How did you get better at quilting?
 

Hi all - I have quilting on and off for the past 10 years. I must be doing something wrong because I don't feel my skills have improved much- my piecing has gotten better but I still struggle with getting all my blocks the right size, bindings, etc. How did all of you improve your quilting skills?

Slow down! Take your time with all the steps: cutting, sewing and pressing.
I think my biggest leap came when I realized that a 'quarter inch seam' was a moving target. first of all, you don't measure the seam, you measure the patch. Here's how to check:
http://www.quiltingboard.com/tutoria...ce-t89997.html
And the second thing is that different fabrics and thread weights can affect this. In other words, you need to do it at the start of every project and adjust it if needed.
Obviously, the seam allowance isn't going to matter if your patches aren't cut accurately. Use the same ruler or same brand of ruler for your whole project & consistently place your fabric the same way each time. Right on the line, or just to the left.
And finally, pay attention to your pressing. Make sure that you aren't pressing a tiny fold in the seam, and pay attention to any pressing instructions in your pattern. It will help the block assembly.

I often feel the same way!! am I ever going to get better!!?!?! But when I look at some pictures of my older quilts I have. I think I have only gotten better by doing it!! The more I do the more confident I feel.. and I can try things different ways to find the way I like to do it best

What paperprincess said.

I also soak my fabrics in hot water and then wash them gently before cutting them.

I like to know what the fabric is like after it is washed - sort oflike kknowing what one's fiancee looks like without makeup.

Being accurate is essential. This means cutting, measuring, stitching and pressing. Use good tools. I always use a steel tape measure-never cloth or plastic as they stretch. One of the most important things I have ever learned is to measures everything flat on the cutting table-never hold it up in the air. Square block segments up as you work. If they are wrong in a partially constructed block they will be more wrong the farther you go. I just finished making a quilt top using these principles. When I finished I was off 1/4 inch in one direction and 1/2 inch off in the other direction. The quilt is 99 inches square. I recommend watching lots of tip tutorials and adopting some that work for you. There are good ones and there are some not so good ones.

Purpledog hit on something that really makes a difference for me--squaring up the units in a block before I put them together. When I rush I am always tempted to skip this--but then remember some quilts I did (3) which I call my "no points" series cause I ended up with blocks all over the place size-wise and too often the points "went missing". So now I force myself to slow down and not skip this all important step.
I also got an Accuquilt Go as my cutting would get sloppy before I'd get a quilt all cut out (and I usually like to cut the entire quilt at one sitting so I know immediately if I have a fabric shortage). that has helped a lot too. I also check andn adjust my 1/4" seam with each project--thank goodness for needle positioner on my machine.
Can't say mine are always perfect, but by focusing more on precision and taking my time they are getting better.

If you want to work on your piecing accuracy, I'd recommend doing the yearly Bonnie Hunter winter mystery quilt. Her patterns use a lot of small pieces, and she gives very detailed instructions and many helpful hints during the mysteries (her instructions in her books are not as detailed; I think doing the mystery is like taking a class). Since I did my first mystery quilt three years ago, my accuracy is greatly improved.

When I first read your post my first thought was 'practice, practice, practice'. But that's not a good answer. It needs to be purposeful practice. One day of sewing carefully, getting back to the basics, checking for accuracy as you go, is better than years of doing the same thing if that thing hasn't been successful in the past. All of the responses above are right on target.

One big thing that helped me improve was joining a guild. When I was sewing with other people, I could ask them "what am I doing wrong here", or "why are these blocks not the turning out the same size?" These questions are much easier to answer by someone who can see exactly what is happening. Practice only makes you better if you know what you're doing wrong, and can focus on improving it.

The first quilt I made that had points was awful. The stars were all blunt ended! The pressure foot I was using measured a 1/4 inch that was too "scant" so all my seams were too small. I have made about 4 quilts with stars now, and they look better each time.

It might help to choose one favorite block and keep making it till you get it perfect. Everything you do is subject to change if you find a better way to do it: Finer thread, starch/don't starch, prewash or not, different rulers, etc.

Probably the biggest thing, though, is perfecting your 1/4" seam.

I think taking workshops and classes really makes a difference.

I made a bunch of small items (mostly potholders) to practice on and try out different techniques and found the ones that worked best for me (so far — there are probably new ones I could try that would improve things more). As Garden Gnome just said, “Everything you do is subject to change if you find a better way to do it.”

