(I had the kindergartener's flip the fabric over to check and see if they were making a nice dotted line with the thread on both sides. You can load up 4 or 5 stitches onto you needle before you pull the needle through. Try to make the stitches as small as you can. Make a running stitch along the pencil line. Start your seam by inserting your needle 1/4 inch from the corner of the fabric. Once the quilt is finished, this will be the top side. Align 2 pieces of fabric with the right sides (the prettier side of the piece) facing each other. Since you will be sewing through 2 layers of fabric, you only need to mark the pencil lines on half the pieces. Draw the pencil line on the back of the fabric. This worked very well when I was sewing a quilt with my son's kindergarten class. Beginners usually find it easier if you draw a pencil line first. I have done this for so many years that I can 'eye-ball' it. You will be sewing a straight line 1/4 inch from the edge of the piece. If you are an experienced sewer, use whatever length you are comfortable with. No sense frustrating yourself by getting your thread tangled up every few minutes. This is probably a good idea if you are a beginner. Most of the quilting books suggest using threads that are no longer than 18 inches. You can just go with a neutral color-black or white. Tiny bits of red thread might show on the final quilt but I don't worry that much about the thread color. If I am making a blue quilt, I try to use blue thread. The color of the thread really doesn't matter much. Since mine is a scrap quilt, there are a lot of different colors of fabric. If you are using thinner thread, I recommend doubling up the thread-2 strands will be less likely to break. I use it for most of my sewing, especially sewing on buttons. This thread is thicker (and stronger) than all-purpose thread. I find them too small to work with-bad eyesight and the beginning of arthritis. They make a tiny needle called a quilter's between. Big needles are harder to pull through the fabric. You should use as small of a needle as you are comfortable with. The size of your needle is not completely critical. You will be amazed how much you can accomplish using these down times. The zip-loc goes in my purse for the next time I have to wait at the doctor's office or picking up one of the kids. (Yes, I have done it-sometimes successfully.) Once everything is cut, I store all the pieces in a zip-loc bag along with the spool of thread, my needle, small scissors, and a couple of pins. It can be challenging to work with really thick and very thin fabrics together. Try to keep the fabrics close to the same weight. If you try this, I recommend that you avoid the stretchy things like onsies and sleepers. (Too many dark colors together or too many light ones and you might as well not even bother with all the sewing-just use a bigger piece of fabric.) This project could also be done using out-grown baby clothes. If you are buying fabric for this project, make sure that you have enough variety in the colors or at least some contrast. If you buy new fabric for your quilt, be sure to pre-wash and dry the fabric before cutting. It was a lot of work for the employee who had to cut it but she didn't complain at all.) Most fabric stores have a supply of cotton fabrics that are already cut into quarter yard pieces-4 or 5 of these will make a baby sized quilt. (I once watched my aunt buy 20 different fabrics but only 1/8 of a yard of each one. You can buy large pieces of fabric or very small pieces at any fabric store. Yes, you are allowed to break the rule but be aware that cotton/poly can be slippery and sometimes stretchy. The rule for quilting is: 100% cotton only. If you are new to sewing in general or quilting in specific, you may need to buy fabrics. Use an appropriate color to make sure that you can see the lines. If you do not have one or know someone who does, I recommend that you use your ruler an a pencil to mark cutting lines on the back of your fabric. I use a rotary cutter because it is so fast and the cuts are so perfect. You point to one fabric and see if the child can find the matching ones.) The basic rule is-cut your fabric into pieces that are one half inch bigger than the finished piece of the quilt. It makes for a fun little game to play with the baby as he/she grows. (For the sample I used in this 'ible, I used 27 different fabrics and 3 of each one. If I use 81 four and a half inch squares, the quilt will end up with 9 rows of 9 squares. If I use 144 three and a half inch squares, the quilt will end up with 12 rows of 12 squares each. The finished size of my quilt is 36 inches by 36 inches.
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