Have you ever looked at a quilt pattern and thought it was a little too intimidating? Beautiful, but overwhelming to think about the work that went into it?

I’ll bet for every quilt that has ever given that impression, the original quilter could tell you at least three different ways they were able to make the process easier, quicker, or just overall less tedious.

Once a quilt pattern can be broken down into easy manageable pieces, that pattern that felt like too much all of a sudden sounds like fun and becomes your next project! 

There’s tons of different ways to learn new techniques: books, internet articles, I’ve even seen quilting TV shows!

As a first generation quilter though, my go to way to learn was (and still is) through online classes. So today I wanted to share a few that I found super helpful when learning both how to piece and how to quilt, not to mention give you something to do during these hot heat waves lately!

Why Bother with Classes 

When you have to learn something new at work, you are almost always sent to some sort of class or training to learn that new skill. 

No one typically knows how to do something perfectly the first time they try it, and quilting is no different! 

When you are looking to step outside of your comfort zone and try a new style of quilting, often times taking a class is the best way to get targeted training on the specific style of quilting you are interested in. You can spend an hour or two learning all the tips and tricks associated with that specific style as opposed to a class about general piecing or quilting techniques. 

What exactly do I mean by targeted class? 

If you are interested in a bargello quilt for your next quilt, there are classes you can take that are full classes just on tips and tricks on how to make that pattern as easy and efficient as possible. 

Instead of sitting through a class that is going to go over a broad like Intro to free motion quilting, you can take specific classes to really drive home the ideas and concepts. 

What if your local quilting store doesn’t offer these types of specialized classes?

My personal favorite way to learn new quilting techniques is to take quilting classes online!

Taking classes at your local quilting stores are great ways to support local small businesses, but sometimes they just don’t have the right classes at the right times for what you’re looking for. 

But online you can find classes in all shapes, sizes, and expertise because there is a much wider audience that may be looking for that exact class. 

And since classes are generally pre-recorded, it is also super nice to be able to play a class over again step by step right next to your personal sewing machine to make sure you get the technique right. Doing things from home and having the 24/7 access goes miles for setting yourself up for success for your project when you don’t have to remember things or try and read notes.

So of all of the online quilting classes I’ve taken over the years, today I’m sharing my top 7 for fast track learning how to make a quilt to take you from a beginner to pro in no time at all. 

Startup Library: Quilting

It all starts with the basics. How to make a quilt. If you are starting from square one, and all you know is that you probably need a sewing machine, this is the class for you. 

From learning how to use rulers and cutting mats to cut fabric, to basting, quilting, and binding, if a “how do I just get started” class is what you’re after, Startup Library: Quilting is exactly what you’re looking for.  

Just learning the process and the basics is the best way to start. This is the first class I ever took and they made it look so easy and explained everything so thoroughly that I immediately went to the fabric store to get started. 

Finish It! Borders, Backing, Bindings, and Beyond

Once you learn the basics, there are a few areas that often get forgotten about. Applying borders to a quilt can sometimes get a bit wonky in the beginning, and when you are just piecing along, sometimes you don’t think much about them and they come out a bit wavy. 

Or how to tackle backings? Especially when you are making things bigger than a baby quilt and need to piece them together?

These are only a few of the topics that Finish It! Borders, Backing, Binding, and Beyond goes into to help you finish up your quilt project flawlessly. They may seem like extra nice-to-haves, but these beginner lessons are the little details that can make the difference between a quilt you hang in your living room, or one that lives in the linen closet. 

Creative Quilting With Your Walking Foot

Your first few quilts it’s common to use a lot of walking foot, straight line quilting. Not only is it an easy way to tackle the actual quilting part of the process, but there’s almost no way to go wrong! 

Straight line quilting with a walking foot will always be a classic and clean look. But after a while you might be interested in branching out to something a little fancier than simple straight lines. 

Creative Quilting with Your Walking Foot, is a great baby step towards getting more comfortable with the quilting process. You don’t have to just deep dive into free motion quilting, getting your creative juices flowing first with learning other ways to use your walking foot is a great next step.

