Tips for Cutting Out the Pieces for Your Handmade Quilt

Making a handmade quilt is a project comprised of many steps. Before the last stitch of the binding is tied off, completing your beautiful handmade quilt, you will have invested many hours of your precious time. No doubt you will also have invested some hard-earned cash for fabrics, batting, thread and other supplies. With this much time and money spent, you will want your finished quilt to be something you are proud to give as a gift or use in your home.

Every step is important to the look of your finished project. Great care should be taken to complete each step meticulously before proceeding to the next step. After selecting your pattern and fabric, the next step in creating a handmade quilt is cutting out the individual quilt pieces. A few simple steps will assure that the quilt pieces you cut out can be turned into a beautiful handmade quilt top and later a completed quilt.

Always wash the fabric before starting to cut out the quilt pieces. If the fabric is going to shrink, you want it to shrink before you cut the pieces, rather than after the quilt top is completed.

After the fabric is washed and dried, it is important to iron each piece of fabric you intend to use. This will assure that the fabric is flat and free of wrinkles or folds. Wrinkles and folds in the fabric could result in the pieces being slightly different sizes. Enough different sizes of quilt pieces will affect the measurement of the completed quilt top.

Take care to make sure that each piece is cut exactly the same size. You may have a variety of different shapes or sizes for the particular quilt top you are creating, but "like piece" should be exactly the same size. You want your finished quilt top to be a perfect rectangle or square.

To assure the pieces are all the exact same size, use the same template or pattern for each quilt piece. Don't use previously cut pieces as a pattern for the rest of the pieces you are cutting out.

You will sew the pieces together using the same seam allowance for the entire quilt top. Difference sizes of pieces will result in a lopsided quilt top that is longer on one side or one end than the other. Trying to even this out after your quilt top is finished is extremely difficult and will be noticeable in your finished handmade quilt.

It is much easier to take the time and effort to prepare your fabric and cut your pieces out correctly than to try to "fix" any problems after the pieces are all sewing together. When you put in the last stitch of your beautiful handmade quilt, and have taken the extra time to do it right, you can step back and take pleasure in a job well done. You will be glad you took the time and care to follow each step in a way that will assure that your lovely handmade quilt is something you can be proud to say you made. You can then enjoy using it in your home or, if it is a gift, you can feel confident in giving it as a gift that the recipient will be pleased to receive it and enjoy using it for many years to come.





About the Author
The author comes from a family of dedicated quilters and has had many years of experience in creating and caring for handmade quilts. These suggestions come from personal experience . A feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment awaits anyone who enters the creative world of quilting. Find quilting tips and information and the best quilting frames and supplies at http://www.bestquiltingsupplies.com.

Article Source: Tips for Cutting Out the Pieces for Your Handmade Quilt