How do you make your own fabric prints?

Quilting fabric question?

• I am considering making my own crib sheets and quilts for my son and daughter's toddler beds. I am doing a Winnie the Pooh theme to match their room. I have never done a quilt before, but I know how to sew and how to make crib sheets. I was wondering if I am using my own fabric and not buying pre-cut quilting squares, what would be the best size to cut my own squares to make a quilt? I will be using a mix of Winnie the Pooh scenes and starry prints and solid colors. Any cute ideas and tips? If I want to put their names on the quilts, what options do I have to go about doing that? Thanks so much!

• Answer:

  You can use any size you want -- and you can use other shapes, too. And you can mix sizes and shapes in the same quilt, usually in different sections, like making the border with diamonds and the interior of squares or hexagons. Remember that you need at least 1/4" seam allowance around each piece (for kids' quilts, I usually use 3/8" myself, which helps prevent popped seams on tied quilts). I'd suggest that you cut some different size squares out of paper, then take the outline of the squares and drop them over your print fabrics so you can see what size(s) might suit the scale of your major print fabrics. Then choose. Remember that you'll need more yardage if you're cutting fabrics up into itty bitty squares and then sewing it together than if you're using larger squares. On the other hand, if your squares are too big, you may waste a lot of the fabric width. Usually 4-6" squares are a good size for beginners. Two good beginner's books on quilting, quite possibly available at your library: http://www.worldcat.org/title/your-first-quilt-book/oclc/40980485?referer=list_view http://www.worldcat.org/title/start-quilting-with-alex-anderson-six-projects-for-first-time-quilters/oclc/36961589/editions?referer=di&editionsView=true Names: easiest is a fabric marker like: http://www.etsy.com/blog/en/2011/how-tuesday-make-a-quilt-label/ I usually just embroider a square by hand.