Originally Posted by Patticake

Tips from a seasoned quilter…
Just a few tips from someone who has been quilting for years:
• No matter how new you are to quilting, your work is a piece of ART. Enjoy it.
• Always, always square your blocks before putting the top together even when you are going to use sashing (the strips between the blocks).
• Press and then measure twice before cutting. You will save a lot of seam ripping!
• Quilting is more about the process than the giving. Enjoy the process and think of the giving as an added bonus.
• When putting together pieces smaller than 4 inches across and matching seams, match the seam on both sides for more accurate piecing.
• When possible, waste a little fabric to save a LOT of stress. Add a ¼ inch to blocks that can be squared to size before finishing the block. If it’s a 4 square block, add a ¼ inch to the pattern piece cut size and square after piecing. If it’s a 9 patch, square a pair before adding the 3rd row and square again before putting the blocks together. It’s easier to have a little more fabric to work with when squaring than to be off by 1/8 of an inch and try to work with it.
• The flaws we see in our own work are rarely ever noticed by those who admire our work. It’s best not to show off the flaws but just think of them as your own twist on the Art Work. (see bullet #1)
• And my personal favorite! There NEVER needs to be a reason to purchase or acquire more fabric any more than there needs to be a reason to eat chocolate.
Feel free to add more!

:)

Originally Posted by bamamama

Thanks, good tips! I've never used starch but I'm going to the store this morning to get some.

Originally Posted by cbridges22

This is so true.I make more mistakes in the evening than morning.

Originally Posted by ArtisticDesign

A testiment to starch: My cousin got hired by a lady who had verrry old blocks that her grandmother had made and she wanted them made into a reversible wall hanging.. Just to explain how difficult this was...The grandmother was not the best quilter..One half squ triangle was almost twics as big as another within the block..The stitching was hand done and very shakey/uneven...Every block was exageratedly unsquare..
My cousin was brainstorming several ways on how to do this..She tried adding borders to the blocks ( so didnt work) She thought about fusing them onto muslin (which would have exagerated the wonky lil blocks and been permanent)...She tried squaring one up (looked really bad)..After a few more attempts she called me freaking out..
I went over and we brainstormed some more... I finally grabbed the heavy starch and starched both sides of the blocks/ironed, twice. As well as the border strips...Then we took the squ ruler and squared them up..They cut like butter, so easy..She took a deep breath and sewed one of the border strips on, also went so smooth she didn't even need pins...
The lady got tears in her eyes when she seen it..Not even caring that some of the (too big) half sq points were cut off lol.. If starch worked on these wonky blocks it'll make anything easier lol

Originally Posted by MomtoBostonTerriers

Artistic Design,

Thank you so much for sharing this technique! I inherited many quilt blocks from my husband's grandmother. She pieced them by hand at the end of her life when her eyesight and hand coordination was not good. Those blocks have been sitting on my shelf for many years because I couldn't figure out what to do with them -- they are all different sizes and the hand stitching is wonky. Maybe I can actually use these blocks if I add in lots of starch and sashing between each block.