What other tips am I missing?
 

Have you ever been given a tip that's transformed your life? (This may be a slight exaggeration.......... :D).

I learned a tip recently and it got me thinking about how many others I don't know. (Clearly been living under a rock).

I'm making a Minecraft quilt for DGS (thanks to SlightlyOffQuilter for the pattern) and the rows are 8x8. I've previously managed to figure out that rows on many quilts need to be labelled/numbered and made my own with craft beads.

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The tip I didn't know about was putting a pin in the left-hand block when pairing, so you know what order they should be. I tell you this has made this quilt soooooooo much easier. Wish I'd known it years ago - duh!

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I'm sure many of you will know of this one already, but I think it's a good idea to share our tips with new quilters and other rock dwelllers ;).

Please share your best tips!

thanks for the tip. this is one area where i always get it wrong.

I always put a safety pin in the first left block so that I know this is the top of the quilt when adding rows. Keeps in in order for my colors. When I lay out my quilt on the design wall will always number my rows and take them off the way in order with the left one on top and go down from their. Seems to keep me out of trouble.

Thanks for the tip of using beads. I use this method labeling the first piece at the left of the row and stacking in order) but with post-it notes which I make each time I put a set of blocks together. Seems that I'll have to visit the craft dept. next time I'm shopping.

What comes as natural to one person is not necessarily obvious to another. Being a lefty in a right hand world I have learned to adapt things to a logical way that will work for me. With quilts I like to use the logic of applying how I read a book to how I assemble the quilt. I start in the top left corner and move down line by line.

Best advice I ever received was in relation to free motion quilting. The person giving the mini demonstration I was watching said, "Really, girls, Just Do It". She was right. I had nothing more than some scrap batting and fabric to lose, so I just tried it and found I really could do it. So I pass this advice on all the time. Whatever it is in life, you won't know if you can do it until you try!

Believe me, i've done the pinning bit myself. Why, because it prevents having to rip stitches!

I have been pinning my quilts like that for a couple years now. It helps me keep them in order since I don't have a design wall.

The best tip I ever learned was the Elmer's Washable school glue. I LOVE the glue stick and keep one right by my machine when I am sewing.

When I am sewing blocks and working across a row, I use different colored pins for each pair in alphabetical order by the name of the color: the first pins are black, then blue, then green, then red, white, yellow, depending on the number of blocks.

The best tip that really changed my sewing life was how to pop the thread knot when hand sewing. I always had trouble with the knot pulling out or even the thread breaking. Put your thumbnail on the knot and then pull the thread. It works like magic.

Glue basting is probably the tip that transformed things the most for me.

I use the pin in upper left corner method but I also take a picture of what I have on my design wall and have it handy near the machine. That way if I get confused I look at the picture to confirm placement. I also use a cookie sheet to transport my pieces from the design wall to the machine and back. I find I'm less likely to get things mixed up if I lay them out on the cookie sheet.

Frixon pens are pretty neat too.

This is a great tip - thanks willferg and knitette

Glue basting changed the way I felt about basting. I will never go back to pins or thread basting.

I'm confused. (not hard to do) LOL.....I understand the bead on the first square, but why the other pins? The green, blue, etc.

Wow - that is a simple trick that will save me HOURS of time fussing with which squares to sew together. I'm with you. This would have been nice to have been taught YEARS ago! Thank you so much for sharing!!!!

These need to be placed in a particular order in the row when sewn. Before I used the marker pins (no particular pin - just whatever's handy), I would invariably turn one set - or more - back to front and have to unpick them later.

Now I know that when I sew the pair together, the one with the pin is always the left block and it stops me turning it round by mistake :)

Me too. Leah Day says "Just quilt" and in the end, that's what you have to do. No amount of stressing and worry will get the darn thing done.
Another was "said" to me by an exhibition at the UK quilt museum in York. There was a display of beautiful 18th and 19th century quilts. Some of them had quite glaring "errors" - points not meeting, misplaced blocks, wobbly quilting etc etc. Yet they were on the gallery walls, giving great pleasure to their viewers. That was the end of my anxious perfectionism. Since then "good enough" has been my mantra, and I enjoy my quilting much more as a result. (I do understand that for some people, achieving the most perfect result possible is part of the pleasure of quilting, and I admire that, but for me it just caused misery and dissatisfaction - we're all different!)

