I live to break the "rules". Who came up with them anyways? They seriously impede my creative spirit. This is why I will never fit in any guild. I have been sewing for 30 years, but I am fairly new to quilting. I am also a potter and vegetable gardener. (Yeah I know mud and fabric together - go figure.) The only rules I follow in my hobbies are the safaty rules, everything else is up in the air. For me, quilting is art and that said - the sky is the limit - no rules, no boundaries.
- I do not prewash my fabrics because I like them nice and stiff.
- Steam seams to affect the seams, so I use it only on whole cloth.
- I use foundation piecing with crazy quilts - there is no other way to make it work for me.
- And a big NO-NO - I grew up in metric system so 1/4" seam is still a mystery to me. My seams are all the same width, which is the width of my walking foot.
- IF I use binding (which is not always the case), I use my machine to attach it on both sides - nobody can tell.
- When I quilt by hand I use pearl cotton, ribon or whatever is bulky and visible, why bother going through all that trouble if nobody is going to see it.
- I think sergers have a place in a quilting room, I am just too lazy to fuss with it - they are more touchy than your regular sewing machine. I swear by them when sewing garments.
- The best sewing machine is the one you have and that works. I wish I had my old 1892 Singer, but I cannot ship it from Bosnia - too costly and it may never get here. I have a classroom model Singer 5050 and it is a workhorse.