So, here is the tutorial I promised about how to tie a quilt. It is actually quite simple and something even fairly young kids can help do. I had my 7 year old brother (ha ha, yup brother—-boys can do it too!) help me with this one, and he seemed to enjoy himself. So here goes. If you have any questions just leave me a comment and I’ll try to help!

• Tools Needed:

1. Quilting Needles. When you pick out needles to use, remember that you NEED the needles to have a sharp tip! Needles with blunt tips make quilting take for-ev-er and it can get pretty tiresome and frustrating. Also, make sure the eye of the needle is pretty big, if it’s too small you wont be able to get the yarn through. Been there, done that, wont do it again! (Tip: you can use smaller needles if you are quilting with embroidery thread instead of yarn.) I bought mine at good ol’ Walmart for a whopping .75¢.
2. Yarn or Embroidery thread.
3. Scissors. obviously.
4. Thimble. I don’t personally use one of these, but some people like to know that their fingers are being protected from those big sharp mean needles.
5. Balloon (or flat piece of rubber.) If you have a hard time pulling your needle through your quilt, using a balloon or even something like a rubber glove can be a real help! Just grip the needle with the balloon and it will pull through a lot easier!)
6. A pattern to follow. With pieced quilts (like mine) it is easy to decide where to tie because the pattern is built in—but if you have a quilt top that does not have a well defined pattern you may need to mark one with a fabric pen. Just take a ruler and mark little dots where you want the ties to be, usually it is best to make them around 4-5 inches apart.

• Step 1: Thread your needle so your yarn is doubled. You do not need to tie the end. Take your quilt and push the needle down leaving about a 1 1/2 – 2 inch tail. Then push your needle back up leaving about  a 1/4 – 1/2 inch space between where you went down and where you came up. (If you put your needle down and up too closely together your yarn could eventually pull through your quilt.) Also, make sure you pull your yarn completely through so you don’t have any ugly yarn loops on the bottom side of your quilt!

• Step 2: Take your yarn and tie a square knot.

• Step 3: Take your yarn and send it back down through your quilt. And then of course, bring it up again, and what you will have is a “straight line” of yarn

• Step 4: Now, take your yarn and make a loop with it (or a little rainbow =) that crosses over your “straight line” of yarn, then take your yarn under the straight yarn and pull it through your loop. Pull tight so you have a knot.

• Step 5: Now, repeat step 4, but do it on the opposite side of your straight yarn. Pull tight.

• Step 6: Repeat steps 3-5 until you run out of yarn. Then re-thread your needle and repeat starting with steps 1 and 2 until you are done with your quilt. Always make sure you keep checking to make sure you don’t have any big yarn loops on the underside of your quilt!
• Step 7: Cut your yarn so you have cute little tails all over your quilt. (You usually want them about 1 1/2- 2 inches long ish =)

What did I tell you! Easy Easy Easy! Have fun!

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So, I have had this quilt top sitting in a box in my storage room for about 7 years (yeah, I am one of “those” people— Defined as: “someone who starts a project and then never finds the time to finish it.” ha ha, I just thought I would let you know, so you don’t have to feel bad if you are one of “those” people too =) It’s okay, I have a feeling there are a lot of us out there in the world…and I am proud to be one of them!

Even though I am one of “those” people, every once in awhile I get inspired to pull out some old project, that never got done, and get working. This go around it was because I finally found a good “cause” to finish up my quilt! My dad and my sister are both involved in a group called YMAD, (Youth Making A Difference) which is ”a year long leadership training program for teenagers.” This year in November they are taking a group of  24 High School kids to India. They will help ” [reopen] a maternity hospital and [establish] a new orphanage in a remote village near Manali and Kullu in the Hymalays.” Pretty cool!!!

The reason though, that I decided to finish my quilt is because on June 26, 2009 they are having their first ever annual “Humm…for the slums” at Sugar House Park in SLC Utah. It will basically be a fun evening to eat some good food, listen to some local bands, and participate in a live and silent auction to help this group make some money, so they can continue to do all of the good things that they do! And, I decided that I would donate my quilt for a raffle! I am really excited about it, and I hope that it will earn a little bit of money for this group of kids!

If you would like to attend this event, check out their website to purchase tickets ( www.YMAD.org ) or you can email me at anne[at]floralshowers[dot]com for discounted tickets (1/2 off)!  It is going to be a very fun night!

Here is a pic of my quilt (sorry, the lighting in my house isn’t that great):

Oh, and I took some pictures to do a tutorial on how to tie and bind quilts…so I’ll post that when I get some more time. But, my kiddo just woke up from her nap—so that means I’m outa here!