I like that - thankyou.

Took a picture of a couple of squares now sewn if that helps.
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ooooh I am so excited to see you are working on the Minecraft quilt !!! YAY !! You must show lots and lots of pictures when your done !!

The best thing I ever learned was everything does not have to be perfect. Once that was leaned I relaxed and enjoyed the process.
I do like your idea of the beads and pins. I am going to look for some beads next shopping trip.

Thank you - I like it - up to now I used post it notes labeled 1L, 2L, 3L ... I some times lost them :mad:. I will have to find some large safety pins and try this!

What is a mindcraft quilt?

If I could pass along just one tip to a new quilter my tip would be to always make a test block from existing fabric before investing in new fabric for a new quilt.

I have a lot of trouble keeping the horizontal pieces in order. So, couldn't you take the pin system a step further and pin each square with 1a, 1b, 1c, 2a, 2b, 2c, etc........number for which horizontal row, letter for the vertical order?

Lol! A question I was asking myself only a few months ago! It's a computer game DGS loves - bit like 3D Lego. SlighltyOffQuilter very kindly made me pattern with her EQ7. This one shows a 'Dirt Block' and 'Steve'

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I use the plastic closure tabs from bread products, writing the letter/number on each. Pin through the hole. Reuseable and they stay in place well and are easy to remove.

those are looking fantastic !

Marking rows...
 

I mark rows by numbering wooden pinch clothespins. It works great too.

The best tip I received for putting blocks together is to take a quick snapshot once you have the quilt laid out. Then when you go to sew the blocks together you can always refer to the snapshot. Work great for me. I have used this method for the past three quilts and have not had to rip one block!

Love this tip! It is always a 50/50 chance that I get the knot to pop-thanks!

This is the the best tip I ever got and have used frequently. Not only does it show you the direction the blocks and rows go when you're ready to stitch them together, but before you get to that point, it gives another perspective as to how the blocks look together and if some need to be moved to a better place.

I've only used the Elmer's Washable school glue on a binding but on the Missouri Star Quilt Forum yesterday someone shared that she used a mini paint roller and the glue to baste her quilt. Much faster than a paint brush or squeezing the glue out of the bottle.

I found a website that (at no charge) converts a picture into squares. It works pretty well for graphing out quilts. I downloaded a jpg of an image of the popular number 12 for the Seattle Seahawks football team to create a quilt for my BF. Cut the squares into 2 1/2" squares, added a few borders and it turned out great.
http://vam.demo.lemberg.co.uk/patchwork-pattern-maker/landing

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I'm a beginner and use my digital camera and computer all the time. I can design on the wall, take a pic and use that as reference. That way I can take the strips down, sew them, press them and then lay them out next to the laptop with the picture of the design on the screen to make sure get them together correctly. For me, I saves me a lot of pinning and marking.

I've also used my digital camera to help with laying out my design. Sometimes the camera shows things that I don't see just by looking at the design.

When I plan to make a new pattern I learned that is beneficial to do a test block. It will give you the chance to test the cutting instructions, the sewing order, the pressing order, and to get the final size. If you make enough test blocks you can then make a sampler.

annesthreads - To quote Bonnie Hunter, "Done and usable is better than perfect". This helped me finish MIL's quilt and get it to her in time for her to use after breast cancer surgery. Was awesome to see her wrapped up in it. It was far, far from perfect, but certainly usable.

Thankyou for reminding me about this site - I'd forgotten about it, and it's such a useful tool.

I quite agree, Anne. Today a friend asked if she could buy one of my quilts (the first time this has happened). I'd only made it for my own interest and it's far from perfect, so I pointed out the main flaws, and her response was that they made it even better as it was part of the hand-made charm!!

I often use my camera when planning a layout. As you say, photos often give a different view of my arrangement of blocks - maybe a slightly more objective one. They can be very useful.