Will I ever get better at matching seams?
 

Hi everyone! I'm a beginner but I've been trying to quilt for the last 6 months. Will I ever get better at matching seams? I watch a lot of tutorials and they just speed on through rows and everything looks great. Even if I go super slow my seams don't ever seem to match. Is this just something I'll get with practice?

It would be good to know how you are now matching the seams. then might be able to give some advice.

Not sure how you are doing it either? Are all your seam the same size?

Yes, I'm currently working on a charm square quilt. It's supposed to be simple. I'm sewing all of my squares in rows with a 1/4" seam allowance. I even started measuring each square after I sew one on to make a row and see that it is exactly 4.75 inches. My problem is when I sew my rows together. It keeps getting off. Also I am pressing to the dark side, so my seams will nest. The first few are fine, but by the end of the row they are not nesting.

Sewing machines differ in how accurately they sew two layers together. Mine is pretty good, but I have also sewn on machines that definitely feed the bottom layer faster. With this type of machine, holding your top strip higher helps. Otherwise, using a walking foot helps.

When I want really accurate matching of seams, I glue baste with Elmer's washable school glue before sewing. Works better than pins for me.

Are you pinning each intersection? Where seams from the charms meet?

Practice,practice and practice some more!!!:thumbup:

After ten+ years of quilting and over 50 of sewing, my seams still would not march perfectly without pinning. At first, I thought that "when I got good" they would just fit like a glove. But even a thread or too off will keep that from happening. Don't feel as if pinning is some admission of failure.

My latest trick is a drop of Elmer's school glue at the intersections. I tried this with my 9 year old granddaughter and she had matching seams, because of the miracle of the school glue. Of course if the pieces are way off, this won't work, but, I cut the squares so they were pretty close.

A little tip I do...I first pin each seam then I run a basting stitch...take out my pins ck and if not lines up easy to pull right out if lines up just run your reg stitch over the basting stitch...SEW SIMPLE...

I haven't tried pinning each intersection. I guess I assumed I should be able to do it like the gals on the tutorials.

definitely need to pin. You may need to lift your pressure foot half way thru each block to let the fabric lay back down. The pressure foot is probably pushing the top fabric harder than the feed dogs are pulling the bottom.

What do you mean by holding my top strip higher?

Nesting the seams and pinning help alot. Even if your seams are good, sometimes it doesn't match up because fabrics can stretch a little. So one might stretch a lot and another not much. Pinning really helps. I slow down as I get to the pin and take it out at the last minute. If necessary, I give a little tug while sewing to compensate for one being a little off. if the whole row is larger than another, put that row on the bottom when you sew.

I've been quilting for about a dozen years now. I quit sewing rows. I sew my squares or blocks into four patches and then sew those four patches into giant four patches until I have my top sewn into four quarters. Then I sew the top two quarters together and the bottom two together and I have only one full width seam.

I once took a precision machine piecing workshop from Sally Collins, and it is hands down the best class I have ever taken. If you can get a copy of her book, it is worth it's weight in gold. I have only adopted a few of her methods, and my piecing life is sooo much easier! She does machine pieced miniature quilts which are made of very complex miniature blocks, perfectly pieced. She knows her stuff!

That sounds like a great idea!

I was taught to pin at the intersection, very carefully, making sure that the pin goes easily through the intersection (of course the seams are nested first) then pin the opposite seams also and then sew very, very slowly and you can sew over the pins and that will usually do it for me. Cutting is huge tho' and if your aren't accurate with your cutting everything goes off!!! I also got a charm pack that wasn't cut correctly and really made a mess of my quilt!!

Yes! Sew into blocks instead of rows...works much better!

This is a good idea. I'll use it in school when I work with the kids sewing.

Are you PRESSING OR IRONING? If you are not careful you can iron it out of shape. I always pin mine. I also have a 5 inch needle that I use as a steleto. I put the point in the top piece at a 1/4 inch and again on the bottom AS I am sewing, nothing moves. Keep trying. lol

pin - pin- pin!! even with pinning my half square triangles sometimes don't line up.

Try measuring all the squares in the row. The first and last square should measure 4.75 -- all those in between should measure 4.50. If they all measure the same, they should lock together. However, if they are off slightly, just pin. Line up the seam, stick a pin straight through the seam (look on the back to make sure the pin is coming out through the seam and not the allowance), keep that pin straight while placing a pin on either side catching the allowances, then remove the first pin leaving the two in the seam allowances. I place my pins so that the points are toward the edge. They seem less likely to get caught on my presser foot that way, and they are easy to remove with my left hand. Also, when possible feed the fabric so that the seam allowance is toward the needle rather than facing away. I find that the pinking shear cut on precut pieces are difficult to line up evenly and get exact measurements. I highly recommend Harriet Hargrave's Quilting Academy Series. She has four books out - Freshman, Sophomore, Junior and Senior. I had trouble getting my seams to lock until I followed her lessons. The first time I put seams together and didn't have to pin was exciting. Her methods aren't speedy, but they are accurate. Getting the correct measurement of your square or block is more important than an exact 1/4 inch seam. Good luck.

