Worst Advice...
 

I was thinking we hear lots of advice from teacher, friends etc..regarding quilting. When I first started I watched a tutorial on the internet that said never iron seams or pieces. I tried that once...never again. Yes you can make a quilt...but it does not look as nice. It really makes a huge difference to take the time and iron the seams. What poor advice have you heard and tried?

I honestly can not think of any!

Ive been told i cant do that, then went and did that.

I was told you had to wash your fabric first. I did once and it was an awful mess to iron. I have never washed my fabric since and it's been perfect! I don't need to wash my fabric!! Maybe she does, but I don't.

Often, people say you should not iron but should press. If you iron, you run the risk of stretching the fabric. If you just press, you get nice seams.

The only advice I dislike is the "you must" because we all do some things differently.

That's pretty bad advise all right! I also think cutting with scissors is bad advice too.

Worst advice (and ignored) you don't need to buy any more fabric :eek:

Same happened to me......haven't washed first since. The other advice I got when I first started quilting years ago was to rip the fabric..........never did try it. I used scissors till the rotary came along.

I was told I could use yarn to tie a quilt. I tied one with yarn and the poly batting pulled up with the yarn..That was before I learned to use only cotton and then I learned to hand quilt and machine quilt. No more tying for me.

Worst advice is that it MUST be done a certain way..I quilt for family, friends and fun...and as Sinatra says..I did it MY way!!

The worst advice ever is to use less quality fabric, batting, and thread to practice machine quilting.

I generally disregard any advice that includes 'you should' or 'you must' - unless it is accompanied by an explanation of why I should or I must.

I wash fabric for two reasons - the sizing in fabric irritates me, so it has to be washed out. The other reason is that I buy the fabric from stores, which are usually clean and neat, but who knows about the store next door or warehouse it came from? I wash fabric to ensure that no pests survive to propagate in my home.

When I first started patchwork 6 years ago I would get myself tied up in knots about the "right" and "wrong" way to do things. Some things worked for me and some didn't.

It was at that point a dear friend gave me the best piece of advice I've heard in the patchwork world - it doesn't really matter how you do something as long as you are consistent through the whole quilt and you and the galloping horse are happy with it. And if the galloping horse isn't happy there's always the 3 yard rule!

I've sewed by that piece of philosophy ever since and have been in few knots.

I'm not sure if this qualifies as worst advice or even bad advice but I've never heard this before. I was looking at one of my first quilt how to books (I think it is Better Homes and Gardens even) and it instructs you to press from the back (not locking in the seam, or pressing the seam open, but the pressing the seam to one side). I have tried this the past 2 days on little 4 patch and 9 patches I am working on and it seems to be working okay. In the next few days I am going to see if this helps with stretching the fabric--especially when doing little strips like one inch strip sets. Bad advice, I don't know yet???

worst advice---OH! don't bother to wash before you cut! Its just a waste of time and effort! First quilt, Orange ran (this was before color catchers), green print shrank more than any of the other colors. Now all new fabric in the house stops at the washer before it hits the sewing area.

I never wash fabric first either. Been making quilts since the mid 70's and never had a problem, with shrinking too much or bleeding!!

And speaking of "right" and "wrong" : Those solids with little selveges -- I get the right side and the wrong side mixed up after cutting. Then I stress over which side to use. In the final analysis, when all is pieced, it's virtually impossible to tell which pieces were put in "right" and which pieces were put in "wrong."

Machine quilted is not a real quilt. Huh??

As a new quilter I'd forgotten how to join the two ends of the binding strip. A teacher took over and did a weird thing where she sewed a piece down first and then joined it once it had been sewn all the way round by tucking bits in.
Only problem - the bulky join was at the top of the (baby) quilt and visible to all.

The worst advice I ever got was "don't wash your fabric first, it's a waste of time". This was at the very beginning of my quilting life and it didn't take long to build a stash and that's when I started getting headaches and feeling lethargic. Turns out I have a sensitivity to whatever chemical they put into fabric to keep it fresh from manufacturer to your home. (In talking with my friends at my guild, it turns out this is a common reaction to these chemicals, it jut turns out that many weren't relating it back to their unwashed fabric.) I took every single piece of fabric and began washing it all. After a few weeks, all my symptoms disappeared and I felt much, much better. Now, every single piece of fabric that comes into my home gets prewashed. :)

Probably not really the worst idea for everyone, but it didn't work out for me. On a quilting program, they said to cut the first cut a little bigger and then trim it down to the correct size. OK did that. When I got to the last snowball, I was short! How much would I need to 'get by'? The amount I overcut at the beginning- of course!! Then I tried to find that fabric- not a chance! I called every quilt shop within 60 miles or more with no luck. One nice lady finally said to just piece it- once it was quilted you wouldn't notice. That is what I did and it is one of my favorite quilts.
So bad advice? Not if you have plenty of fabric! But for me it was kind of a nightmare! haha

@ Sandygirl- That's like saying the jeans I'm wearing aren't 'real' jeans because they were commercially made v. the ones someone else made by hand. Silly.
@Sewmom- I'd love to see a pic of your favorite quilt "nightmare."

