Was there ever a quilting tip you got from somewhere that gave you an "ah ha!" moment?

I will start...
The best one I ever got was to use small binder clips to hold my binding while hand stitching it down. They work better for me because they don't catch the thread like pins will, and I am hopelessly uncoordinated. I use about 8-10 and remove them as I go. Before I remove the last one, I replace the others on the next stretch. I just clip the 'offies' to the quilt so I don't have to chase them, and I don't get stuck with pins. (Fold the silver 'legs' down over the quilt.)

To starch.

No quilt police. I thought everything had to perfect and could never achieve that....so now I do my best and enjoy the process....even binding!

Take a deep breath and get on with it, whatever "it" is!

Make sure you sew an accurate 1/4 inch seam.

To take my time!!!! No reason to be in a hurry because that is when most mistakes happen.

Measure twice,cut once.

Starch :D:D:D The 2nd best? Is to never forget to relax and have fun :wink:

Just throw it away and start again!!!

Buy the best quilting tools you can afford and don't make do because it's just your hobby.

Press or iron your seams. Even though I would rather not iron, this makes a HUGE difference when quilting the quilt.

The VERY best tip I ever got was to use 2 pins when lining up seams. One on either side of the seam. Providing I have it properly lined up before I pin it won't shift and has saved me lots of unstitching over the years.

The binder clips are great. Also the quote, "Only God is perfect, my quilt doesn't need to be"

That if you make a mistake and no one is looking who is to say that it was a mistake that you meant to do that! That one has made me sane!!!

...that most recipients of a quilted gift will look at the sum of the parts and love the quilt. They will not pick apart all the little mistakes that we as quilters focus on.

Spray basting

My best tip is the method of needlemarking light colored fabrics. It works absolutely great.

What is needlemarking?

Funny!

It's a method of marking your quilting patterns without a pen or pencil and without color markings after the basting has been done.
I use a darning needle for it with a point not too sharp. The needle is not held upright but at a sharp angle and is pressed in the fabric. The needle tip leaves a fine line like a crease.
The markings stay quite a long time and when the quilting is finished nothing has to be removed!

when pinning applique pieces to the block push the pins in from underneath --the thread then has nothing to catch on

Too hard to pick one! but the latest was really useful....winding your binding on a toilet roll tube...so simple and effective.

I have two equal, both given on the same thread. Starch. Spray baste. both saved my sanity.

The wisdom, "Sometimes, even though your quilt isn't finished, you're finished with your quilt. Even Beethoven left things unfinished, and no one doubts his genius!"

Jan in VA

to use smaller straight pins to line up my seams.

To enjoy the quilting process,cause if not.. why put all the $$$ & time in it.No one forces me to use patterns or fabrics I don't like.
It's really freeing,cause I do this for myself.My opinion comes 1st in quilting.

Lots of great tips. I think the starching one would be mine. :thumbup:

Find what works best for you, then do things your way.

Was when a quilt teacher told us when sewing a sq in the corner on a bigger sq to make a half triangle to start at the point like normal but gradualy sew a liitle off your line along side and go back to the point.Make sure this is on the side where the point is so whren you press over you have the extra.
THis gives you a little extra to fold back and then you can sq agin and not be short.
Clear as mud. lol
Gale

Cutting, stitching an accurate 1/4" seam and pressing (not ironing) carefully are all really important. Mastering each of these skills will really improve the quality of your stitching and help avoid the frustration of blocks not fitting and frog stitching. The value of spray starching was also a huge revelation to me. I just couldn't believe it would make such a difference.

I have done just that on occasion, however, right now I am finishing up Kinetic Energy, which is a lovely quilt. Took a class, the woman who taught it let us keep cutting fabric into strips, she had to run out and meet someone for lunch, she neglected to tell us how to cut, we did as she said and we cut and cut while she was out to lunch (how appropriate, eh?) When she came back full and happy, we asked about the cutting if we had done it right (too late). It was wrong, she did not apologize, this was black and white, not the easiest thing to undo, in fact we could not. So I kept on going and made it all work, finishing up quilting now. What I have learned from this lesson is to ask more then once and do not assume the one teaching is saying the right thing. Fabric costs too much and our time is worth something, too. It is going to look ok, but not quite like Kinetic Energy should look, oh well, at least it is done. I am going to be happy to finish this one up. And yes I learned a lot with this one.

For goodness sake, make sure your 1/4" seam is accurate! When I did my first and second quilts, they were just squares pieced together...the 1/4" seam isn't such a big deal, so long as your seam is consistent. Now I'm doing WW (my 3rd) and I've found my seam is more than 1/4"...it's consistent, in that my rows with vertical strips are consistently shorter than my rows with horizontal strips! LOL So now I'm sticking pleats in as I go to keep my seams aligned (teeny ones, but pleats none the less...praying to quilt it out...LOL If not...nobody will ever know it wasn't intentional...haha)

I'm going to buy a 1/4" foot.

I did not realize how important a quarter inch seam allowance was or what was the big deal. Now, I take more time with the 1/4 inch when sewing it together and save a lot of time and and stress when putting the quilt together. It made it much more fun.

THROW it away????! Never, just post it here as "free to good home'. :-) :thumbup:

RIGHT sides together!

...LOL :) :roll: :-) :wink: :) :)

Mine was how to sew the end of the binding together, overlap by the width you cut your binding strip and think waistband and not crotch when you go to sew it together. Magic!!!

If you make a mistake and can live with it, it's not a mistake. Also I was told that if a quilt of mine has a mistake, for god sakes, don't point it out immediately to the viewer--they are not interested in your mistakes and it takes away from their appreciation.!

Mine have all been taken. Starch. 1/4 inch ft. Basting spray. Make it bigger and cut it down.

But my personal favorite was just throw it away and start over!!! It is so true.

To say - "Because I want it that way!" - and move on...