I am spending a couple of weeks with my third foster family.  I got my foster mother interested in quilting when she came to Texas to visit us over Thanksgiving a couple of years ago.  Since I believe all quilters are constantly in the learning process, she informed me that one of the things she wanted to learn while I was here was how to improve on her piecing techniques – such as having her points line up better.

So, we have been quilting!  I have made two prayer shawls since I’ve been here already and am cutting out another quilt.  It’s a bit of a challenge for me to have someone watch me while I work since I usually am alone in my sewing room at home, enjoying my quilt therapy with just a few interruptions of my kids.  She doesn’t talk much while I’m working except to ask a question or two about what I’m doing and how I’m doing it.  Unfortunately for her, I am probably not much help on the techniques she wanted the help with since I’ve been quilting nearly 30 years.  She was stunned at how near-perfect my points came out on my blocks when she saw that I didn’t do anything special to make that happen.  I explained that if you cut your pieces correctly and you sewed the blocks together with a steady one-quarter inch seam allowance – all of the piecing should come out correctly.  I know that’s not much help to a newby quilter, but it’s all I’ve got! 🙂

Once I finish cutting out this next quilt and piece it, I will leave it with her to hand-quilt as she does a great job and really enjoys her time at her quilt frame. 

So, if you are a new quilter and want to learn how to quilt without taking classes – see if you can find a more experienced quilter to work with you.  Just by watching them and their personal processes, you may be able to improve your techniques (especially if you are a visual learner).  It’s been fun for me and the questions have been good ones.  I surely would have loved to learn more about quilting through watching someone else when I first started out; though I taught myself through books, I could have perfected my own techiques quicker if I had the luxury of watching someone with more know-how and tips long before I felt I was finally piecing a quilt with accuracy.