Are you a Dirty Quilter?

"Dirty quilting" aka "quick and dirty quilting" or “anything goes quilting” is an extremely relaxed approach to quilting that emphasizes the joy of sewing over the need for perfection. No Quilt Police Allowed!  You skip all those strict technical rules like matching points or using precise measurements, making it a perfect, stress-free method for beginners and seasoned quilters alike. 

The golden rule of dirty quilting is "you cannot possibly mess it up." Traditional quilting involves exact cutting, perfectly straight 1/4-inch seam allowances, and aligning corners.  Dirty quilting tosses these strict rules aside.

• No Perfect Points: If your quilt blocks or fabric squares don't align perfectly, it simply adds character to the finished piece. I have a lot of character!
• Relaxed Sewing: You don't need to stress over the direction your seams are pressed or whether your blocks measure down to the exact fraction of an inch. If your seams aren’t flat well, that’s just a bit more character!
• Scrap-Friendly: It is heavily focused on using up leftover scrap fabrics and charm packs, rather than buying perfectly measured yardage. This is easy we all have leftover scraps that just were to perfect to toss!  So they sit waiting on that perfect reason to use them! 

How to become a Dirty Quilter!

Because dirty quilting is all about speed and fun, certain techniques are heavily utilized:

• Chain Piecing: Instead of cutting and starting over for every single piece of fabric, you continuously sew one block right after the other without cutting the thread. This saves a massive amount of time.
• Stitch and Flip (Quilt-As-You-Go): Also known as string quilting, this technique involves sewing scraps of fabric directly onto a backing or batting, trimming the edges, and flipping them over. You don't have to worry about traditional, intricate block piecing.
• Finger Pressing: Rather than pulling out an iron for every single seam, you simply use your fingers and the heat of your hands to press seams flat as you work.

Beginners Love It

Dirty quilting eliminates the steepest learning curves of traditional quilting. Instead of getting frustrated over technical skills like cutting exact triangles or achieving perfectly uniform seams, beginners can focus on learning the basic motions of the sewing machine and playing with colors. It allows you to complete your very first project quickly, building confidence without the pressure of perfection.

Don’t get me wrong I like when my points line up and my seams match and there is nothing better than a nice, flat nested seam!  But after a top of two of matching points and stressing over whether I have enough around the edge of my block to seam and still have a point, I like a good old dirty quilt session!  I grab my scrap tape and take all those little pieces and get to stitching, not watching anything but not sewing my finger to my project.  So Yes, I am a dirty quilter!  I have my moments of traditional but to me there is nothing more satisfying than finally seeing the bottom of the scrap bucket!