Learn to Quilt: Foundations
The course is coming soon
Did you know that you don’t need to begin with a full-sized quilt to learn how to quilt?
In Learn to Quilt: Foundations, you’ll make folded coasters, nine-patch hot pads, and a Three-in-a-Row game board. Each project takes you a little further through the quilting process until you have a coordinated game-night set and the foundational skills to keep creating.
You’ll learn through approachable projects that are fun to finish and small enough to fit into everyday life.
You can begin with no previous quilting experience.
You can pause and replay short video lessons whenever you need to.
You can choose a ready-to-sew fabric kit* and focus on learning before investing in cutting tools.
*Kits are only available in Canada due to current shipping costs and challenges.
Want to learn to quilt, but have no idea where to begin?
You may already have a sewing machine or be thinking about getting one. Perhaps the sewing and quilting projects appearing on social media have caught your attention. They look easy and fun, but searching for more detailed, beginner-friendly instruction can uncover hundreds of videos, unfamiliar terms, long supply lists, and conflicting opinions about the “right” way to do everything.
How do you begin to sort through it all?!
Learn to Quilt: Foundations organizes the essentials for you. Instead of sorting through advice or trying to determine your own learning order, you can focus on one skill at a time, knowing that each lesson is preparing you for the next.
Sign up for the waitlist
Receive course updates, behind-the-scenes previews, and the first announcement when enrolment opens.
Make a Quilted Game-Night Set and Build Skills That Last
Each project adds a new part of the quilting process while giving you another opportunity to practise skills introduced earlier.
Project 1: Folded Coasters
Begin with one forgiving seam.
The folded construction helps you become comfortable handling fabric, pressing, and guiding fabric through the sewing machine while creating a polished first project.
You will learn how to:
Follow a beginner pattern and recognize essential quilting terms
Align and secure fabric before sewing
Understand the difference between pressing and ironing
Guide fabric through the machine and sew a seam
Complete a small fabric project
Project 2: Nine-Patch Hot Pads
Watch your first quilt block come together.
Next, you will piece a classic nine-patch block and discover how seam allowance, pinning, and pressing work together to improve accuracy.
You will learn how to:
Arrange and piece a nine-patch quilt block
Sew and check a quarter-inch seam
Pin and align intersecting seams
Layer fabric with batting
Turn, topstitch, and quilt a layered project
Project 3: Three-in-a-Row Game Board
Bring the full quilting process together.
Your final project adds the finishing stages used in traditional quilt construction, including sashing, borders, a quilt sandwich, and binding.
You will learn how to:
Add sashing and borders
Check accuracy as the project grows
Layer and secure a quilt sandwich
Quilt and trim the three layers
Make and attach binding
By the final stitch, you will have completed every major stage of making a quilt and created a game-night set ready for drinks, hot dishes, and a little friendly competition.
* Game board pictures coming soon
A Course Built for Real-Life Learning
Your time is valuable and likely short in supply!
This course is self-paced with short lessons that you can work through at any time. Demonstrations are filmed from different views so each detail is easy to see, while the instruction explains why each step matters so you can apply what you learn to future projects.
The course includes:
Short, focused videos organized in Chapters and Lessons
Close-up demonstrations of each technique
Clear explanations of the purpose behind each step
Patterns with step-by-step instructions and visual support
Optional cutting lessons for preparing your own fabric
Practical troubleshooting for common beginner mistakes
Teacher and community support for students
Is Learn to Quilt: Foundations for you?
This beginner quilting course is designed for you if:
You have never quilted before and want someone to lead you through the process step by step
You own or can access a sewing machine but do not yet feel confident using it
You have watched tutorials but still cannot see how all the techniques fit together
You are nervous about wasting fabric or making mistakes
You would rather begin with small, satisfying projects than commit to a full-sized quilt
You learn best when you can see a demonstration, pause it, and try the step yourself
You want to understand the process instead of following instructions without knowing why
Try Quilting Before Buying Every Tool in the Shop
The cost of a sewing machine, rotary cutter, cutting mat, acrylic rulers, fabric, and specialty notions can add up quickly, especially when you’re not sure whether quilting is for you.
