I'm new to the Forum and looking forward to another source of information. I do have a question:
When I sew long strips of fabric together (WOF) they tend to ripple along the sides. Does anyone have any ideas how to over come this so that I can stack the strips for further cutting?

Lucy, my first suggestion is to check the stitch length. Maybe your stitches are too tight. Secondly, are you letting the feed dogs do their job of moving the fabric? Never push or pull your fabic strips. Thirdly, I would recommend you look into aquiring a 1/4" foot for your machine. This foot has a little flange on it to keep the fabric straight.

I hope you find this information helpful. Please let me know if you have anymore questions.

There is such a thing as "pressure" on the presser foot.
You can check the amount of pressure by putting 2 pieces of fabric under the presser foot, lower the foot, now try to pull the fabric out from under the foot.
If it pulls out, then you need to increase the amount of pressure on your presser foot (see your manual for how to do this).
Lack of enough pressure could be causing your seam line to ripple.
Joyce

Boo, where can I purchase that 1/4 in. foot with the flange? I have a foot that measures 1/4 inch from the needle to the outside edge of the foot, but it does not have the flange you mentioned. The foot I have helps, but my seams are rarely perfect.

Betty Ruth

My machine is a Janome and I bought the foot at the dealer. You can check online sources like Nancy's Notions or Clotilde for a generic foot to fit your type of machine. I would first check a machine dealer in your area, so you don't have to pay shipping costs. You need to know if you have a short, long, or slant shaft machine. Most short shank machines, like Kenmore and Janome can use these generic feet. Every customer who brings her machine to the shop to sew seem to have this type of 1/4" foot, so I think they are available for every brand of machine.
Good luck with your search. You will be grateful for the extra precision. Your seams will always match and your points will stay in line. What more could a quilter ask for? :lol:

Lucy, my suggestion after checking all of the above, is that once you have completed your row stitching, press your seam flat first in order to set your stitches. Press, or stomp your iron along the length, no scrubbing or rubbing. Using a permanent pigma pen, draw a straight line on your ironing surface and then press, aligning one of your edges along this line.

Hope this helps.
Suz

Thank you, Boo.

A walking foot may help you too - some makers refer to them as even feed feet. Sometines I just use a chunky magnet to line everything at 1/4 inch, so i will be less likely to "help" the fabric though. As with a lot of things in quilting, it is a matter of finding out what works best for YOU.

[I have used a walking foot. It helped when quilting with a thick batt, but I couldn't use it for piecing. I just wasn't comfortable using it for that. I had read about using it for matching plaids, so I thought it would help me keep the quilt pieces together. It didn't. It made my problem worse. I'll just look for that foot with a flange when I get a chance. I 'll probably have to order it. The only quilt shops with which I'm familar are on the other side of San Antonio, over 25 miles of city traffic. It's Walmart or Hobby Lobby on this side of town. Even Hancock Fabrics on this side of town has closed, not that they had that much of a choice, anyway.

In my area there are a couple of small appliance and vacuum repair shops they both carry parts for sewing machines, that's where I bought my quarter inch foot.