10 tips for quality quilting

Fancy trying your hand at crafting or quilting?

Then the Scottish Quilting Show and The Creative Craft Show at Glasgow’s SEC on March 8–11 is the place for you.

The shows bring together more than 100 exhibitors showcasing artisan, handcrafted gifts, as well as supplies, inspiration and demonstrations for crafters and quilters.

All the entries to The Scottish Quilting Competition will also be displayed and the winners announced over the weekend.

We asked quilting expert Bonnie McKerracher, of bonnies-workshop. com, to share her tips for getting started in quilting.

1. Quilting takes time and patience – one quilt can take six months to create – but it’s worth it.

They make the most beautiful wedding or baby gifts or can be displayed as a piece of art or donated to charity to raise funds. Occasionally they are sold and can range from £200 to £2000 per quilt.

2. Get inspired – buy a book or magazine full of patchwork patterns.

3. Master the basics – find a teacher and go to a regular class to learn basic cutting and sewing techniques – and enjoy a natter! 4. You sew patchwork by hand or sewing machine.

Stitching by hand is slower but can be done anywhere.

5. Gather together a basic sewing kit: hand sewing needles and a needle threader, good neutral coloured thread, small sharp scissors, sharp straight pins, a ruler and a sharp pencil to mark the fabric patches.

Use a basic mechanical pencil – no need for a sharpener.

6. Start with 100% cotton fabric. It’s easiest to work with. Wash, dry and press the fabrics using starch.

Fat Quarter bundles are an easy way to start, giving you a selection of co-ordinating fabrics, which will definitely work together.

7. Buy a quilter’s ruler marked with inches, half inches, quarter inches and eighth inches.

8. If you use a sewing machine to stitch your patches together, invest in a quarter inch presser foot – it makes sewing accurate and easy.

9. Always press seams you’ve sewn before putting patches together into blocks.

10. Life’s too short to stress over stitching! Be prepared to rip it out and stitch again.