I did a lot of Googling and reading. A couple of the things I learned made light years of difference. Squaring up the blocks was a biggie, as two people have already mentioned. Chain piecing helped me to sew straighter, since I was often veering off in the last inch or so. HSTs (and some blocks) can be cut a little larger than needed and then cut down to size.

There are a lot of different ways to do binding. I wanted to find one that could be 100% machine sewn, and I tried a lot of different ways before I found the one that works best for me (or rather, one that wasn’t a complete disaster).

best thing i did was to take a sampler class at a quilt shop then i was able to do on my own
learned so many tricks which makes thing easier
Gale

I agree with Jennifer23 and Claire123...I took beginner classes at my LQS starting with a Turning Twenty. I am fortunate to have two LQS that offer classes regularly on quilting projects and machine basics. I also joined a guild about two years ago and, as we all know, quilters love to share their knowledge and talent so it's like getting lessons for free but more importantly, they are a terrific support group.

This board has helped me tremendously. I read all of it every day. Many thanks to Patrice for getting this out here.

First thing I was doing wrong was my machine was a free arm. I needed a flat bed.

I took some classes and that helped. Then I combined two internet teachers; Bonnie Hunter and Eleanor Burns. Bonnie Hunter says put the cutting line ON the fabric. Eleanor Burns says cut it large so you have some to shave off. So I combined those two things. When I cut I put the line on the fabric and then I give myself a little smidge extra. It seems to work for me.

I have been a serious hobby quilter for 17 years now. My 1st quilt of course was worse than my last. Worked on 365 quilt last year and really improved by leaps and bounds.
My advice matches several already listed.
1. Pay attention to what you are currently doing. Take a day with no TV, etc and concentrate on cutting and piecing.
1 day concentration compared to many days frustration?
2. Cutting: is fabric flat? ruler lined up? rotary blade sharp? Is my Pre cut really correct size? Biggie- am I paying attention to grain lines? We often don't do this is quilting.
3. Thread: I use Aurifil, but used DMC in past. 50wt. Really thin to help seams. 1/4 inch seam counts in patch (like someone already said), I pin 1 inch away from beginning, helps to not be taking a pin out immediately. Am I veering off at the end? Be consistent.
4. I finger press then measure my piecing. It is easier to fix one seam now than take out 5 later. You probably have not developed a measuring eye. Where you "see" the mistake before you measure. Also does your seam ripper "fit" your hand?
5. When I press, am I ironing or pressing? I actually made this a challenge last year and it has stuck. Also do I pull my fabric as I press? You can starch distortion into your fabric.
6. A class really helps with learning tricks not printed in books.
We all have Opinions just like we all have belly buttons.
Hope you improve but with great fun. Gi quilt

I've been quilting for over 40 years, and IMHO perfection is highly over-rated. This is a hobby for most of us, and we need to relax. That's not to say that we shouldn't do our best work, but occasionally we can snip off the point of a star, or make a wonky block, or make a piece too big/small. We are all way too critical of our own work.

That said, as I age, I notice I need to be a little more careful when I cut fabric and bump up the wattage of the light bulbs in my sewing room - I don't see as well. I now have a 1/4" foot for my machine. I square up blocks and even add strips around them if they end up too small. I sometimes make a block a larger size and cut it down to the right size (the Studio 180 way) if it is crucial. Even though I hate it, I do paperpiece occasionally to make sure I get it close to perfect.

The quilt that improved my skill the most was "Dear Jane" which entailed piecing, paper piecing, applique, reverse applique. But even with that, the author, Brenda Papdakis, noted that "finished is better than perfect." So enjoy the journey and don't worry so much.

Relax. Practice. Slow down. Stop trying to be perfect. Enjoy your hobby.

When I first started quilting I thought gee, this will be easy peasy, wrong!! Mastering the the 1/4 inch seam and scant 1/4 inch seam, perfecting my cutting, perfecting my pressing and taking the time to enjoy the process has helped a lot. I am a methodical quilter, I tend to do one block at a time and square up each block as I go so that at the end everything should fit perfectly, I can also fix any mistakes. I found that I became disenchanted when I had to go back and redo blocks or try to figure out where I went wrong while piecing, I was less likely to finish the project.
Since fabric is so expensive, I decided to start simple and work my way up, everyone is different, I have seen first time quilters that produce quilts that I would never dream of making and leave me in awe of their abilities. Like most things in life, the more we do something the easier it becomes, enjoy the process and don't be hard on yourself, have fun!!

