Here on this board we can all find safe, reliable advice/instructions for a project we're working on but somewhere along the way we pick up terrible pointers that cause us more pain and work.

The main point that someone once gave me was that cotton stretches so if your points don't line up, just stretch it to fit. That might be true if it's just a bit too small but she demonstrated on something that had larger missed margins and the finished product was so out of shape, I wince when I look back on the project. Back then, though, I was certainly none the wiser.

What was the worst advice you ever got about quilting?

Mine was from a quiltstore owner who disagreed with my fabric choice. She told me it was going to be ugly and I allowed her to pick a different fabric. I ended up giving the top away because it was not what I had in mind at all. It taught me to follow my instinct even when "the experts" disagree. Colors and patterns are very personal in today's quilting and we do not always need to follow cookie-cutter samples.

Not to waste my money by buying more material than I need for the intended project. A) I almost never actually make what I bought the material for in the first place and B) it turns out I love to make scrappy quilts! What would I do without all those left over pieces!

This advise I guess I gave to myself - using a dark solid backing (cranberry color) for a scrappy pinwheel quilt. I have the quilt on my bed and the backing pills up and catches the "fuzzies" from the blanket beneath. BUT I like my quilt and only I see the underside - when making the bed!

1. Keep the quilt, chuck the blanket!
2. Keep doing what you have been doing, nobody will ever know anyway! And, it does force you to make the bed.
3. Put the blanket on somebody else's bed.

I agree with this one. I always go with my gut.

me too,...if it's my money and I can decide on what I like, then that's what I'll get.

One of the worst ones I've ever heard is to sew the border on with the border next to the feed dogs. That's almost a guarantee for wavy borders.

OH Yeh, been there done that.:)

you mean keep the border fabric ON TOP of the quilt when sewing it on?

The worst advice I have ever heard given is "Do NOT wash the fabric before you use it"....wrong on so many levels....

The best advice "ALWAYS wash your fabric before using in a project"!

that and measure thrice, cut once!

Yup. Unless you're using a walking foot or even feed foot the feed dogs will slightly ease in the bottom fabric. "Bag the bottom" and "bias on the bottom" are old sewing sayings for a reason.

I always put my borders on the top, but never knew I was supposed to! THanks for sharing that!

Worst advice i ever recieved was, "Oh NO you CAN'T do that!!" Bullpuckies to that, I do what I want to do and the end result is what I want.

Whichever piece is the fullest is what should be on bottom. Meaning that if you have to ease a piece into another, keep the piece to be eased on the bottom, whichever one it may be. :) By the way, cutting the borders lengthwise reduces the amount of stretch. I never have wavy borders anymore since I started doing this.

Interesting...I do cut my borders lengthwise when possible, even if it means still piecing them together!

The worst advice I ever received was from an experienced quilter. I was even more of a beginner than I am now. I was making a wall hanging with an eight pointed star in the center. I could not get it lay down. I took it to a quilter, she said to keep trying. Duh, it was highly glazed chintz and polished cotton home dec fabric. That will never lay down - at least not for a beginner. I wonder where it's at? Somewhere in sewing room #1, I imagine.

Thank you so much to Scissor Queen and jaciqltznok for that info!!! on borders. I had no idea and there have been 2 times now when I get wavy borders, had no idea why! Love this board!

I think the worse advice was to don't waste my money buying quality supplies/tools. Cheap cotton thread and dollar store scissors will work just as good. No they do not.

Booking lessons with a teacher who NEVER used rotary cutter! Made us make all our own templates from cereal boxes!! Told me I was useless at choosing colours!!! Really lost confidence until a quilting friend made me get out some bright colours and I made my young grandaughter a little jacket! Really jazzy and everyone wanted to know where her Mum had bought it!!! Could have made a fortune had I taken up all requests!!!! Never had a problem since!!

Me too! I did something right and didn't even know it! LOL

The worst and most discouraging advice I had from a so called expert, was "Always use a color wheel to match your colors."

I simply dump the colors together and the ones that fight get kicked out and the ones that look good to me stay. So what if the color wheel (which I haven't been able to find for years) doesn't agree with me? I like it, my kids like it, so there!!!

That's not very good advice at all!! Color theory is one thing but fabric doesn't always fit into one little color spot on the wheel. Besides sometimes clashes make a quilt really come alive!!

I found this one out the hard way. But now all of the borders go on top unless I need to ease in a fullness and then I only do it with the walking foot on. My first border was so wavy and I couldn't figure out why until I saw someone else's frustration and the wise advice another quilter gave her.

Even though I was taking a bargello class where the teacher specifically said otherwise, I allowed an employee of my LQS to talk me into choosing fabrics within a very narrow color/texture range.

Fortunately, I consulted my teacher before investing any personal labor (the most precious resource of all), and she straightened me out. What's a few $ on more fabric compared to the incredible amount of time put into making a quilt?

Sushi

Don't worry about mistakes. They will all quilt out!

I did not know this! Thanks for posting.

Ooops! This tip is the one I did not know. Thanks.

I was just in a local quilt store and I asked the owner about washing and she said with the newer fabrics, quilt store quality, not to do it. I never do anyway, except for flannel, so was curious for her take on it. Of course, she and I are not the quilt police and if washing is your method, then carry on! I don't remember any worst advice. I am probably repressing it!

Someone told me I could tear the borders to get the straight of the grain. Never again-- it stretched it so bad I had to remove all the borders it distorted the edge that was not sewn down.

Worst Quilting advice?

Never pin.

*Always* make bias binding. I have never, not once, done this in 30 years!)

Piece half-square-triangles by using two triangles.

Join your border strips on the diagonal. (??? I have never understood the reason for this! Diagonal is bias/bias stretches. Period)

Jan in VA

I rarely pin - and most of the time I can get away with it. Can't really remember any bad advice, just some out dated methods.

The worst was from a LQS owner... she said ... No batiks never run! WOW was she sooo wrong.

"This is too difficult for you."

:roll:

I was advised to tear fabric to straighten. Not true ladies

I can't say that I have ever really been given bad advice, but one time I attended a sewing seminar given by my Viking dealer. Several of the sales ladies were the helpers. I was hooping my fabric all set to embroider and the lady came to me and started telling me how to hoop and that I was doing it all wrong. Well, I threw a hissy fit; that I had been sewing longer than she was old, and was not a novice at machine embroidery; and thank you I will continue to do it the way I have been. A while later she pulled me in a corner and apologized. She didn't realize "who I was" and that I had more experience than any of the sales ladies. She evidently had been overheard chastising me by someone who knew of my knowledge of machine embroidery.

My worst advice was to listen to the quilt shop when they told me I had enough fabric (over $150 worth) to make a three colored block quilt and right at this minute I am almost out of one fabric and running low on the other two, which I cannot find anywhere. It was my feeliing to buy more and have room for leftovers and mistakes, but no, I listened to her. This quilt was to be a super king size with 48 - 12" blocks. 6 across/8 down. It was all planned out. I have 21 blocks done and now am running around like a chicken with my head cut off, hoping I can find the fabric or decide how to fix it with other colors in the same color scheme to go with it. Drats! Edie

Yea, I did not understand this one either. What are you talking about? Can you explain in more detail??

Me three, I get so upset with me if I allow myself to be talked out of a fabric or design that just seems to fit.

Help me out here. Tearing fabric won't straighten it? Could you explain please?