Quilting

Millie

Have decided I need to take up a hobby for 2012 and saw the advert for the new quilting magazine and think I might get into it.
So does anyone have any experience and is it the sort of thing you could get into handly enough??

John Mason

you will get a better response in the arts and crafts forum

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=590

looksee

My immediate reaction would be, forget the quilting magazine and spend your money on nice fabrics etc. Go to your local library and borrow books about quilting and patchwork to make a start. When you know what you are looking for treat yourself to a book on the subject, you will get one for about the cost of two magazines.

Open your interest to patchwork as well as quilting, quilting can be a bit limited to start with as you need something to quilt! If you can sew, or have an interest in sewing, go for it, its a lovely, peaceful, rewarding hobby. Learn to do hand sewing - if you allow yourself to think, I will do machine sewing, its quicker, you have the wrong attitude. Take your time, of course you can do machine sewn patchwork, but not because 'its quicker'.

Half the satisfaction of this kind of hobby is choosing fabrics, working it out, planning and preparation. The sewing part is just the icing on the cake.

The magazines are very attractive but they are very expensive and go on and on and on...there is only so much you need to learn then you go the way you want to go, not the way they think you should! Have fun.

whippetgood

I agree about the library, and avoiding the magazines. I went and had a good oul browse in the library this time last year and they have a lot of resources for crafts.
Found some great embroidery books too.
I was also lucky to find a patchwork book in a charity shop for €1 so keep your eyes peeled! Loads of resources available online as well, best of luck with the hobby

Millypenny

You could always join the Irish Patchwork Society - it'd be a great way to get started on your new hobby.
There's 8 branches around the country and they hold monthly meetings, workshops etc.
Most of the meetings have fabric shops so you'd be able to get quilting cottons, supplies etc.

If you want some more details on locations of meetings etc. you can PM me for more info.

chicwithstix

Millie,

I would recommend that you concentrate on getting some quilting supplies. A cutting matt, rotary cutter, ruler, scissors and of course some pretty colour coordiated fabric. Don't forget the quilt batting and the muslin or cotton backing for the quilt project.

ElleEm

Regarding buying "nice material"- go to your local charity shop!

I began looking into quilting last year but didn't want to commit to spending loads of money on material so went into my local charity shop and bought some old clothes and bed clothes to cut up and start me off.