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Measure twice, cut once. The key to accuracy starts in the cutting. Mistakes will happen. Finished is better than perfect (honestly this has been the hardest for me), don't sew tired. Good tools are definitely worth the money. Buy that fabric you love because in a month or 2 it will be impossible to find
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Originally Posted by Snooze2978
(Post 8582944)
Starching before cutting as I don't wash my fabrics. The starch will show if the fabric will bleed and then you can take care of the issue. Plus I heavily mist it once dry so if it's going to shrink some, it should do it then. I also use Elmer's Glue to attach my binding to the quilt before I take it to the machine to stitch down using the iron to heat set it. This way I have no pins to prick me and I know I have enough binding beforehand. I also use the glue if I have blocks that have to be matchined and pinning just distorts it. I've used the glue also to piece my backings if I'm trying to play matchy matchy.
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One thing I have had trouble learning in 50+ years of sewing - make sure the needle is at the "up" position before you start sewing on the machine.
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something new for me this week, in the why didn't I already know that region...
When stay stitching the edges on a finished top, do it from the back side so I can see the seams lay properly. Duh. credit to Bonnie Hunter. |
Great tips and advice from this group as usual! Thank you!
I would add: Sometimes less is more. When I go to quilt shows, I admire the professional looking quilting, but sometimes a simple straight line is the real winner. There's nothing at all wrong with simplicity! |
Also, I've learned to let your tools do the work! Not your fingers! I grab my seam ripper to help seams go through the presser foot. I am extremely grateful to learn about thread catchers when starting and stopping seams. No thread pieces all over the place.
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Measure twice, cut once. Pin, pin and pin. Don't be afraid of the seam ripper. If it bugs me now, I take it out and do it again or the not quite right corner is the first thing I will see whenever I look at it
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Originally Posted by Synnove
(Post 8582951)
Prewash fabrics. Yes, I know many don't, and to each his own. But when I prewash I can identify which fabrics are bleeders and treat them accordingly. Also, I don't have to worry about them shrinking differently from the other fabrics in the quilt. Thus, fabric comes into the house and heads straight for the washing machine.
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Synnove, I agree with you 100%. The only time I don't prewash is with jelly rolls, 10 inch squares and charm packs. On dark colors, I fill my machine with hot water add Retayne as instructions on bottle, add my fabric, agitate to get everything mixed well and Retayne into the fabric and let it set for at least 2 hours and sometimes over night. Then I wash in warm water with a color catcher and if it has color on it, I repeat the second time.
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Something I saw and then tried recently, if you are using a minky backing fabric. After you’ve finished quilting and BEFORE you trim the quilt, apply blue painters tape to the back side of the quilt covering the basting line around the outside of the quilt. Flip to the front and trim. The painters tape grabs all the little fluffy bits minky puts out and no mess!
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