AnnieF

I was reading a blog and the woman was talking about making scrappy strip quilts....her specialty....you know the ones where you cut all the fabrics by width of fabric and just arrange them in rows. She said the way she conquers the bowing of the strips is by sewing the strips by twos....and then sewing the 2-strip sections together...and then the 8-strip sections. Apparently she says that by having 2 strips sewn, it stabilizes the fabric and you don't have to do that right to left and left to right sewing. It's worth a shot.

luvstitches

This has happened to me as well when I first starting quilting. It was a patriotic quilt and the red and white strips were a mess. I did not know this method at the time so I could not figure out what I did wrong. It's good that you learned this now and beat the frustration.

mpeters1200

I guess I've not come across it before out of sheer luck. Definitely making a mental note on this one.

TonnieLoree

Use different colored threads in the top and bobbin. That way you know what direction you were sewing when you left off. :thumbup:

TonnieLoree

Your bottom fabric is always being pulled in by the feed dogs, and the pressure foot is always pushing towards you. See the position of my hand in the picture? Curl the palm of your hand towards to. Don't set your hands flat and expect it to feed in right. You can take that one to the bank. :thumbup:

Jingle

What I do is leave the beginning tails long and then I know which direction I started sewing. After I am done I clip all the tails. Easiest way I know to keep track.

polly13

mpeters1200====thanks for bringing this topic to the forum. Once again, I've been educated. I learn so much from this group.

justlooking

I didn't know that, learn something new everyday.

watterstide

i just alternate the strips also..

jitkaau

The fabric stretches a little bit each time you sew a row. If you keep starting from the same end each time, the stretch will be multiplied by the number of strips you are sewing. This will cause the material to swerve in one direction. In order to counteract this, you should sew each row in an alternate direction and it will stay more square. You should do this when you are sewing multiple quilting rows or lattice patterns as well.Hope explanation is clear - all the best with your project.
If I take a break, I generally put a small safety pin at the end of the las row that was sewn and I know to sew in the opposite direction from there.