The first step in making a quilt is selecting a design for the quilt you’d like to make. You can follow a preexisting quilting pattern or design your own quilt.
- Using a quilting pattern: If you’re a beginner, it’s best to work from a quilting pattern because it leads you through all the steps, from calculating fabric yardage to choosing the right quilting pattern. You can find projects in quilting books and on craft websites.
- Designing your own project: Once you’ve made a few quilts, you’ll most likely want to design your own projects for the creative freedom it provides.
Table of Contents
How to Design a Quilt
Designing a quilt is a two-step process. First you must determine the size of the quilt. Then you can design the quilt top.
Determine the Size of the Quilt
If you’re making a decorative quilt, simply decide what size you want the quilt to be. For instance, a 60″× 60″ quilt would make a great wall hanging.
Bed Quilt Sizes
If you want to make a bed quilt, you have to take into account the size of the bed. The measurements provided below are for quilts with a drop (the amount the quilt hangs over the sides of the mattress) of 10–12″ (the width of most mattresses).
| Crib | Twin | Full | Queen | King | ||||
| 50″× 65″ | 60″× 90″ | 76″× 90″ | 82″× 96″ | 100″× 96″ |
If you want the quilt to have a longer drop, increase these measurements. If you want the quilt to lie on top of the bed without draping over the sides at all, shorten these measurements. If you want to be able to tuck the quilt over pillows on the bed, add about 10–18″ to the quilt’s length.
Design the Quilt’s Top
Designing a quilt involves drawing a sketch of how the finished quilt should look. Many quilters use graph paper and colored pencils for their sketches because it helps them to draw the pieces of the quilt to precise scale and to see how their color scheme will look. As you design, consider the shapes of the pieces that will make up your block, and whether you want your piece to have a border or sashing.
A Sample Quilt Design
The sample quilt design below is for a 60″× 60″ quilt made from small 4″× 4″ squares of light blue, dark blue, yellow, and white squares. The small squares are pieced to form larger 12″× 12″ blocks of either the two blues and white or yellow and white. This quilt design has no border or sashing.
[…] you’re working from a preexisting quilting pattern or you’re designing your own pattern, start in the middle of the quilt and work out toward the edges to ensure that the batting […]