How to make a quilt?

[marchemmes]

Hello- I'm interested in trying my hand a quilt making. I found plenty of "civil war quilts" on google but if I'm going to invest a large amount of time on this project I want to make sure I'm doing it in period style and not modern style.

I've sewed a drawers kit and patched some holes but that's about it. So I'm looking for a basic HowTo on the constuction of a quilt and some simple patterns. I would like to make a simple, sturdy quilt for use in the field.

Any web sites and/or books that you would recommend?

Thank You-

[Elaine Kessinger]

Re: How to make a quilt?

More info may be found in the following places:

International Quilt Study Center & Museum has a searchable online database that allows searching by "date"

Dating Fabrics by Eileen Trestain includes swatch photographs of print fabrics and blurbs about correct patterns

Quilts From the Civil War by Barbara Brackman

Hopefully those will start the stampede of folks to tell me how wrong the advice I'm giving is. (:-p hehe)

[Spinster]

Re: How to make a quilt?

Oddly enough, I'm sending you to a modern quilting site as part of your journey.

These groups are reproducing U S Sanitary Commission Quilts as memorials to be given to familes with losses in the current war. The ones happening locally here are spot on as to period fabric choices and layout, though they are using a modern flatbed quilter to produce an astonishing shooting star quilting pattern.

http://www.homeofthebravequilts.com/resources/QuiltInstructions.pdf

These cot sized USSC quilts are of a size and simplicity to be done by a beginner, and plausible for a soldier to have. For the sake of utility in the field, I'd sure choose a woolen batt over a cotton one.


If you are fortunate, Frank Afmuth will wander by and share a copy of his two part article on a tied quilt he produced, IIRC for the 145th Athens Missouri. He did all the hard work, I had the fun of making the cochineal dyed woolen yarns to tie the quilt.

[Bones]

Re: How to make a quilt?

search for a local quilting group or guild to help you with the basic choices.All old quilts are not of our period and not all designs date to mid 19th century.As my wife is a fanatic quilter ,she has shown me much about fabrics and construction - which can be very complex to relatively simple to produce,both in terms of time and materials.local quilters should be happy to help you when you explain your project.

BonesJarrett
Armory Guards

[Becky Morgan]

Re: How to make a quilt?

I haven't quilted in a few years, mainly because it became trendy, which meant all the magazines made it look horribly expensive and frightening. It's neither. There are plenty of different period-correct patterns, and for 90 percent of the process if you can sew a plain running stitch at a reasonable number of stitches to the inch you'll be fine. There are many variations, of course, but if you start with decent fabric and a good attitude you'll be pleased (and warm!) with the result.

Oh...a bit of sticking plaster on the fingers you use on the underside of the quilt may reduce staining and cussing. There's generally some brief difficulty in learning when the needle has gone through all the layers and not through any live parts.

[MissMia]

Re: How to make a quilt?

Thanks for this thread, because I recently bought an original civil war era quilt...but I wanted to go to quilting sites to make sure I'm dating it correctly. :)

[marchemmes]

Re: How to make a quilt?

Thanks for all the great information. Does anyone know where I can order quality woolen batt?

[Spinster]

Re: How to make a quilt?

Zeilingers

http://www.zwool.com/buy-wool-online/quilt-batting/

Note that they also have a separate page for 'comforter' batting if you want a thicker batt for a tied quilt.

I've used Zeilingers for processing raw wool as well. Occassionally I come into 'free fleece' that has sat in garbage bags until the lanolin has hardened and gone rancid. Way to much work to hand process, and often of poor quality wool. Once the nice folk at Zeilingers wash it, I turn it into mattresses. Great for cold weather events.