No matter if you are new to quilting or have been doing it a life time, it’s always nice to hear what other people use to quilt!
My quilting improved SO MUCH when a friend shared with me some of her must-have quilting supplies. I hope you will find something that helps you with your quilting, too!
If you want a nice, neat, free download of all my quilting supplies, click HERE. You can also visit THIS LINK to purchase the items I recommend.
First things first, you’re going to need a sewing machine! I mean, unless you are hand piecing, which if that’s the case, you are Wonder Woman! But for the rest of us, a good sewing machine is our best friend.
I currently sew with a Bernina 570 QE. I LOVE It and it is amazing, but I realize this isn’t the machine everyone starts with. It wasn’t my first machine, either. And really, any GOOD sewing machine will do. And by good, I mean a machine that works well, doesn’t get thread caught, and is reliable. I went to my local JoAnn’s to get my first machine. It was a Husqvarna H Class 100 Q. It was a great first machine and I still use it when I bring my Bernina in for a cleaning.
You will want thread to sew with, which I have used both 100% cotton and polyester, and both work great. I DO recommend starting with WHITE thread. It’s forgiving (in that it isn’t too bold and doesn’t stand out) and a great universal thread.
To cut your fabric, you need a good ruler. I personally love Creative Grids rulers. They are clear, so you can see your fabric through them. They also have clear little grippy things on the back of the ruler, so it holds your fabric in place while you cut it. This is SUPER helpful and will make your fabric cutting more accurate. I recommend, if you are getting just ONE ruler, to go with a 6″ x 24″ ruler. It can do all the cutting you need. If you want more rulers after that, check out my video on RULERS.
You will want a self-healing cutting mat and a rotary cutter. This has to be one of the best inventions for us quilters and sewers. Along with your ruler, these make cutting your fabric slick and accurate. Self-healing mats allow your rotary cutter to glide smoothly without cutting the surface you are working on. An 18″ x 24″ cutting mat is the perfect size, especially is you are starting out. If you plan to do a lot of cutting, or buying fabric in large amounts, you may want to think about a larger cutting mat.
As you work on your quilt top, you will be pinning pieces of fabric together to sew. It is SUPER helpful to use straight pins to hold your fabric together while you sew, otherwise the fabric tends to move around. Having some straight pins on hand is a must, in my opinion.
Along with straight pins, you will want some safety pins to use when you are basting your quilt. Basting means putting your quilt top, batting, and the backing together to do the actual quilting. I prefer to use safety pins over spray baste. This is a new development for me. I used to only do spray basting, but the chemicals from the spray baste ins’t my favorite. But that’s just me. If you want to try spray basting, I say go for it!
When you get to the binding part of your quilt, YAY! You are almost done! You’ll want some of these nifty wonder clips to help hold your binding on the outside of your quilt as you sew it on. I would get around 100 of them.
Starch is my secret weapon for quilting! I won’t make a quilt now without starching my fabric first. I actually use about one can of starch per quilt. Using starch has helped me get my points more accurate and I still am thankful my friend told me to use it!
You can watch my video on starching HERE.
A little tip: if you starch your fabric, set it aside and it gets folded or has a weird crease on it, simply spray your fabric with water, iron it, and your crease will disappear! Not only that, but your fabric still has starch in it, so it will still be crispy and perfect for sewing!
What good is starch if you don’t have an iron? You will want a good one! I personally love this pink Oliso Pro iron. I love it because you don’t have to stand it up. It has little feet that go down when you aren’t using it, so it stays hot and ready to use, and you aren’t always moving it from an upright position to the ironing position. It’s pretty cool! But if you don’t get an Oliso, any sturdy iron will do.
And that, my friends, is a summary of the quilting supplies I recommend! Again, you can get all of these supplies (plus a few extras) all typed up for you on a free pdf download. To get that, simply click HERE.
If you have any questions about the supply list, or anything quilt related, feel free to reach out to me. I am happy to help!