What sewing/quilting bad habit have just never been able to break?
 

I have had my share of bad sewing/quilting bad habits. You would think after more than 4 decades of sewing/quilting I could stop doing some of them.
My worst habit , is yes ...... I do sew over pins ( not all the time). Thankfully I have slowed down my machine when I do this , and no damage has been done. But I can still hear my Mom yelling at me , STOP sewing over PINS!
So fess up .... whats your bad habit, one you really wish you could break?

I wait too long to change my rotary blade.

I don't always iron...okay, I hardly ever iron especially with quilts that have small peices because that just gets to be too many seams to iron over

I sew over pins
I keep starting new projects even though I stopped counting at 29 ufo's
I am sure there are more but I will have to contemplate on that :^)

I have to say that I've broken quite a few of my bad habits since I started quilting. I became friends with my iron (I always thought it was so unnecessary to iron seams when I was sewing clothing). I also measure twice, cut once and I keep my sewing machines cleaner and I take better care of them. Quilting has made me a better sewer and I have more fun in my sewing room now.

I wait too long to change my rotary blade -- and I also sometimes don't close the blade.
I don't clean the machine after every project -- though I do try-- but when I do clean I am very thorough.
I forget to replace the needle in a timely manner.

This is not bad, but when I cut my fabric, the bulk is on the left -- I cut from right to left. If I don't use the shape cutter, I use two rulers when I cut the fabric.

Have to fess up to starting new projects before I finish others waiting in line!! I used to sew over pins, but I finally have stopped doing it. My Mom would be proud!!

Sewing to fast has always been my worst. I am a very impatient person I need things done quickly. This has caused me more redo's than I care to think about.

I, too, sew over pins. (Hangs her head in shame)

I sew over pins, without shame ... I have never broken a needle in 50 years of sewing, although I have bent a few pins!

I hold pins in my mouth. Bad habit.

I think my most persistent bad habit is forgetting to turn off the iron. My bad habit I seem to have conquered is misplacing my tools. Now they all have a place to live and I make sure they go "home" when I'm done with them.

I cut right to left also. I think it is because I watched TV shows to learn how to quilt and I never mirror imaged what I saw on the screen when the hostess's were rotary cutting their fabric. I like the double ruler method too.

I sew over pins. I hold pins in my mouth. I forget to close my Rotary Cutter. I don't clean my machine as often as I should. Maybe one of these days I'll learn.

Honestly, I hate to iron, most times when sewing blocks I use a plastic thing a ma gig. Next is the rotary blade issue, try to get the last roll out of the blade, then last is organizing my scraps/stash by colors. Everything is a mish mash. Once a year of so, I take everything out of bins, closets and organize only to mish mash when designing a project.

About sewing over pins-I remember in high school during home ec, I was told it was ok to sew over pins if they were placed correctly. Was my home ec teacher telling fibs or was it the thing to do a <cough> couple years ago---ok 30 ish years ago?
I rarely sew over pins now.

I cut under my arm with the rotary cutter, I hold the fabric and ruler with my left hand and cut under the arm with the rotary cutter. I always check to make sure no new people are around when I cut because I don't want them to pick up that bad habit.

I am also quilty I don't always iron but in my defence I do finger press

Wow, I believe I am guilty of ALL of the above :o

Waiting too long to change my rotary blade. I used to wait too long on needle change also but finally realized that it's best to change it when it starts to make a thumping noise. My machine sews much smoother then.

I hold pins in my mouth! My mom did, and I just learned that way! I had a little boy that was visiting while I did fittings on his sister tell his mom that that was not good. I can hold quite a few, and still talk. It is just something I have always done and have heard horror stories about swallowed pins, etc. just can't stop. I also spit on my thread to thread needles, lick my fingers to seperate fabric, etc. My DNA is on everything I make. Linda

I don't change the rotary blade or the needle often enough.

Starting something new before completely finishing the last project

I am the world's worst about that. Even though I have new blades in my stash, I just wait until I am sawing thru fabric. :\:D

Same here.

