Must Have Basic Quilting Supplies

Here are some basic quilting supplies that you will need to keep in stock.

Quilting Fabric

Yep. That's obvious.

Quilters refer to the quilting fabric they have on hand as their "stash." Sometimes stashes can get quite high. There's even a stashbusters online yahoo group to help fabicholics.

The good thing is that you will probably gravitate toward a certain style. I mean, I was surprised when "magically" I had enough fabric for a stash, scrap quilt and everything matched.

Like there are clothing lines, there are a ton of different quilt fabric lines. You can count on most to stay near their niche. Amy Butler is modern. Moda? You will probably get a traditional type of quilt. Michael Miller features more novelty fabric.

It's good to be aware of the different types of fabric lines so that you can know where to go when you're looking to make a specific kind of quilt. When it comes to quilting supplies, fabric is on the top of the list.

Thread

If you have a basic sewing machine, you can use good old Dual Duty. It's what is in my machine. If you can, however, get your hands on some Gutermann thread. If you have a high end machine, it is a necessity.

As for colors, buy neutral thread for piecing. For my bright quilts, I use white thread. For my darker quilts, I like beige. Keeping your piecing thread neutral means that you can really take advantage of the big box fabric store sales on thread.

Quilt Batting

Ah, batting can be the most confusing choice when it comes to quilting supplies. There are a couple of questions that you need to ask yourself before you choose the right batting for a project.

What will this quilt be used for? You can get away with a different batting for a wall hanging than one that you are hoping will become a little one's favorite blanket. Baby quilts will probably be washed and dried a lot. You will need a batting that will hold up to all of that abuse, uh, I mean loving.

Is warmth important? Would the recipient of the quilt be happier with a quilt that is backed with fleece because it would be warmer? In that case, you may be able to forgo batting all together.

And this is may seem shallow but notice how far apart the batting needs to be quilted. Do you really want to quilt every four inches? I don't. I know this would drive me crazy and I'd only use batting like this for a small wall hanging.

Then again, the quilts I make are for every day use and probably wouldn't make it past a cursory glance of a quilt judge. If you aspire to hand quilt a masterpiece or to use a long arm machine, then quilting every four inches could be the perfect batting for you.

It's all about intended use. Once you know what kind of quilt you want to produce, choosing the batting becomes easy.

Tip – Buy the largest piece of bagged batting you can when it is on sale. You can always cut it up for smaller projects.

Quilt Labels

You can make your own quilt label with a piece of muslin and a permanent fabric pen. Write your name, the date, the intended recipient and the name of the quilt on the scrap of fabric. Then, stitch this to the back of the quilt.

There are also some quilt labels that are produced by fabric companies. The first quilt label I used was from a Christmas fabric line. I used some Wonder Under to apply it to the back of the quilt so that it stuck. Although Wonder Under is supposed to be permanent, I really should have stitched it down.

Another alternative is to sign the back of the quilt, directly mark on the quilt with again, a permanent, fabric pen.

So, there you have it - fabric, thread batting and labels. You can never go wrong stocking up on these basic quilting supplies.

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