A quilting problem.
 

Can someone give me some advice. I started quilting late and am an advanced beginner, I guess. I still stretch my fabric when I piece. What can I do or is it just a matter of practice?

Use lots of starch and press your seams (lift your iron up and down) instead of ironing.
Hope this helps.

Sew slowly and use pins. That might help.

Okay here is the question I need to ask you Judy. Do you put your left hand behind the foot on the machine? If you do then stop. It will stretch the fabric. The other things to do: 1 Use a stiletto to guide the fabric through the foot. 2 gently guide the fabric through the foot. 3 Mark the sewing machine bed with a stack of small post-it notes. Measure 1/4 inch from the needle. Place the post-it notes at the 1/4 inch mark and secure with tape. Make sure to leave the bobbin lid accessible. 5. Slow down. The faster you go the more chance you have to stretch the fabric. yes pinning helps since you have to sew slowly to remove the pins. I hope this helps! Luann

Since you know that you might be stretching, take time to check the blocks in increments. If the smaller segments are off, you can square them up and move on to the next segment. Plus, if you know where/how you stretch, you can work on improving. Hang in there, you'll get it.

I now Best Press my fabric before I even cut it. That helps keep it crisp and firm. I do use a 1/4" flange guide foot when I do my piecing. I have a Pfaff with the IDT and that keeps the fabric evenly fed through the machine. As crafterrn1 wrote: do NOT hold the fabric at the back of the machine. You might want to use a spider/leader/a small extra piece of material, 2 ply, when you start sewing.

Very good tips.

You might also try a walking foot.

Walking foot has helped me tremendously!

Sometimes steam in your iron can stretch the fabric. I don't use steam once the pieces are cut.

Starch your fabric until it is about like a manila folder. You can't stretch it then. Starch makes just about everything better.

starch, and accurate cutting really make the difference

Starch helps a *lot*. Starching before cutting is best.

However, sometimes it's your machine. On some machines the presser foot pressure can be too strong; some machines have an adjustment for that.

Let the machine do the work. Allow the feed dogs to take the material under the foot and don't be tempted to pull it through from the other side. I never have this problem and I think it is because I don't play with the material too much. I don't iron or starch it before or during piecing and it all turns out OK. I think you can overwork a lot of stuff. All the best with your piecing.

I agree that using a walking foot helps to keep from stretching the fabric.

When sewing, I lay my left hand to the seam I am sewing. Makes it much easier to not stretch.

Here's my exercise when I teach grandkids. Long strips, place together, use only the very tip of the index fingers to guide under the foot. Stop and adjust if fabrics slide away. Its surprising how fast they learn to piece accurately.

Using a lot of starch is the answer for me.

Starch, starch, and more starch. It's amazing what a difference starch makes.

Starch first, then starch again. Especially if you have bias edges in your block. Keep at it, you will get it

All of these suggestions are great!

I was wondering if Washable Elmer's Glue could be used in some way since it does such a good job with other quilting steps?

Good suggestions all. Wash your fabric and dry it . I then mix a liquid starch 50 % starch and water. I spray the washed fabric and place in a zip locked bag over night. I iron it then and only then cut it . This process allows the fabric to remain stiff and not stretch.

I have learned this past week the truth in every hint listed above. I came to quilting from sewing clothes and slipcovers, so I didn't know how to be as precise as you must be to quilt successfully. It amazes me how our mothers and grandmothers were able to do this with scissors as their cutting tool.

What makes you think that you are stretching the fabric? I've been quilting for about 5 or 6 years, and making the same mistakes over and over, with the same poor results. (What is the definition of insanity?) This past year I have learned more than all the rest of the years put together. I was measuring wrong, cutting wrong, pinning wrong, stitching wrong, ironing wrong. I did nothing right. This year I leaned how to cut, how to measure, how to pin, how to sew, how to iron, and guess what, the results are amazing. Watch videos on measuring and cutting, get yourself fa presser foot with a seam guide on it, get a perfect square ruler by June Tailor. don't push your iron, just press it down, use a sharp blade in your rotary cutter, and a sharp needled in your machine. Get some fine pins that don't distort your fabric, and press those seams in the opposite directions.

Squaring your square or block is very important, it is not enough to just make the block square, you have to make sure it is squared to the center also. the June Tailor perfect half square triangle ruler, will help with that. Good luck to you.

Thanks to all of you. I do use a walking foot but I think from what I am hearing that I am just too much in a hurry. Also, something I do ( and I guess I will just have to practice not to) is take out too many stitches.
Thanks again!
Happy Quilting!

My husband says I'm a self-taught (new) quilter, but not so - almost everything I've learned is from this board! These tips made such a difference between my first quilt and my second and gave me the confidence to move on and try new techniques.

My biggest lesson has been to cut your strips from the width of the fabric not selvage to selvage. Selvage to selvage stretches--a lot. Not as much as bias, but enough to make your quilt wonky.
I've been putting together my latest BOM applique, and since I hand dyed the fabric, most of it is in more or less 1 yard sizes. Somethings (settings)work like that and some are going to work like that!

Best of luck!

What PART of the piecing process are you stretching? Each of the charms put together or block sections to block sections or blocks to blocks?

I agree with a lot of the advice listed above -
making sure you're cutting on grain and not bias,
don't pull the fabric through,
square up each item before you sew it to another squared up item,
starch will help,
PRESS don't iron,
start with a leader fabric (see Bonnie Hunter's site) so you don't have to pull your good fabric through when you start (that could cause stretching).

I get better results using a regular piecing foot NOT A WALKING FOOT. In an effort to save time switching the feet out...I tried using a walking foot and was not happy at all with the stitches and the 'bad' movement of the fabric.

Quilting is a LOT Of practice...keep going!

Nan

I stopped pressing aka perhaps ironing my fabric and my quilting improved significantly. I finger press seams and sometimes use the roller thingy my g/f gave me. Once I gave up the iron everything seemed to fit together so much better.

Good luck with your sewing adventures!

This is excellent advice! Thank you

I agree that doing a lot of ripping and restitching can be one of the worst offenders in causing stretching to occur.

If possible doing the restitching before ripping out can help eliminate a lot of the stretching.

Pepita, I think you meant "cut your strips from the LENGTH of the fabric" because selvage to selvage is the width of the fabric. And Length does work well for me!!!

My quilting buddy (and many others) loves starch, I can't stand it.

Accuracy is key. Accurately cut the pieces. Accurately line up the pieces. Accurately stitch 1/4" seam. Let the machine (not your finger) do the walking (use a walking foot if the top piece is slipping forward). Some machines have dual feed-use it.

Sometimes we think we're doing everything we're told.

"A picture's worth a thousand words." Watch a tutorial and compare their pictures to what you're doing.

In a flash, experienced people can watch us and recognize what is the problem. Take a beginner class or two and have the instructor watch you.

You can also check the presser foot thingy on top of the machine. It may be too loose. Most of the time the ones I buy[vintage machines] it is too tight tho'.