And regarding listening to your mom about sewing over pins, a while back I was sewing on my mom's machine and she actually told me "That machine will sew right over the pins." I also remember our sewing teachers telling us we could sew over the pins. Must be like charity-crafter said, a generational thing.

I don't change sewing machine needles as often as I should and I too, try to get the last possible cuts from my rotary cutter blades.

I don't place my pins right at the edge of the fabric - place them more than 1/4" back form the edge so I can pin and sew happily without running over them. I don't even pin unless I'm matching seams.

Rotary blade - how many cuts do I have to saw through before I finally change! Ridiculous.

Pins in mouth - yes.

Needle - sew until it breaks - since I'm BAD about changing stitch without change foot that happens often enough.

I always cut from the right, but that's how I was taught! Selvedge on the top - cut from the right. What am I missing????

Glad to be in good company.

Many of my bad habits were changed because I bought a new (and expensive) sewing machine. My worst habit, by far, though seems to be talking to myself. Not a problem at home, but when I used to go to quilter's night out or classes, it generated whispers amongst the quilters.

Otherwise rotary blade - I don't change it until there is an annoying nick.
Pins in mouth - yes
Needle - sew until it breaks
Pressing after every seam - yeah, right.

I stopped sewing over pins, as a habit, just a few years ago. I so rarely use pins and it was costly enough to bring my machine in for a broken needle stuck under the race.

I need to stop buying fabric, the 'sewing room' is about to take over the house :)
I have 3 rotary cutters that need the blades changing, I tend to just go buy another rotary cutter instead of changing them :(

I keep my sewing room so messy and have too many projects going at one time

Ditto lori!

Messy sewing rooms? Oh, yeah!
A gazillion projects started and shelved? I could win the prize for that!
Slow to change the rotary blade? Guilty of re-sharpening it until that will no longer even work.
I also sleep under every quilt I make, before they are gifted, even baby quilts. Is that a sin? Am I going to H*ll for that?:eek: I don't mean to, it just gets so warm and snuggly as I am burying knots and binding...
In my defense, I always clean out and oil the bobbin area after each bobbin change. At least I have one good habit, huh?

I'm a pin sewer overer too! But to my defense I was taught that way in Home Ec (dating myself). Teacher said as long as they are at a right angle to the seam it shouldn't be a problem--if you hit a pin, you didn't pin it right!. But of course we were using older Singer's then too and they sewed over anything! :)

I don't iron my seams totally flat - my quilty pal always comments on that as she was taken under the wing of a more experienced quilter who thumped it into her head.

I waste thread at an alarming rate as I rarely chain-stitch. And I tend to be wasteful when quilting in general - I go with what is easier for me rather than what is most economical. Now that I am on a budget, that should change (in theory!) :D

I toss my snipped threads on the floor. I consider it feeding Mr Vacuum.

Okay, here I go:
1) I have sewn over pins before
2) I hold pins in my mouth especially when I'm pinning and still talk
3) I start too many projects at once
4) Have let sewing stuff take over a part of my great room
5) I feel cheated if I didn't get to sew, even for a little during the day.

Redemption: I press way more than I ever thought I would since I started quilting almost three years ago.

I sew over pins, too........

I used to sew over pins...2 machines ago. I DO put pins in my mouth. I remember my grandmother doing it...about 5 or 6 at a time. My Elna...has the same needle in it that was in when hubby bought it for me in 1999. Of course I didn't sew for about 10 years...just started back at it last year. I never ironed seams when sewing clothing...I do iron seams now. Something I started already and have only had this Janome Horizon about a month...I find myself lifting the presser foot before the needle goes back down on my last stitch. I LOVE using the thread cutter and I went to get "to it" too fast. Something else that I have done...and I don't think it's been mentioned...I WILL stretch fabric if it's a hair or 2 off. I will pull on the piece that needs to be a bit longer to try to get a perfectly aligned seam.

I cut towards me with the roatary cutter instead of away from me. Bad habit. I need to do it correct. I sew over pins also.

Me too, but I can't seem to stop.