I am a new quilter in my first beginner class. I was wondering if you guys pinned all your pieces together before you sew. It seems like it would a lot of work but maybe it would help me get a perfect 1/4" seam. Our teacher has us just hold the pieces one on top of the other and sew.

It depends. If I'm sewing a long strip, I'll put several. If I have to ease in fullness, I use more. If it's short and sweet and things appear to be lining up, I might not pin at all. Do whatever is comfortable for you.

Kryssa: welcome to the wonderful world of quilting where everyone has a different way of doing things!! You'll probably get a lot of opinions from us on what we prefer. The more you quilt the more you'll develope your own ways.

As for me, I don't pin individual pieces together-I just lay them on top of one another. When I am matching blocks at seam intersections I always pin before and after the seam--just remember to remove the pins when you get to them and don't sew over them! (Ask me how I know this LOL)

The thing that has really helped me get (almost) perfect 1/4" seams is the 1/4" foot for my machine and practice, practice, practice.

These are just my humble suggestions--try different methods and stick with what works for you. And Good Luck!!

I agree with all of the above.

Ditto!! It took me a while to get away from pinning everything, coming from a garment construction background. But now I find that I use pins mostly for matching seams.

And those wonderful quarter inch seams can be gotten with the foot, as suggested, or by marking your machine with the blue painters tape at a scant 1/4". (Painters tape does not leave adhesive when you remove it.)

Enjoy your quilting! You will find it addictive! And soooo relaxing! ;)

I usually pin anything over 6 in length to keep the ending edges even... and I always pin for seam intersections with the 3 pin method...one through the intersect (straight stick for accuracy) then one on either side...remove the middle pin before actually sewing.

I too use what Bobbinwinder calls the 3 pin method. But for long pieces, I usually feed it into the machine and straighten it as I go. 1/4 foot helps a lot, too.

Sometimes I can just nest the seams and they line right up without a problem. If I start having a problem I'll baste a seam (sew an inch across where the blocks line up and then check it first before I do the entire seam). And if I have a terrible time lining them up, I stick a pin straight through where the seams intersect and check it, then pin.

i use pins when sewing seams together,so they line up better..other than that, nope,don't use pins.

I have to say I am a pinner. Always try to remove them rather than sew over them. But if for some reason I do sew over them, no problem with my old Bernina 930.