Professional Quilter

Quilting is a specialized skill in creating hand-made or machine-finished quilts or bed cover, clothing, wall hangings, and other types of textiles. The person who mastered the craft of quilting is known as quilter and becoming a professional quilter requires a lot of hard work, dedication, and passion.

If you’re interested to this profession then here are some advices for you.

Show your Amazing Quilting Skill by Becoming a Professional Quilter

Quilting is indeed more than an art. It is an exceptional skill that only a few people can master, most especially by women. In the process of quilting, there are two or more fabric layers being joined together using needle and thread to form a thicker fabric material known as “quilt”. Quilts are typical textile products such as bed cover or a kind of clothing. Some quilts with artistic designs and colors are used as wall hangings. Becoming a professional quilter is truly rewarding and gratifying but this involves serious dedication for the craft in order to create top-quality quilt products.

In a typical quilting process, three layers are being combined to form a quilt; the quilt top (normally a woven cloth), an insulating material called as batting (also known as wadding in Europe), and backing material or woven back. The process can be done through hand application or using a sewing machine. Modern quilting involves the use of longarm quilting machine, which makes the process much faster compared to the traditional quilting methods. When speaking of longarm quilting system, this also uses sewing machine but it is comparably larger that measures between 10 feet up to 14 feet on its length, an industrial standard.

Historically, quilting was a hobby of many women making their pastimes worthwhile, long before the introduction of electricity to mankind. As the technology advances, longarm sewing machine was introduced to make the quilting works faster which is a great advantage for a professional quilter. If you have an amazing skill in quilting then you can convert it into a worthwhile business by becoming a professional quilter. Here are some tips for you.

The Road in Becoming a Professional Quilter

The two known processes in quilting are hand-quilting (which is being done manually using the bare hands) and the machine-aided quilting that uses sewing machine. It is better to start in the basics and make a lot of practice in order to be familiar on this very productive and prolific craftsmanship. To become a professional quilter, you must:

  • Improve your quilting skills through continuous practice and serious dedication by giving enough time to master the craft. Equip yourself with all the tools and equipment.
  • Keep on learning different patterns and be familiar in the use of sewing machine, particularly the longarm, by attending workshops or seminars. If possible, attend classes regarding longarm quilting once offered in your locality. You can also learn more techniques by reading books or watching videos in the internet about modern quilting.
  • Find out more about new trends in quilting by attending quilt shows or conferences of professional quilters. Be a member of a professional organization so you can expand your network and to get support in the quilting community for skill enhancement opportunities.
  • Entering in quilting competitions is the best way to present your masterpieces to the public.

1 Comment

  • Carol Schwankl said on August 12, 2022
    When I was trying to become a certified quilt judge, I was told that being a "professional quilter" meant that I had won numerous ribbons with cash awards for my work in national shows. Many think that one is a professional if they have written a book, taught quilting classes, won numerous blue ribbons, etc. The state fair is not a national quilt competition.

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