Hi, to all experienced quilters out there!

Can you tell me if there is anyway, besides pinning, which quasi works for me....to get your seams to line up perfect for little 2" blocks....I was on a piecing binge today so I can get my Arkansas Trail quilt done for my grandson's birthday and some of my squares lined up perfect...and others were just slightly off...This is my first bed quilt....anyway, picture me sitting there with each square aligning them perfectly as I could.....there are alot of little squares....I sewed for about 8 hours today off and on....

When I am just "piecing" I rarely use pins. I do pin, however, when I am joining fabrics with seams. If the seams go in opposite directions, the pieces sort of just "lock" in together. I lock them and then pin.

Sometimes if you press one seam one direction and the other
seam the opposite direction, you can butt them right up
together.
And other times about the only thing that works is pinning
as you are doing. I am a 'seasoned' quilter (and piecer) and lot of times mine don't match up. Problem is the longer I work at it, seems the sloppier I get. Just have to
take a break and start again. Wish I knew am easier solution.

I hardly pin. But then most of my pieces are blocks that "lock" together. Pins are for borders in my opinion (at least, that's when I use them) and for the very beginning of binding. But if you want nice seams, try a magnetic seam guide. I have one that I put right against my 1/4 inch foot and it works great. All my seams are the same and the blocks line up perfectly

Thanks for your reply....I have been butting them up by "feeling where the seam is" ....I tried peeking to see if they are lined up....very time consuming :) Then I just stopped pinning at one point and felt with my fingers, peeked and sewed....this seemed to work great...funny...I bought this box of those special pins...you know they are like a little fork....I wound up jabbing my fingers once or twice....and then I was watching tv and it got real loud...I went to put it lower and almost broke my neck over the cords from the machine....well....I did finish all the two inch pieces and I am still alive and laughing....

Thanks for your reply....I have been butting them up by "feeling where the seam is" ....I tried peeking to see if they are lined up....very time consuming :) Then I just stopped pinning at one point and felt with my fingers, peeked and sewed....this seemed to work great...funny...I bought this box of those special pins...you know they are like a little fork....I wound up jabbing my fingers once or twice....and then I was watching tv and it got real loud...I went to put it lower and almost broke my neck over the cords from the machine....well....I did finish all the two inch pieces and I am still alive and laughing....

I always pin when sewing two pieces of fabric together, especially when joining seams...even if they are 'locked'. I hate it when seams don't line up and pinning is more than worth the time it takes in order for me to get the results I want. It all depends on what's important to you. :)

I put my 2" on that 2" grid that you iron on. I use a lot of that for my watercolor quilts and others.

Is that the fusible grid? I have been thinking of buying some to try....

I know, I was told to pin....but you know with all those squares I was moving so slow....and they were not lining up perfect with pinning....

I'm in the pin it to death kinda person. Since I do a ton of miniatures, for me, what works is to change the stitch length on the machine to a larger stitch, and string piece the pinned blocks. Once they're all sewn, open them up and check for matching seams. Put the ones that match in one pile, and the ones that are off in a different pile and re-sew. When you're happy with the way they are, change the stitch length back to a smaller stitch and sew. Press and you should be good.

It is a bit more work, but IMHO totally worth it in the end.

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

think of it this way........pinning better assures accurate matching and saves time in the long run and less frustration. I will line up the seams and then pin away from the seam thru the back and this holds the bottom seam allowance from flipping over.
I definitely believe pinning saves time...if you want accuracy in lining up which I am sure you do

Sounds like a plan....I appreciate your advice!

Pinning is important and all the ladies seem to suggest pinning...your tip is appreciated!

Pinning is important and all the ladies seem to suggest pinning...your tip is appreciated!

Hi,
Now there you go! Where to find this magnetic seam thing?
:)

I have relatives in Hazelton....and spent alot of time in Trescow Pa when I was a child.....nice memories!

I just went on internet to search for this magnetic seam guide and think it is like a 1/4 inch seam foot which I have....anyway, it said not recommended for computerized machines....I have a Janome computerized machine.....so much for that....but thanks for the idea!

Anything magnetic is the "kiss of death" to anything computerised!

