Which do you do?
 

When you see a new technique or method of doing something -

Do you "keep on doing what you've been doing"? or give the new method a try?

Some examples:

How to treat fabrics that bleed -
Starching or not starching -
Using glue or not using glue -

Do you do (or not do) whatever because "that's the way you were taught"? or "that's how Mom did it"? or from trying different methods/techniques and then deciding which works better for you?

Sometimes the way we were taught IS "the best way" - but not always -

How hard is it for you to try new methods and allow yourself to be objective about the results? (After factoring in the learning curve)

Or if someone says - blah blah blah - do you do an experiment to see if it is so? or if it just sounds good? (Or wonder if that someone has actually done "tests" to verify his/her statements?)

I try them any new method if it's not a lot more steps because I'm sure to miss a new step in a new method. The results can be good or bad. I always use scrap fabric. May be a pre-use method or type of stitching or safety method. It has to make the process easier or better for the overall end effect. We must remember every situation is different especially where we are located. I use bottled water instead of our tap. It just has so many deposits in it that build up quickly. I use distilled for my irons and anything to do with fabric. Bottled drinking for cooking, anything going into the body. Often I use new methods and forget and go back to the old.

I sometimes try a new idea but I just can't see using glue in basting. THAT I will NEVER try.

I always try the new method. I don't see why anyone would not try before dismissing anything new.

Like Onebyone, I will give a new technique a try. Sometimes it works better and I keep using it, and sometimes it doesn't work better and I go back to my old method.

Pam

Like Onebyone, I always try a new method -- but like Tessagin, I often forget and go back to the old method, even if the new method was easier or more accurate. Some new-to-me methods I've tried and continue using are glue basting, freezer paper piecing, Deb Tucker's flying geese rulers, and using glue for hard to match seams.

I like to try new methods, as long as they don't require me to purchase expensive new rulers. I plan on trying glue basting once I've used up my supply of 505 spray

I threw out the rule book a long time ago. I experiment!

New ways to sew a block ......I will usually try....sometimes it is better, sometimes seems more complicated...I make a mental note.....still use pins to hold seams, not glue.....but my weakness is templates.......will buy, if it makes something interesting...EX: F&P whirling pinwheel and pixie wings are my latest crazy purchase!

I try anything new if I think it might work. I follow Marti Michell's way of checking fabrics for bleeding and so far, it works for me too. I have tried the starching method and sometimes I use it but mostly I do not. I have tried the glue and loved it for piecing a quilt once and decided I will use it again. I read about appliquing for a drunkard path quilt and decided not to do it, I would just stitch it on machine. Some things are ok and some aren't. I tried making some quilts out of little pieces of fabric following a famous designers patterns and they aren't for me at all. I am even going to sell her books, I dislike them so much. So I guess I am very open to trying things and if it doesn't work for me, then I go in another direction. I do not let the experimentation cut into my quilting time though.

I will try new things with scraps. I save them. Someday, I'll make a quilt out of all of those misfit blocks that I tried things with. At the very least, it could be a donated doggie quilt...

I am open to new ways of doing things. That is the great part of this place. Thanks to the QB I have learned to use glue sticks in matching seams, doing different basting techniques for different sizes of quilts, the Clover Clips, the many uses of starch in quilting, and the list goes on. And nothing annoys me more than to take a class to learn a how to do something and another person in the class tries to tell everyone her/his way of doing it.

It is also the main reason I love going to the big quilt shows to find out what is new in the quilt world. I may not always change the way I do it, but it is nice to find out if there is a better way.

I like trying new things! If it looks as good as or better than my current technique I'll definitely give it a shot. If it looks worse than what I already do I usually don't bother, but sometimes I'll try things anyway, just to be sure my assumption matches reality.

Just try one small project even if it is just 2 plain squares. I think you will be amazed t how well it stays together and does not shift pr buckle. Just be sure to smooth out any clumps of glue. Let dry completely before quilting, wash after you are finish. Fast and easy. If hand quilting, use a very light touch.

Try it. You might like it. With my very arthritic hands, it is much easier for me. Besides, then I don't have to ask my DD to layer quilts for me. She already helps me so much, I hate to ask her to do any more.

I'm pretty new to both sewing and quilting so I like to give new-to-me ideas a whirl after reading reviews or seeing videos. Love glue for piecing an basting and any technique that produces more than just one item (i.e. magic 8 HST). I avoid things with too many steps. Why frustrate myself - I know my temperament. :)

I won't use pins for any reason at all - too many cats and my sewing space it a wide-open loft.

I will try new techniques or suggestions if it instantly makes sense. I'm all about new efficiencies if I can grasp the concept right away. What I don't understand about using glue is how it doesn't gum up your needle and therefore affect the bobbin area? Even if the glue dries , the friction of the needle at high speed would soften the glue again again, wouldn't it?

I am such a creature of habit. It is hard for me to change and try something new.

zozee: When you glue baste, you don't cover the entire thing. You just apply a few thin lines of thinned out glue. It doesn't affect either my Bernina or my Handiquilter Sweet 16 quilter. The glue must be the cheap school glue that washes out completely.

I had used washable glue in heirloom sewing to keep trims in place, so using it in a quilt wasn't a serious challenge for me. I started using it to hold down binding while machine stitching it before I used it to baste the sandwich.

Pam

I agree. I am willing to try something once.

Giving an interesting tip or tutorial a try is so easy, why not. The things learned right here on the QB are some of the best tips and tutes going.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained!
peace

I'll try my hand at the new technique cause if it makes my life easier.............why not. Had some fabrics bleed on me. Someone mentioned hot water and vinegar. Well, it did an okay job but not really great. Then read to use the blue Dawn dish soap. Yes, now that worked for me so now I'll use the Dawn system. Someone mentioned using Elmer's Glue for whatever the situation was at the time. Loved it and now use it whenever I can while piecing and/or putting my binding on my quilt. If it means less chances of pricking myself with straight pins, I'm all for it. There's so many ideas/suggestions I've read on this digest that have made life easier for me.

I will try new methods, small scale to see if they work. Then, if they do, I move on to a larger project.

There's always something new to learn and I try to be open to new ideas.

I like to give the new method a try. Sometimes it works and other times I go back to my original way of doing it.

Yes I am always open to trying new things. It can't hurt & it might make a world of difference in your project or the ease in doing your project. If not then you aren't out anything & just go back to your old way of doing it.

If I'm completely happy with the way I'm doing something -- it works for me without frustrations or problems -- then I usually stick with it. But I'm always completely grateful for suggestions that make what is not working for me, well, workable. So yes, I try new things....and when they are better I'm always appreciative to whoever thought of the easier way!

In am always open to try new things and ways of doing things. I have learned much better ways of doing a lot of things on the board. We never learn if we don't try new things.

I love to try new ideas. The Elmer's glue basting was the BEST. I hate pin basting and purchased spray basting is soooo expensive and the over spray is not fun to deal with. But Elmer's is the BOMB.

I'm always up for new ideas and will experiment, but only as a test first. If something's easier and foolproof, I'm all in! (Maybe that's why I have so many sewing notions, lol!)

If the new way is in an area where I am having a problem, or is something that would help me save strain on my body, especially, arms and neck, then I definitely will try it. However, if it's just another way to do something that I am already happy with the way it I do it, and it's easy for me, then I probably will just let it go.

When it comes to food, I will always buy/order something I have never had. Same goes for quilting -- always open to new experiences.

My problem is that I buy something to try a new approach, like Clover clips, and never get around to trying them. At this point, it would take more time to find them that to do it the old way!