I agree with PaperPrincess...slow down, concentrate on improving one skill at a time. Take classes, watch videos of tutorials. Use tools...1/4" quilting foot, rulers, various threads, etc. Just keep going. Do small projects, keep going to completion. Each project you do will improve your skills. It takes a lot of time. I have been quilting 13 years and I still have a lot of learn.

Quit comparing your work to some one else

What I have been doing to improve is to pick one area that I think needs the most improvement i.e. cutting, then I watch videos and read everything I can on that specific area and put what I learned to use on the next project I work on. I try to improve everything but really focus on that specific area that I chose to concentrate on. When I see substantial improvement in my cutting then I select another area such as 1/4" seams and repeat the process. Slowly and surely I am seeing improvements and feel my skill level is increasing. Sometimes to push myself I select a pattern or block that seems to be beyond me and focus on learning how to do that. It all helps. Gains may be incremental but at least I can see progress from one project to the next.

Lastly, I am learning not to beat myself up over perceived problems. A long time ago someone told me that no one sets out to fail and they have done the best they could at that time. So, I use those perceived short-comings to pick a new area to concentrate on improving and the cycle continues.

Cutting and sewing to get a precise size does take skill and you have to develop that skill. I am a believer in quilt classes from knowledgeable instructors. I don't mind showing my not right blocks and asking what do you think I did wrong. I watch others cut and sew and that helped me a lot. If you can't go to a class use Craftsy. I learned about thread types, weights, and ply. I learned about needles. That made a difference in my stitches. If I stop sewing for an length of time I forget little details that make or break a good sew. Takes me a mistake or two to remember!

I am a new quilter, however, like these more experienced quilters, I am growing in stages. My biggest leap forward is my attitude change toward ripping. When I make a mistake, I don't try to justify it or cover it up or compensate for it. I happily pull out my ripper and fix the little issues before they cause bigger issues. I don't dread it anymore, I revel in the improvement that I am making. The biggest improvement is the way I think about fixing something rather than practice denial.

Realizing that there are several things that can contribute to how something will turn out.

Materials selected
Cutting
Piecing
Pressing

Are all things/processes where small differencee/inconsistencies can add up to big differences.

I became really picky about things like always straightening the grain on my fabric before I cut so I don't get wonky strips.
I cut on the outside of the line on my ruler so every piece is just a sliver bigger than its supposed to be and then I cut the block to size at the end. And I have rulers in all the block sizes I make so the I can square them up exactly before I begin sewing them together.
I also have a hard time conceptualising so I spend a lot of time planning on paper and just staring at things on my design wall before I do any actual sewing.
Watson

Oh, I've been quilting 30 years and my quilts are never perfect. At some point in time, I decided that making a lovely quilt was what I wanted to achieve. Not a perfect one. It was too stressful for me to try and make perfect quilts. If you want a perfect quilt, you'll need to have every step of the process perfect and be willing to rip out any seam and do over if necessary.

Switch things up a bit. Take a class in something you have never tried, join a Guild, learn that sometimes a consistent seam is more important than a perfect 1/4 inch seam. Sometimes, a perfect 1/4 inch seam is required and there is nothing that can be done about that. Practice different techniques and styles. Gradually you will get better.

I have been at it for many years. I cut up old clothes to make scraps and practiced all my blocks several times until I felt comfortable with it before I used my good fabric. When I have trouble with something I do it over and over until I get it right. Sometime it is hard to not give up on something I am having a lot of trouble with but I have learned to just put it away for awhile and come back to it later. I try not to do the same pattern to often as I like to try as many different ones as I can. I have learned a lot of new ways to do things from this board. On many things there are several ways to do them so I try them all until I found the one that is best for me. On quilting slow and relaxed is the way I go. When I get in a hurry I usually mess up.

I agree is mostly about practicing. My LQS offers a 12 month sampler class that I think is great. There is an initial fee of usually about $25. You go to a short (15-30 min.) class each month. You are given cuts of fabric to make that month's block. Each month is a skill-builder. You get practice cutting the pieces you are given into smaller sub-cuts; practice sewing the various components. Some months are straight up piecing; some paper piecing; some machine embroidery; etc. Each month you go to the class with your previous month's block completed, you are given your new fabrics for free. If your block is not complete it's a nominal $5.00 fee for your new fabrics. Towards the end of the program you are given options for purchasing a 'finishing kit' to include sashing/borders/backing in various sizes.

