Sometimes making a patchwork quilt can be perplexing and troublesome.

When you bought your first quilt pattern or book, it looked like it would be so easy.  And the instructions included in the pattern sounded pretty straightforward as you scanned them in the quilt shop.

But, when you got the pattern and your fabric home, it was a different story. 

Cutting the fabric looked like it would be so simple.  After all, how hard can it be to line up a plastic ruler on a piece of fabric and then run a rotary cutter through the fabric?

Zip, zip, zip.  Five strips of fabric cut, and then you opened each strip only to discover that there was a bend in the center of each strip, making it unusable.  And the $12.95 you spent on the fabric is now wasted. 

But worse, the fabric you truly love is now no longer available anywhere.  You’ve checked every fabric and quilt store in your town and every town within driving distance.  You’ve asked all of your friends.  And you’ve done a massive search online. 

That fabric is nowhere to be found – you bought the last fabric on the last bolt on the planet.  And the trip home from Mars or the moon will just take too long.

So much for that plan.  Undaunted, you keep going.

You find another fabric, ask seven experienced quilters what the secret to cutting straight strips is, and finally, the seventh quilter tells you.

Oh, it’s probably not that the others are keeping secrets; it’s just that they have cut so much fabric, they can do it in their sleep, and they forget all of the steps.  Or is it?

There are no secrets here! 

We love to share our best quilting tips, shortcuts and techniques, because we remember how it was when we first learned to quilt, and we want to spare you the suffering.

And now it's even easier to find the information you are looking for. Just enter a quilting word in the Search box, and all of the related articles will appear.

Don't find the information you are looking for?

Send us an email: . Chances are if you are asking, many other quilters have the same question.

Happy Quilting!

Penny Halgren and 

m. mouse, the Official How-to-Quilt Siamese Cat - who loves to nap on a quilt

www.How-to-Quilt.com

Specializing in Information for Beginning Quilters

All experienced quilters agree that there a few mistakes that all beginning quilters make (even some experienced quilters make them).

Now you will know these mistakes and how to prevent and avoid them, so your quilts will look like they were made by an experienced or professional quilter…..Even your very first quilt.

You get the benefit of my more than 25 years of quilting experience in this e-course.

There's the quilt where the dark fabric bled into the light fabric right next door. While it's true that these were hand dyed fabrics, it is also clear that they were not pre-washed enough to get all of the excess dye out to prevent that from happening.

You can avoid that mistake by learning from mine.

Quilters often ask about why their quilt blocks are all different sizes. One of the reasons is that their seams are not accurate and consistent.

During this e-course, you will learn the value of an accurate seam allowance, and how to ensure that your seams are always 1/4 inch wide.

And, as if, blocks being different sizes wasn't enough of a problem, for years my quilts were odd shaped once they were finished. Frequently the sides of my finished quilt were wavy like a flag blowing in the breeze, and I couldn't figure out why.

Finally, after 11 years of quilting, an experienced quilter suggested a solution. Once I implemented her suggestion, my quilts have always had straight sides. And the best thing about that tip is that it is so easy to implement.

These are just a couple of valuable quilting lessons in store for you in our free e-course - The Seven Most Common Quilting Mistakes and How to Avoid Them. 

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