Beginner's Guide To Quilting - UK (2020-04)

All about Quilting

62 Beginner’s Guide to Quilting

S

o you’ve made your quilt top

and been to the fabric shop to

stock up on your backing

fabric and wadding – now how do

you turn it all into a gorgeous

finished quilt? Your first step is to

make a ‘quilt sandwich’ – this is the

term quilters use to describe a

layering of the quilt top, wadding

and backing. Before you begin this

process, you should cut your

wadding and backing so that they

are several inches larger than the

quilt top all round.

Before making your sandwich, give

your quilt top a final pampering by

pressing it well on both sides, checking

the seams are pressed neatly and

trimming any trailing threads. The

sandwich can be fixed together in various

ways: with pins, spray glue or by loosely

sewing (tacking) it – see our feature on

page 56 for more details. We’ve used

tacking in the example below.

LAYERING UP YOUR QUILT TOP, WADDING

AND BACKING IS EASY. HERE’S HOW...

Quilt sandwich

Lay the wadding on top of the backing

and smooth out any wrinkles with your

fingers. Make sure you can see some

backing fabric all around the edges.

Lay the pressed quilt top, right side up, on

top of the wadding, with the backing and

wadding showing all round. Fix the layers to

the wadding with masking tape.

Tack all three layers together with long

lengths of thread, working from the

centre out in a grid pattern, with lines

about 4in (10cm) apart. Alternatively, use

pins or safety pins to secure the layers.

First, prepare and press the backing

fabric. Lay it right side down on a flat

surface and smooth it out with your hands.

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