So many of you have told me that you learned how to quilt—or at least how to sew—at a young age. While passing on the tradition of how to make quilts went by the wayside for a couple of decades, recently there has been a resurgence in interest in quilting lessons, and many young people are signing up for them.
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Pokey Bolton (left) and Sophie Rubin discuss quilt making and design on "QATV" Series 1100.
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One young quilter is Sophie Rubin, who has been a guest on several episodes of "Quilting Arts TV." Sophie is lucky because she not only has a mom who can teach her how to quilt, but her mom is Luana Rubin, internationally known designer and president and co-owner of eQuilter.com.
But Sophie is a talented quilt artist in her own right. I have watched her on "QATV" and also met her at Quilt Market; she is a very poised young lady who already knows quite a bit about quilt design and how to make quilts.
Sophie made her first appearance on "QATV" in 2010, during Season 6. Then 7, she offered basic sewing and quilting tips and displayed one of her quilt projects created to benefit the Haitian earthquake relief.
In her Season 6 segment with Quilting Arts founder and "QATV" host Pokey Bolton, Sophie offered the following beginner tips:
1. Practice stitching on long strips of fabric. This is a good way for beginning quilters to learn the different kinds of stitches, as well has how to use the presser foot and pedal.
2. Use black-and-white tiger tape on your machine to guide your stitching and help you sew a straight line.
3. Pin strips of fabric to keep them together and aligned while sewing, but remove the pins as you stitch; don't run over them or you could break the needle.
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Sophie Rubin practices how to quilt on her
personalized sewing machine, as featured on
"QATV" in 2010.
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That's good advice to follow whether you're a beginning quilter or have been making quilts for years.
On Sophie's most recent segment with Pokey, on "QATV" Series 1100, she reviews some of her favorite quilts from International Quilt Festival/Long Beach. You can see how much Sophie's knowledge of how to design and make quilts has grown, as she comments on fabrics and techniques used to create mountain snow, how a border or echo quilting can set off a focal point, and how choosing the right colors for a portrait quilt can make it come to life.
Watching Sophie discuss quilt making with Pokey reminds me that you are never too young—or too old—to learn how to quilt or to learn new quilting techniques.
"QATV" Series 1100 is full of tips, techniques, and tricks for quilt making (I'm particularly looking forward to watching Laura Wasilowski's segment on hand-embroidering art quilts). Be sure to pre-order your Series 1100 DVD set now.
P.S. How old were you when you made your first quilt? What advice would you give someone who is learning how to quilt? Leave your responses below.