Can a beginner make the Bad Girl quilt?

Hello, lovelies! I’m writing this post because I’ve had a bit of an influx in my inbox about this very question and I thought I’d just address this here instead one on one by email.

If you are just now hearing about the Bad Girl quilt along, you can find all the details you need to know here. We start on May 17, and I love it if you quilted along with us!

So let’s cover the question about beginners and then I’m going to tell you some more details about this quilt!

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Let’s talk about skills

The Bad Girl quilt is labeled as an intermediate pattern. It has a few skills in it that a beginner might find challenging or have never seen before. Once you give them a try, you might find them not difficult at all. Everything always looks hard the first time you see it, but after you’ve done it several times, it’s no longer a tough skill at all. I want to be very clear that this is an intermediate pattern and it’s a time consuming one, but at the same time I don’t want to discourage anyone from making it or even just trying it.

The more things you try, the broader your skill set gets.

Here are a few skills that you might or might not have seen before that this pattern covers:

Half Rectangle Triangles – The first time I made these were for the I am Enough quilt along. I thought I would die in the middle of them, but once my mind wrapped around what needed to be done all became simplified. There is a video tutorial for HRTs is right here. Watch the video and judge for yourself if you think you can get this done. My opinion is once you watch a video tutorial, you’ll feel like you’ve got this.
Quarter Dresdens – Dresdens are not “hard” but they are time consuming. I always feel like they are worth any hardship because their loveliness is unparalleled as far as quilt blocks go. I have an entire page on this blog dedicated to teaching you how to make them. You can find that page here. There are video tutorials for how to cut them and then everything else.
Fusible Thread Applique Technique – I cannot get over the coolness of this technique. We are not putting centers on top of our Dresdens, we are leaving them open and an arc. You of course are welcome to use any applique technique you want. I always say “you do you”, but this is the technique I detail in the Bad Girl quilt pattern. There is a video for how to use this technique right here. If you’ve never heard of raw edge applique, I wrote a post about it here.

Everything else within the pattern is just basic sewing. No fanciness!

Get a personalized Bad Girl quilt along label for your quilt.

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Let’s talk about fabric

The Bad Girl quilt pattern has the option of fat quarters or half yards for the “prints” part of the quilt. There are cutting directions for both of these options within the pattern and cutting diagrams as well.

While we are on the subject of fabric…. I’ve made this quilt twice now, and I think I’ve got a good idea of what I like on it and what I don’t. There were a couple of things about my first quilt that I didn’t care for, but the one that stands out the most was my fabric choices. I think this quilt looks best when fabrics with very little light are chosen for the star blocks and the Dresden blades. For this reason, I’ll be choosing fabrics with very saturated coloring. I’ll save my fabrics with a bunch of white for my background or use them in the center of my stars.

There are kits coming. If you think you might be interested in kits, please leave a comment below. I know you haven’t seen the fabrics yet, but a consideration would be enough for me. This will help me with how many kits I need to cut.

The kits will probably only be the 15 fat quarters it takes to make the “prints” part of this quilt with an option for scrappy low volume background included. All other fabrics you would need to purchase on your own. I promise we are going to have an entire post on this topic as soon as I have the fabrics in front of me.

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Other Supplies

You don’t have to run out and buy that Dresden ruler if you don’t care to. The pattern comes with a template. However the ruler is handy and it really does make cutting Dresden blades easier. Plus, we are making TONS of Dresden blades, so I wanted to throw this out there just in case you find paper templates a bit fussy.

The fusible thread is used in the pattern. IF you are not using the same technique I am for my raw edge applique, you won’t need this product, but if you are following the pattern step by step, this is the exact fusible thread I’m using.

I think I’ve answered all of the questions I’m getting about the skill set for this quilt. If I’ve missed something leave a comment or send me an email and let me know what your question is. I’m here for you! Peruse Instagram and see all the other Bad Girl quilts in the world besides mine. This might help you when setting up your plan for fabrics.

This feeling of community I always get from doing a quilt along is an amazing feeling. Maybe you feel the same? Take advantage of it by liking and commenting on other quilters’ posts when they post pictures of their progress. It’s a great way to connect, make friends, but also feel listened to and get that feeling that you belong. Especially and in particularly do this for new quilters. I’m sure you remember those overwhelming feelings when you were learning too. Everything is hard until you try it.

Get the Details

One final note before I sign off, if you are a beginner quilter and you decide to pass on this quilt along, that’s perfectly fine. No worries at all! I’ve rounded up some quilt patterns or quilt alongs of mine that you might feel more suitable to you below.

The Carolina Mingle Quilt – This is very suitable for beginners. There is one skill in there that might be new to you, but you’ll catch on to it quickly. This pattern comes with a bonus PDF that features a video tutorial for every single step of this quilt.
The Good Girl Quilt – Still my most popular quilt pattern. If you can sew a straight line, you can make this quilt. Nothing but rectangles. It’s also a quick finish if you are need of a pattern for a last minute gift idea.
Star Dance Quilt – This is a free quilt pattern. There are links within this post to the free pattern and there are video tutorials for the block. This is a great quilt pattern for a beginner and all star lovers too.
Little Miss Sawtooth Quilt – After two years is still my number one blog post as far as visitors go. This quilt along looks a bit different than all my others does. It was my very first quilt along that I hosted and I was still learning how to host. There is a blog post for every pattern of this quilt along. It will be getting an update this summer and we should be quilting this one together by this fall.

My best advice I can give to a new quilter is just to jump in. You may not finish on time (especially this quilt along, since it will be intense), but who cares? Take your time, learn your way and have fun doing it. Hugs!