So how do you ............
 

keep track of where you are quilting on a log cabin? :) I am SID on this one, and man it is hard to keep track of where you have been and where you need to go!

Any great hints out there??????

Thanks,
Tonya

never did it but how about placing some painter's tape over the quilt and remove it as you need to SITD?

It should not leave any residue.

Nan

I am machine quilting. I will try the painters tape. Thanks. It just seems like I get started on a long seam and there is that other seam. I keep losing my place 😔

I use pins to mark where I'm not to stitch.

i always start from the middle & work my way out on any quilting project, as i learned years ago from books. it is easier for me to remember where i am and what i need to stitch next. when i am quilting, i do ocassionally start down a path already traveled while doing sid, i stop ...find where i should be by looking at back of quilt re-start. after all done, i go over the back side snipping threads, removing unsatisfactory areas of stitching and duplicate stitch lines. i place pins on missed lines & areas i have removed stitching and need to re-do.

I sometimes use chalk to mark where I want to "travel" to next with my quilting. Its easy to get lost on a log cabin( especially scrappy no specific fabric to follow it path) on a domestic machine. Sometimes I use pins to help me map my way.

I use a large safety pin (quilt pin) with a piece of wildly colored fabric on it, can see it at a glance and saves me time and stress.

delma

There are some good ideas here! I will keep them in mind for my next log cabin.

I just did FMQ on the log cabin quilts I have made. Easy to see where I need to quilt, pins are still in the quilt. When all pins are out, I know I'm done.

I just did my first LC, too, and UGH! It was horrible getting lost every time. At one point, I had so many missing lines, I had to use this trick, which REALLY helped:

Use your pins to mark your direction. Put the pins all along the path you want to follow, and use several to mark your pivot points. The 'point' end will show you which direction you need to sew in.

I put in a lot of pins when I do the sandwich, and take them out as I am quilting. Any section I see that still has a pin, I figure I have not done yet.