I learned the most I ever have about piecing from this book. I checked it out at the library. The best for me was how to accurately chain piece, ending with the needle down and butting the next piece to be sewn against it. Pin, pin, pin and go slow. Going slow means you can sew over pins. Loved it!

You need to pin at each intersection by placing a pin through the first square at 1/4" then through the next square at 1/4" then back through the seam very straight. I sew as close to the pin as possible before I remove it so that I don't get much shifting. I also press my seams open. Fork pins are also a good tool to use. Good luck!

I would like to recommend a good book and accompanying DVD. "Mastering Precision Piecing" by Sally Collins. I ... and a few others here on the board call this book the "primer". Her methods will teach you how to concentrate on getting accurate seams starting with cutting, pinning, sewing and pressing.

the amazon link below should pull up a search that will show both the book and the DVD.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss...n+%2Caps%2C234

It's hard to describe. It's an industrial sewing technique that evens out how two pieces feed (when the sewing machine is not doing a good job of it.)

One thing you can do is lift up both strips in your hand so you are feeding into the presser foot at about 90 degree angle. Basically what this is doing is putting more stress on the lower strip and less strip on the upper strip. This corrects a tendency on some machines to feed the bottom strip faster than the top strip.

Test your machine by taking two strips of the same length (say, two strips width-of-fabric). Start the strips so the ends are exactly together. After sewing them the entire length, see if one strip is shorter than the other strip. If it is, chances are it is the bottom strip that is shorter. The above technique will help correct that tendency.

You can also sew by holding just the top strip higher and just holding down the bottom strip a bit with your thumb, but I find that more difficult to do. Sort of like trying to pat your head and rub your tummy at the same time.

If you do the test and the top strip is shorter than the bottom strip, then your presser foot is probably too tight. On a lot of machines you can lighten the presser foot pressure.

Also, using a walking foot to piece will even out how the two strips feed. However, I find using a walking foot annoying when I am piecing.

I agree you need to do accurate cutting. Once I got my june tailor shape cut I found my strips were more accurate as well as my seams

pin, pin, pin, pin....I also always will pin at intersections making sure things don't move.

Those who don't pin and still get matching seams have discovered a magic technique. The rest of us have to pin, pin, pin,pin to get the seam to match. It is all part of the technique of the craft. And don't be mislead by those experts on YouTube.......They have done it a long time. They know their equipment and they probably use little tricks we don't see on the tube. And afterall it might be easy to get one block right.....but what about the rest of the quilt. It is just like the demos at quilt conventions showing freemotion and machine quilting. Always on a 12" square. Never on a full size quilt.

I quilt for fun. I rarely pin. I iron seams in opposite directions and then just lock the seams together. A little tug and pull while holding onto the locked seam... And it works for me.

I use a wooden iron or bone folder and do not use an iron til the block is finish.

Excellent advice!

And like JustABitCrazy wrote, you don't have adopt all of Sally's methods (I didn't), but just knowing where and why things can go wrong will be a huge help.

It always boils down to the cutting, sewing and pressing - individually or any combination or all three.

The Art of Machine Piecing - I bought it when it first came out - best money I ever spent on any quilting book.

What is the name of the book? I would like to request that my local library purchase it! Thanks!

I feel your pain! I am working on a half triangle piece to show off some hourglasses and although each square individually was almost perfect (see, almost) once I began sewing my rows together it began to look like a hot mess. Of course, any person not familiar with quilting has looked at it and ooohed and awwwed over it but when I look at it the seams just taunt me!! I have found the best method for this particular project of mine is to pin where the seams nest and to hold the fabric together firmly while I'm sewing, not so firmly that it warps but just that it behaves and then right when I get to that nesting point I take the pins out and sew right over and it does the trick. That has worked so far and then when I press it it all looks much better. Good luck, I am a beginner like you and I think we just need to keep practicing and quilting and quilting and quilting.

When you pin the fabric together, make sure that the seams are ironed opposite each other vs going the same way. The seams should be snug up against the other. Then pin. Try that to see if your results are improved.
Sandy

Pin, pin pin! Sometimes your seams will go together without pinning, but most times, you'll have to pin. But I find that not actually pinning the seams, but pinning OVER the seams, helps keep it straight . When you put a pin in the sem allowance and then do that little motion to make the point come back out again, it WILL throw the seam out of alignment. I pin about 1/4" before the seam and 1/4" after the seam. Also those 2 pronged pins work very well for pinning on each side of the seam.

Notice the opposite side of the pieces you are sewing. If they don't match evenly together then no matter if you match at the seams the row will be crooked. I always match the opposite sides of the seams and that may mean I have less seam allowance for one fabric piece for the seam. If it is more then 1/16 less then I know I messed up somewhere. I stop and find out why before sewing more. I took Sally Collins class and it isn't for the hurry up and sew type people. Each step is very precise. She had a video class on The Quilt Show last year which was excellent.