I really enjoy the process. I'm not much of a 'sampler quilt' person, thus have not done one in a couple of years. But I find it keeps you in the sewing mood in addition to building your skills. And the girls at the shop are always available to help you over rough spots and they usually have extra bits of fabric for when you make booboos.

In a recent sewing room cleanup I found the one from 2013 and am only now finishing up that. Just picked up fabrics for the sashing/border/backing. Figure I'll have that to play with on Tues. during our forecasted snow storm!

There are two things that I think have made the biggest difference for me

One - I started doing one-day mystery quilts. Merry Mayhem has one every New Year's Day. They are simple enough to be completed in one day, but complex enough to look good. paintmejudy here on the board also does mystery quilts (mystery train rides) and she has excellent instructions. By doing a mystery quilt, I'm focussed only on the current step and that seems to help me pay more attention. Finished quilts are often a pattern that I would not otherwise tackle.

Two - I joined round robins or block swaps. When sewing something that I know is going to become part of someone else's quilt, I take special care. This has translated into building good habits.

I don't agree to use less then quality fabric or batting for your first quilts. I wish I had used the best fabric for my first quilts. The fabric is fraying and almost threadbare in spots. After a few years the mistakes that you were so sad about won't bother you at all to see them. But to see the quilt fall apart will make you sad.

I learned to quilt making a dear jane. (don't laugh.....I never said I was smart). I joined a Dear Jane Club (after everybody was more than halfway through), but they took me under their wing, and one patch at a time we would show each other how we each and often made the same patch differently. I tried and learned so many techniques and learned when and how to chose the better technique. The blocks were so small, if I ruined one, it was no disaster. I made a quilt, and made friends. Best learning experience for me in a long time. And yes, I got it done.

I keep going out of my comfort zone to help me improve myself. Also trying out new techniques, tips like starching all my fabrics helped the most to keep my blocks from going haywire.

Like Snooze2798 I find that going out of my comfort zone helps me improve. There are a number of courses on- line that I really like as well.

The Craftsy 2013 block of the month taught by Laura Nownes is a free class that has an amazing number of excellent tips for piecing tricky blocks. I took that back in 2013 and my piecing improved quite a bit as a result.

when choosing a course, I like to decide on one area I want to improve, and then look for a course that will help me with that. Right now I'm taking both of the Lisa Calle courses on iquilt because I wanted to improve my Fmq design skills.

Rob

I so appreciate you for asking this question! I sometimes think I cannot even see a straight seam, but I keep trying. I think we can be our own worst critics. Honestly, I believe taking classes, slowing down, and not being afraid to rip out and redo have made my work better. It's still far from perfect, but I've decided my sewing has character!

I am right there with you, karlin68. However, I must admit I haven't always been able to quilt and it's been on and off just like you. One time I spoke to an experienced quilter and she said it's all practice. Learning new skills takes time. Plus I find I really need to take my time and not rush or the whole process will not work. I want to go faster but I tell myself to slow down with the measuring, cutting, piecing and somehow this seems to be working, yay! :)

What a great question! I started quilting in the late '80's and thought I was doing pretty well although I stuck to a lot of simpler blocks. Then about 3 years ago I started going to quilt clubs at the quilt shop. I'm quite surprised at how much nicer my blocks look now vs. before the clubs. First of all there is homework every month so I was forced (although you really don't have to do the homework if you don't want) to make different blocks every month. A lot of the blocks are complicated. There were 12" and 6" blocks and the littler ones were hard for me at first. Then, secondly, I learned so much from the demos every month where others pointed out little tips for piecing and pressing the blocks as well as fabric choices. Lots of times I'll make multiples of the blocks just for the practice. So I guess the answer for me, anyway, was to challenge myself and practice.

i took my time and sewed a lot.
for some reason, when i first started quilting, i was a kid back then, was always in a rush to finish something i was working on. Now, i take my time, and enjoy the time i'm making my quilts. I've been at it for decades now, and i've mde about everything, except a DWR. I've lately been doing hand piecing and EPP. Now i need to know where it's going or who it's going too before i start it.

Everything said above is certainly true. I have been piecing quilts for about 40 years, believe I know about squaring fabric before cutting, cutting accurately, sewing straight seams, pressing not ironing, and squaring blocks before sewing them into rows. But I found that I improve when I teach a new quilter, because then I actually put in practice what I know.