This section of the website includes links to a number of useful free tutorials to help you with various sewing, quilting and craft projects.
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How to choose a quilting ruler
If you are starting out with quilting, you will need a rotary cut and mat, plus a quilters’ ruler. To help you make a good choice, read the post here
Learn to make a quilt
If you are new to quilting, I can help you to get started with this quilt, the ‘Animals’ quilt.
This is a single-bed pattern which uses a single block 35 times, so once you have mastered the block you will get plenty of practice! There are six videos on my YouTube channel showing you how to cut fabric and join pieces to make this exact block and how to join the blocks into rows. You can see them all here:
- 1 Introduction – click here
- 2 How to cut fabric for quilting – click here
- 3 How to ‘fussy-cut’ fabric for quilting – click here
- 4 How to make a quilt block part 1 – click here
- 5 How to make a quilt block part 2 – click here
- 6 How to join patchwork blocks to make a row – click here
I made the quilt in autumn colours, but it would look great in soft pastels or in modern brights. The centre of each block in my quilt is an Australian animal, but you can choose any fabric with suitable motifs. You can download the pattern as a PDF by clicking the button below.
How to make a sampler quilt
This quilt was the Quiltalong quilt in 2019. Links to all the twelve sets of instructions for the blocks are here
How to add sashing to a quilt
Sashing strips are long strips of fabric between blocks in a quilt (as seen in the photo above). You can find a tutorial on how to add sashing here
How to add borders to a quilt
Some quilts tops go right to the edge where the binding is added, but others have borders round to set off the centre of the quilt. You can see a tutorial on how to add a border here
How to choose wadding
Wadding (called ‘batting’ in the US) is the layer between your quilt top and the backing fabric. There are lots of different types to choose from. There is a useful post about how to make your selection here.
How to join wadding
You might buy wadding in a pack, like the one shown in the photo above, which is designed to fit a certain size of quilt, or you may find you need to join pieces. There is a tutorial here on two different ways of doing this
How to make a drawstring bag
This tutorial here shows you how to make a drawstring bag. The bag uses ‘Farne Island’ fabric – you can find the fabric here.
How to layer up a quilt with adhesive spray
For instructions on how to layer up a quilt using specialist adhesive spray, click here.
Other ways to ‘pin’ a layered up quilt
If you don’t want to use adhesive spray to hold your quilt layers together, there are three other ways of doing the job – check out this post here
How to add quilting to a quilt
Quilting stitches hold the three layers of a quilt together. The quilting lines also add a secondary layer of visual interest to the quilt. You can quilt your quilt by hand or by machine. There is a tutorial about adding machine-quilting to the blue quilt pictured above here.
For helpful advice on machine quilting a large quilt, click here:
How to finish and bind a quilt
When all the quilting is done on the quilt, you will need to trim it and add a binding. You can find a tutorial on how to finish and bind a quilt here
Make a fabric bag
For a tutorial on how to make a fabric bag, which uses my fabric design ‘Flowers from Kirkcudbright’ click through to the pattern on the Instructables website here. Buy the fabric here
Make a patchwork block
To make a patchwork block of a house, click here.
How to recycle a shirt
For instructions on how to recycle a shirt, click here.
How to make a fancy dress costume
To learn how make a ‘King of Hearts’ fancy dress or pantomime costume, click here.
How to replace a jacket lining
For a tutorial on how to replace the lining in a jacket, click on this post on the Bernina here
How to do reverse appliqué
Reverse appliqué is an attractive decorative technique. You can find a tutorial on how to do it here and another on how to make your piece into a card here
How to up-cycle a vintage suitcase
This tutorial here is about adding a new a lining to a vintage suitcase.
Amanda Jane Textiles 