyour patterns that you use for your
inventory for a small store! How did youquilts?]Trudy: No. Not a big library. Just a
collect so much fabric?]Trudy: I had 8 kidsfew books that really have a lot of patterns
and I sewed for them all the time - cottonin them. And then, like the log cabin - it's
dresses, shirts, whatever. When I sewed Iso easy now for me to put one together or to
always saved the material that was left, andmake variations. The way I make the log
I still have lots of those scraps (laughs).cabin, I learned from talking to another
In fact, I know I have a few scraps fromquilter. I had gone to a mall to one of the
material that my mother used when she madefabric stores, and they have classes. They
clothes for us back when I was young. Unreal,have people come in and tell about quilts and
but I really do have some of those fabricsother types of sewing projects.[Q: So you
from the 30s and 40s.So when I started sewinglearned an easy way, a short-cut way to put
a quilt, I would usually have scraps to begintogether a classic like a log-cabin, by
with. And then I would go into stores -taking a class?]Trudy: It's a good idea for
fabric places you know - and if I neededbeginners to take a class, but this one
something special to go with the quilt I waswasn't a class actually. The speaker was
making, then I would buy it. Of course,just showing us some quilts and talking about
while I was there I would see otherhow to do a few things. It was part of her
materials, and as I say, some of these boltsdemonstration with some other items she was
of material would jump out and say, "Buy me,"selling. It's like with any craft, knowing a
and so I'd buy some of that cloth, too![Q:few little tricks can save you a lot of
What happened to those pieces that you boughttime.[Q: Can you give an example of a
on impulse? I mean, sometimes, you'd havetime-saving trick?]Trudy: Well. Most people
fabrics for a long time that you'd never usemight already know about a tool called a
and then all of the sudden it'd be just therotary cutter, but it is probably the biggest
right thing for a quilt? Or did it end upsingle thing that made quilting so much
that those that jumped out and said, "Buyeasier for me than using scissors. It's a
me," never quite fit for any quilt you madecutter kind of like a pizza-cutting wheel. I
later?]Trudy: Some. I do use a lot of them,can stack up fabric, line it up along the
but there's still a few that I've never used.edge of a special ruler that belongs with the
I think this is not unusual for quilters. Itrotary cutter, and get a perfectly straight
takes some time and some 'mistakes' tocut every time without the effort of
acquire a really good on-hand quilting fabricsqueezing a scissors over and over to cut out
collection. You need lots of variety andall the little pieces of a pattern.It's the
color.[Q: What advice would you give abest, and anyone today quilting without this
beginner? What are some things that you knowtool is really making it hard on themselves.
now that you wish you had known earlier inGo get a rotary cutter right now if you don't
your quilting experience?]Trudy: For ahave one already.Theresa Modine's studies of
beginner, the thing to do is to go to a book,American folk art and women's history
find a simple pattern that you might like andincludes an emphasis on quilting. She is
the instructions will tell you about how muchcontributing author of The Quilt Box, your
material to get. And if you ask them aboutresource for a world of quilting information.
it, most of the people in fabric stores willAddtional articles by Theresa are found at
give you a lot of advice about what goesFirst Class Fabric.
together and what doesn't. There are plenty



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