Quilting the Grid: Structured Free Motion

After a few projects learning to quilt in different ways with your walking foot, you might start to get a little bored and want to try something a little different. Enter stage left: Free motion quilting. 

Related: 
FMQ: What is it, Getting Started, and Mastering it Fast

Free motion quilting allows you to move around freely and create curvy designs where the walking foot specializes in straight line designs. 

Quilting the Grid: Structured Free Motion Quilting marries the two techniques and gives a great entry level free motion quilting lesson by giving you a structure to your free motion quilting. The idea behind it is to create a grid of straight lines, and then in the open segments made by the straight lines, you have smaller areas to free motion quilt.

By separating the quilt into small segments, your quilting can be broken down into much more manageable pieces and you simply have to worry about that one small segment you are working on as opposed to the entire quilt. 

Having a bit of structure will help introduce you to free motion quilting in small easy to digest pieces and get you comfortable using the free motion foot before moving on to bigger and better things! 

Dot to Dot Quilting with Piecing as Your Guide

Dot to Dot quilting is a fun and easy way to quilt your quilt and is a fantastic way to start to get the hang of free motion quilting. 

The concept is simple but it packs a punch of texture. Using the blocks on your quilt, all you do is quilt shapes and designs that reflect your patch shapes. 

I love how modern this technique feels, in that it gives the quilt a very geometric angular texture that is fantastically suited for the modern quilt patterns of today. 

Using dot to dot quilting also helps a newer free motion quilter by limiting the choices you could use to give you a bit of structure. Learning how to do something, and be creative with it at the same time can be difficult to multitask. 

By taking out some of that equation, you get those quick wins that keep you excited to try something new. 

Dot to Dot Quilting with Piecing As Your Guide is taught by Angela Walters who is a phenomenal professional quilter and host of The Midnight Quilt Show on Youtube. Not only are her design ideas amazing, but the quality of her stitching really brings her ideas to life. This class the and following two are all taught by her and are not only super inspiration but also super educational on her go to quilting methods. 

Backgrounds and Borders

Backgrounds and Borders is one of the class that I keep going back to regularly. Sometimes you come across a part of a quilt you are just dreading quilting. 

Whether it’s a boring area, a tedious design, or you just can’t come up with ANOTHER new border quilting idea, this class goes over a bunch of different go to designs that Angela uses and also goes over how those designs can be made versatile for different areas of your quilt.

If you thought that a feather was really only good for borders, she’ll show you how to alter it to work as a filler in the background of your quilt. 

If you thought pebbles were only good for fillers, she’ll show you how to use them inside of other motifs as accent designs. 

In this class you’ll learn a handful of uncommon quilting designs, and as she shows you different ways to use them in different areas of your quilt, it may even get your creative juices flowing and help you see how your current go to designs can be used in new and fun ways. 

I wrote a review for Backgrounds and Borders not that long ago, if you are interested in learning more about this class you can check out my review here!

Machine Quilting Negative Space

In my opinion, negative space is the hardest part of the quilt to determine a design for. There are just so many choices and almost nothing to guide your designs. The world is quite literally your oyster. 

Pure creativity. 

I like to think I’m a creative person, until I see what other people can do on the internet, and then I just sit there ooo’ing and ahh’ing at all the pretty things. 

If you are like me, having nothing to contain or guide your creativity may be a quick way to get a creativity block. 

Angela’s class Machine Quilting Negative Space is all about combining different designs and playing with scale in your motifs to creating that rich texture that you’re looking for. 

Every quilter at one point or another finds themselves defaulting to the same quilting designs regularly. Taking quilting classes to learn a new technique is a great way of getting excited to try something new while also giving you the confidence that the new thing isn’t even that hard. 

And it’s even better when someone else takes the time to make the design for you. All you have to do is take the class, practice it, and master it. 

Continuously learning is one of the best ways to get better at your craft and taking online quilting classes is one of the best places to do that quickly, easily, and most importantly, conveniently. Be sure to check out Craftsy and get started with a class today. And soon we’ll all be able to say good-bye to quilting creativity blocks forever!