I too am a manic pinner, and if it's any consolation I spend a fair bit of time unpicking too. The smaller the blocks the trickier they are....I keep a sate stick (wooden skewer) handy for keeping everything on track when working with fiddly blocks, just use the pointy end to keep everything feeding through neatly.

Good lucK

Hi, I took a tip from a really smart woman that has turned out almost perfect seams everytime. After you nest your seams together use Clover Patchwork Pins to pin on each side of the seam line securing the seam allowances with the pins. When you sew and approach a pin let your needle come down catching first seam allowance, remove that pin, sew over the seam and than remove your other pin. Hope this makes sense. But my point is, I have used every pin for pinning and these are the absolute best for matching up seams. So good luck to you. C.

I always press the seams in opposite directions if possible. Then I pin the seams. Usually have good luck with matching up my seams. However, as I was hand quilting on my latest scrappy 2" squares quilt last night, I came upon a seam that was about 1/16th off. I said something about it. DH laughed at me.

PIN!

I find that if I do a good job pressing my seams go together perfect every time.

I'm a "pinner" too. I guess I spent too many years making clothing, but I just can't feel good about sending pieces under the needle without pinning. That said, I also ALWAYS remove pins before they get close to the needle. I hit a pin once and really screwed up my machine. Expensive lesson learned. I'm right handed and make sure that I pin with the pin heads to the right so that I can just slip them out as I go. I keep a pretty large pincushion on the right side of my machine too.

There is a trick to butting up seams going opposite directions. If you have the top seam allowance going away from you and the bottom seam allowance coming towards you it should work every time - assuming you were careful in feeling for the "butt". When the machine is feeding fabric through the feed dogs - they take the bottom fabric and "pull it" toward the back of the throat plate. So if you have your seams the way I just said, the machine will help pull the bottom seam allowance toward the top seam allowance for the "butt". This is a very simplified answer and I'm sure there are lots of other tips - but this one works for me. I haven't had problems with seams matching since I started doing it this way.

Oh dear, everything seems to have been said, except that "good enough" can save a lot of fretting,stitch ripping etc.

I'm glad it is going better for you. So can I assume you didn't care for the forked pins? I find them too flimsy.

Limey said it best...."good enough" keeps us sane.

I found the pressing helped, and then just feel for the seams - butting them one into the next and I had pretty good luck with it - so enjoy and have fun! To me it was the most relaxing day of quilting when I found the knack for it and kept up all day - getting 81 blocks done all total with 2" tiny blocks - made 4-patches... now to get them into a quilt someday - but other priorities are looming first. :)

I'm a pinner when it comes to getting seams to line up, no matter what the block/piece size. Would rather pin thn rip out. Even with pinning, it's notalways perfect every time :P

yup, I don't pin. the heads always seem to fall off for me so I just stick with good enough. most of my quilts go to non quilters, so they don't really notice

Sometimes I pin. If the seam is short I just butt the seams together.

I recently read somewhere about using a tiny dot or two of either basting glue or Elmer's Washable School glue in the seam allowances in problem areas. I would imagine that's not a good option for those who like to iron their seams open. Both of those products wash out, do not harm your fabric and do not attract bugs.

I just put a pin in the front seam line and then peek and stick ot the back seam line. It will usually be perfect.

When doing squares, I find that making sure the straight grains all run the same direction helps to keep the seams true. If they are slightly off on the crossgrain there's enough stretch to make them come out right.

Oh where oh where can I get a magnetic seam guide? I've never seen or heard of one! I too need all the help I can get... :)

I found one among my mom's quilting supplies but I saw them at Joann's Thursday by the sewing machine oil and all the other things they have for sewing machines. I just found one online that matches mine. It's made by Dritz and this one was at Hancocks
http://www.hancockfabrics.com/Magnet...VVviewprod.htm

I'm loving all of this because I'm going to make a throw for my niece for her upcoming surgery. The pattern is a simple 4 patch, but the colors I chose make it really interesting (I think!). I haven't decided on a sashing color yet. I'm going to try chain stitching the patches and see how that works out.

I use a stitch guide or 1/4 inch piecing foot, and chain piece, I never pin just align the pieces carefully and slip under the edge of the presser footl. Pinning such a small piece leaves more room for error in my opnion. I don't pin trianges with bias edges either.:)

Just a note-the magnetic guide is not suggested for use with computerized machines. :(