There is such a variety of different quilts to make that it is understandable that some quilters become obsessive – so many patchwork quilts patterns to choose from, so little time! The most basic quilt design would be a whole cloth quilt. This would not necessarily be the easiest pattern to choose because the quilting needs to be well designed in order to cover the entire cloth and quilting can often be the most time consuming step of making a quilt.
The most simple patchwork quilts patterns for a beginner quilter would be simple designs of squares sewn together in rows. The squares can be of different colors so that a quilt made with pastel colors could be made for a baby while one made to the same design but with more vibrant colors could be made for an older child or an adult. For those wishing to learn how to do quilting this is a great option because a small quilt can be made, giving satisfying results more quickly, and the quilting need only be stitching along the seams. This is known as stitch in the ditch quilting and involves sewing straight lines only.
Once the basic beginner quilt has been achieved, it is possible to branch out into more complex designs. Triangles require a little more care as there is the risk of the fabric stretching along one of the sides of the triangle, but they can add hugely to the choice of patterns available. In fact, there are so many different ways of sewing squares and triangles together in patchwork quilts patterns that it would be possible to make quilts for years without repeating a pattern!
The quilt block is the basic building block of a quilt. It could be just one square as in the beginner quilt mentioned above or it could be a large number of squares and triangles sewn together in a specific design. Traditional quilt block patterns were at one time shared through newspaper columns or amongst friends. This led to the same or very similar quilt blocks having different names in different parts of the world. In books or websites that specialize in quilt block patterns it is quite common to see a photo of a quilt block with half a dozen different names attributed to it.
The names themselves are an endless source of pleasure. Who could resist making a block called ‘Star of the Magi' ‘New York Beauty' or ‘Drunkards Path'? Many blocks are named for states of the USA and these are very varied in design.
The most common quilt block category is probably the nine patch block. This is made with nine patchwork squares arranged in three rows of three. By altering the relative placements of the squares and triangles or by switching the light and dark squares, an endless variety of quilt blocks can be made. Other categories include four patch, five patch and six patch blocks. These might be geometric or they might depict a flower or an item like a house or basket. Some of the more complex quilt blocks are made using several smaller blocks together.
The names themselves are an endless source of pleasure. Who could resist making a block called ‘Star of the Magi' ‘New York Beauty' or ‘Drunkards Path'? Many blocks are named for states of the USA and these are very varied in design.
The most common quilt block category is probably the nine patch block. This is made with nine patchwork squares arranged in three rows of three. By altering the relative placements of the squares and triangles or by switching the light and dark squares, an endless variety of quilt blocks can be made. Other categories include four patch, five patch and six patch blocks. These might be geometric or they might depict a flower or an item like a house or basket. Some of the more complex quilt blocks are made using several smaller blocks together.
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