Every time I hear someone say they don't wash their fabrics before sewing, I just cringe. I have washed some of the best brands in my kitchen sink and the water turns the deepest purple, blue, yellow etc. I have washed some of my fabrics even up to 8 times and the water is still very dark. I put them aside and do not use in my quilts. Once on this board, a woman said she never washed her fabrics, but then she never washed her quilts either. I wash my quilts in my washer and I still use color sheets. Anytime I hear someone say to not wash fabrics, then I think that is the worst advice ever. I have been very lucky in that I had a great teacher who had been a high school sewing teacher for 20 years and she gave wonderful advice that I have been able to pass on. I try and stay open to what I hear but I do know that some people have hidden agendas (like promoting the LQS and their classes). I started making clothes when I was 11 years old and have sewed now for 56 years, I just use my common sense and experience now.

Maybe they meant not to iron, but to PRESS. I teach quilting and I stress over and over that you must press, but not iron...or you will stretch your shapes out of shape.

The "always" and "nevers" are generally the worst advice I hear.

Can you tell people get really twitchy over the prewash/don't prewash argument? :shock:

I wash my fabrics to make sure they are preshrunk and color fast. If I happen to buy precuts, which is not often, they do not get washed. To wash or not to wash is a personal choice and I will not tell someone they are wrong if they choose not to, just as I don't want someone to tell me I am wrong for prewashing.
Yes JulieR I have noticed how "twichy" people get over this topic!

I worst advice I ever got was that if I used a Color Catcher my red fabric wouldn't bleed onto my other fabrics. Boy, was I ever glad I didn't listen to that one!!!!

During my first and only FMQ class the teacher told us to use cotton thread for FMQ because polyester thread would melt when you iron the quilt :eek:

I was told to never use poly or wrapped poly thread because it would "cut" the cotton fabric. Superior Threads debunks that all the time.

That you can't mix different weights of fabric in a quilt, or that you can't use synthetics, or knits...that it must be only 100% cotton, of the best quality.

I've made some lovely quilts using upholstery fabric, fer crying out loud!

Alison

don't pre wash. I got bugs, fabric bleeds and uneven shrinkage the first two quilts I made. And THANKYOU! now i know that the spitting headache and tiredness weren't stress and a touch of the flu.
Now I always prewash using either salt or vinegar depending to set the color and use the dryer for bugs. but i make good everyday quilts my stuff is meant to be used to death. and I do!

The FMQ instructor at my LQS insisted you can never cross your stitching when FMQ. Sorry, ____, some of my favorites are loops de loops.

Worst advice ever was "It doesn't matter if you prewash or not....just use a color catcher"....my quilt had bright red, white and black....the red ran and the color catcher didn't catch it all :( ...now all the white is a real pale pink....now I always prewash/dry and use retayne for bright colors....if you take out the fabrics before completely dry, you won't have many wrinkles

i just started pressing my seams open and Oh...what a difference...not bulk and the seams go together perfectly...

I am glad you mentioned this..I am using a box of free fabrics for my king size bed quilt...also different weights and upholstery fabric all from a fabric company in Chicago. All have been prewashed and ironed...hoping i will have not issues once doen.

I still do not understand what the difference is...polyester vs cotton. I use cotton but there was an awesome deal on the polyester thread at a thift store by I did not buy them since I did not know if I shuld use them or not.

I was told a large needle size keeps inviasble thread from breaking and skipping stitches.. NOT! I have had the best success with the smaller size needle.

Worst advice I got was to set my stitch length to 7 stitches per inch because since I was a beginner it would be easier to remove the stitching when I made a mistake. My first couple quilts were a nightmare because the seams would split at the ends of the blocks. I would have to resew them so I could finish the next part of the quilt where the same thing would happen. Now I sew with12 stitches per inch. I'm much happier.

Worst advice was how to pin the fabric pieces together. This included how to pin where seams meet.

I actually how I was told by the teacher since I discarded that rather quickly once at home and found how it best works for me.