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I often work with strips that are less than 1 inch many are 3/4 inch. Heavy starch is my best way of dealing with cutting and sewing these skinny strips and maintaining accruacy. I buy the concentrate and use it full strenght prior to cutting when working with the really small diminesions. Do use the sand paper dots as mentioned in a earlier post to keep the ruler from sliding/slipping.
Just one note : when heavily starching fabrics let the starch completly saturate into the fabric... and if at all possible for the best results let the starch dry prior to ironing. I starch and the press and cut the next day.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cattyqwltr

I have started using that Best Press - it's unwrinkles fabric and gives it a little stiffness without the messiness of starch

:thumbup: I prefer Best Press over spray starch or sizing for all my pressing, including my clothes. I water mine down 1 part water to 3 parts Best Press. I get the same results and it lasts longer. Worth the price. I get the big bottles at Hancocks when they have a coupon.

Quote:

Originally Posted by QM

Starch or sizing would probably help, although most of the time I am too lazy to do that.

This is me to a "T"!!

I use starch, but it makes my iron so dirty quick. Am I doing something wrong?

Measure from the other side of the fabric strip, leaving ¼" sticking out free. Line up the fabric on the 1⅛" line on your ruler and draw your seam line along the edge. The weight of your hand will keep everything from slipping.

I always starch my fabric before I cut it, it sure helps me out alot.

Sta-Flo and I are good friends. I think I'd try the Best Press if it weren't so pricey. IMHO, starching fabric has improved my quiltmaking 100%!

If your trouble is fabric shifting when you are trying to mark it then try another surface to work on--something not slick. Another idea is when cutting the strips, be sure not to cut with the 'stretchy' way of the fabric. Test the goods by pulling each way.

Get the Easy Angler 2 to put on your machine and you have perfect 1/4 inch seams and won't have to mark them on your fabric any more.

Starching before cutting will definately help, also laying the fabric on sand paper will help to hold it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flying_V_Goddess

Today I was marking seam allowances on strips for strip sets. I mark the seam allowances because I don't have a quilter foot for my machine and never got accurate seams when I marked 1/4" on my machine. I seemed to have a bit of trouble today marking them. Sorry if I don't make sense on this... I'd lay the strip down on the table, lay the ruler down, and kept having trouble getting the edge of the strip to line with the 1/4" mark on my ruler. Kept having to shift the fabric underneath the ruler to line up that edge to the mark on the ruler. Guess not a huge deal, but probably could have gotten them done quicker if I didn't need to line the edge up. Checked the width my strips and went to see if they were wonky---nothing wrong there. They are thinner strips (1 3/8" wide) and I wonder if because they're so thin they're shifting around more than...say a thicker 2 1/2" strip.

Still have more thin strips to cut out. Would using starch before cutting help with these thinner strips lay straight when I need to mark them and keep them from shifting and stretching?