Beginning Quilting Class: Precious Gems

Project Class
Five (5) sessions; 12 students

Great Beginner Class!
Not your Grandma’s Quilting experience!
Learn all the modern quilting techniques that make it fast and fun and a hugely popular contemporary hobby.

Techniques learned include: speedy rotary cutting, strip piecing, subcutting, chaining, nesting, pieced borders, stitch in the ditch, & binding your quilt. Participants leave class with a finished quilt. Homework is required. Uses only bolt cuts – no scraps.

Class 1
Beginning Rotary Cutting
Cut all strips for blocks and borders, label border pieces and binding pieces
Homework: complete cutting for blocks and borders


Class 2
Strip piece at least two color sets and complete 12 blocks following pressing instructions
Homework: complete all blocks


Class 3
Place blocks into pleasing arrangement on design wall
Stitch into rows following pressing instructions
Homework: Stitch all blocks together


Class 4
Make pieced border and affix to quilt
Piece backing
Make quilt sandwich
Illustrate stitch in the ditch around all blocks with straight lines horizontally and vertically across the quilt
Illustrate free motion quilting and stitch in the ditch around each block center using free motion technique so quilt does not have to be turned every few inches
Homework: complete stitch in the ditch quilting


Class 5
Cut, prepare, & affix binding.
Begin to whip stitch binding to back of quilt


Supply List:

Fabric

Choose high quality, high thread count 100% cottons. Batiks work well.

Select a main fabric and seven coordinating fabrics with good contrast. Batiks that “read” as a solid are pictured in the illustration.


  • 1½ yards of main fabric for blocks, border and binding

  • ¾ yard of second fabric for blocks and border

  • ½ yard of six other coordinating fabrics with good contrast

  • 4 yards 44” fabric for backing

  • Batting 50” x 64”


Equipment & Materials

  • Pattern: “Precious Gems” by Allison Quilt Designs

  • Rotary Cutting Mat 24” x 36”

  • Rotary Cutter (sharp) 45mm

  • 24” Olipfa (lip edge) ruler

  • 1½ “ quilters pins (100 pins)

  • Quilter’s Safety Pins (optional)

  • Scissors: sharp, fabric-only

  • Seam ripper

  • Sewing machine in good working order (It is not feasible to troubleshoot machine problems during class)

  • ¼ inch quilting foot (be sure it is a special ¼” quilter’s foot)

  • Walking foot

  • Darning foot (plus the ability to lower or cover the sewing machine feed dogs for free motion quilting)

  • Matching thread

  • Invisible thread for quilting in the ditch