The projects in this course use small amounts of fabric and few quilting tools. Canadian students can purchase optional ready-to-sew kits and begin without investing in cutting equipment right away.
Fabric-cutting lessons are included for students preparing their own fabric or remaking the projects later.
Not sure what is truly necessary? Read What Do You Actually Need to Start Quilting? for a practical guide to beginner quilting tools and ways to find them for less.
I Started With Chalk, an Office Ruler, and Dull Scissors
Quilting was one of the last hobbies I expected to enjoy. I was a serial hobby bouncer, the kind of person who would get excited about something new, buy the supplies, and then let them gather dust.
When I decided to try sewing, I bought an inexpensive machine and used clearance-rack fabric. I marked my fabric with chalk and an office ruler, then cut it with scissors that were not nearly sharp enough for the job. It was not an ideal setup, but it was enough to make my first coasters.
That small project showed me that I could use a sewing machine and create something useful for my home. I had fun and learned that a few well-chosen tools could make the process much easier.
Hi! I’m Krista Russell, the pattern designer and educator behind Timeless Quilt Studio. I hold a Bachelor of Education and bring nearly 15 years of teaching experience, including many years of teaching piano to children. Teaching has taught me to notice where students get stuck and find another way to explain or demonstrate a skill. Learning to quilt through videos also showed me which details can be rushed, left unexplained, or difficult to see on camera.
Learn to Quilt: Foundations brings those experiences together in the course I wish I had when I was beginning.
Beginner Quilting Course FAQs
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Free tutorials can be very helpful when you know the exact technique you need. Learn to Quilt: Foundations is designed for the stage before that. It places foundational skills in a deliberate order, connects them through three small skill building projects, and includes detailed explanations and troubleshooting that are easy to miss when learning from unrelated videos.
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That can absolutely happen! I am available through email to answer questions and we can set up a video call if needed. There will also be a Facebook group where current and eventually past students, in addition to myself, will also be able to provide help and advice.
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Very little sewing experience is needed. At a minimum, you will need to know how to turn on your sewing machine and use it to stitch through fabric. You do not need to feel confident or comfortable using it yet. You will begin building that confidence as you make your first set of coasters.
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You will need access to a working sewing machine and an iron, along with a few basic sewing supplies. A detailed materials list will be provided before the course opens. Canadian students will also have the option of ready-to-sew fabric kits that reduce the cutting tools needed for the first projects.
If you don’t have a sewing machine, iron, and ironing board - check with your local library. They might have those items and more in a maker-space available for library card holders to use on site. Just bring your fabric, phone and a pair of headphones along so you can watch the lessons without disturbing others.
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Not if you choose the ready-to-sew kit option. The fabric pieces will be prepared so you can begin sewing without purchasing the main cutting tools first. Optional lessons will still show you how to use those tools and cut your own fabric when you are ready. Ready-to-sew kits will initially be available in Canada only.
You can also check with your local library, they may have some or all of these items available for you to use.
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Yes. Learn to Quilt: Foundations is being developed as an online beginner quilting course with video lessons and downloadable patterns. You will be able to pause, replay, and return to the instruction as you work through each project.
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Yes. The digital course can be purchased and watched almost anywhere in the world.
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That’s okay! It is all part of learning. The lessons will point out common trouble spots, show you what to check, and help you decide whether something needs to be corrected or can simply be carried forward. Progress matters more than perfection.
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Yes! The Foundations course introduces every major stage of the quilting process on a manageable scale: reading a pattern, piecing, adding batting and backing, quilting, trimming, and binding.
A full-sized quilt will take more fabric and time, but you will understand the process and have a strong foundation for choosing your next beginner quilt project.
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The course is currently in development with the goal of sometime in September 2026. Join the Learn to Quilt email list to receive course progress updates and be among the first to hear when enrolment opens.
Are you ready to see where one seam can lead?
