Free quilting resources
I’ve got some old clothes to get rid of, so I’ve been thinking about making quilts. The only problem is, I don’t know the first thing about quilting. I’ve hunted down some resources to help me get started, and decided while I was at it I’d write a whole article listing some of the stuff I’ve found that should be of interest to more advanced quilters, too.
Learning to quilt
- Gloria Massard at SewAQuilt has a step-by-step system to teach you the basics, get you started, and keep you from getting frustrated. Start here. Don’t click the links within the pages yet (I did and got confused) – just read, and at the bottom of each page, click the “Next” link. Just reading this gives you a sense you know how to get started on this.
- YouCanMakeThis offers a free quilting ebook. You have to give them a name and an email address, then you get a free ebook which is easy to print (or read on screen – nice, big print). It’s less of a tutorial and more a collection of basic (and more advanced) tips to help you out.
- A few months ago, we featured this Easy wool quilt tutorial from Purlbee, which I can’t wait to try out.
- Victoriana has a library full of useful quilting tools – charts to help you calculate how much fabric you need to cut, tips, explanations about tools you need and more.
Free Quilt Patterns
The internet is overflowing with free quilt patterns. A search for “free quilt patterns” in Google brings up pages and pages, but some of them have out of date links or make it hard to find the free patterns, running you around in circles in hopes you’ll get tired and just buy some patterns (maybe later when I know what I’m doing!). Here are some of the ones I liked best:
- McCall’s Quilting offers lots of really nice free patterns labeled with their level of difficulty so you won’t get in over your head.
- BlockCentral has a good collection of patterns, well-organized so you can find what you want in very few clicks.
- Free Quilt Patterns has links to many different patterns and is well maintained. Links open in a new window so you don’t need to worry about getting lost from the site.
- About.com is another good source – I dislike how their site is arranged and how many clicks it takes to get anywhere, but there’s no question they have some nice free patterns.
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Love this! My grandmother taught me to quilt as a child. I made a quilt out of my 3 year old daughters pretty dresses. When she got her new daybed. She loves making her bed and remembering where she worn this or that.