Help with 1/4 inch seam.
10-27-2013, 08:19 AM
#21
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Will try the finger top with her. She is a sewer so that is why I am after tips tp help her. She has a foot with the bar on. Will keep going she doesn't mind me telling her and she is beginning to ask me why it's not right.
10-27-2013, 08:24 AM
#22
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Okay, my 9 year old granddaughter came to visit for 3 weeks this summer and she wanted to quilt. Well, i put the masking tape (stacked up 5 times) on the sewing machine bed 1/4" from the needle and told her that all the quilt seams had to have 1/4" seam to be just right. She practiced with several scraps of fabric, making sure she had the seam side just barely touching the masking tape. Within an hour she had it down perfect and she started sewing the blocks together for her quilt. It took us two weeks to finish her quilt and her matching book bag but she learned a lot and we did the work in short spans, like 1/2 hour at a time and here is her quilt. By the way, she did all of her work on my 1953 Featherweight which she found totally fascinating and snapped a picture of it with her cell phone and sent it to her mom. Old technology meets new technology!
Last edited by QuiltingHaven; 10-27-2013 at 08:26 AM.
10-27-2013, 08:56 AM
#23
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Originally Posted by BellaBoo
To keep from veering off the seam at the end place your left hand index finger against the outside left edge of the foot when coming to the end. The fabric will not veer. It's second nature for me to do this after I learned it from a very expensive precision quilting workshop. I think once the student realizes her blocks won't match up because of the seams not being accurate she will know then how important it is. It's up to her unless you sew it for her.
10-27-2013, 12:23 PM
#25
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Originally Posted by Boonedox
Teach her how to blame the machine 
10-27-2013, 09:45 PM
#26
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Quilting is my creative hobby/outlet. So when frustrated, I give myself permission to burn it. As far back as I can remember, I set my own standards. But when I taught my daughter, I had to listen very closely to what she was really saying, not just the words. I love the book, "Bending the Will, Without Breaking the Spirit." Some things are just not that important. I have to choose the eternally important things, on which to take a stand.
So, how important is a 1/4" seam at this point in time? Only you can answer that.
You've gotten some good ideas for teaching it. When I teach a newbee, they start on a piece of prelined paper and just try to stay on the lines, no thread. Then I help them do a little math; 1/8 inch x 80 seams = 10 inches. Usually show them a quilt with 80 seams, like a log cabin. Beyond that, if it'll stay together and not pull apart, it's probably OK.
So, how important is a 1/4" seam at this point in time? Only you can answer that.
You've gotten some good ideas for teaching it. When I teach a newbee, they start on a piece of prelined paper and just try to stay on the lines, no thread. Then I help them do a little math; 1/8 inch x 80 seams = 10 inches. Usually show them a quilt with 80 seams, like a log cabin. Beyond that, if it'll stay together and not pull apart, it's probably OK.
10-27-2013, 10:05 PM
#27
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How about trying some 9-patch blocks (make sure the squares are all cut the same size and with 90 degree corners!)
and have her aim for straight, consistent seams?
It won't really matter how wide the seams are if they are consistent - and with practice, she may be able to sew a narrow seam consistently.
If she is after a quilt top that lays flat and won't fall apart, some consistency does help.
Maybe you could have her pretend that she is driving a car and she doesn't want to veer off the shoulder and into the ditch.
Or just have her practice 'steering' with an unthreaded needle on paper.
and have her aim for straight, consistent seams?
It won't really matter how wide the seams are if they are consistent - and with practice, she may be able to sew a narrow seam consistently.
If she is after a quilt top that lays flat and won't fall apart, some consistency does help.
Maybe you could have her pretend that she is driving a car and she doesn't want to veer off the shoulder and into the ditch.
Or just have her practice 'steering' with an unthreaded needle on paper.
10-28-2013, 04:28 AM
#29
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Originally Posted by JustAbitCrazy
My only suggestion would be to get a Buggy Barn pattern for her to create. They are forgiving in that basically all you have to be able to do is sew a straight seam. The sizes of the seams aren't as important. If you sew some seams which are more than a quarter inch, then your blocks will all just be smaller but still ok. The patterns are for wonky things like stars, hearts, and baskets. They're wonky, but still very pretty, and totally fun to make. The fabrics are stacked up and then the pattern is rotary cut through the entire stack of fabrics (so there are no seam allowances on the pieces---thus the wonky end result). Then the stacked pieces are shuffled to make each layer into a block ready to sew. After the block is sewn the sides are not straight (since there were no seam allowances in the first place), and the blocks are just trimmed all to the same size. So easy!
10-28-2013, 06:05 AM
#30
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I draw a 1/4" line on each piece before I sew it. For years I tried to do it w/out that level of detail by marking a line on my machine with a nice edge, but the seams were still not consistent. That worked okay with some quilts, but when I did my first feathered star block it was imperative to be accurate. And it went together beautifully so now I use this method all the time. Though it is very time consuming, I've found it's not near as much as ripping out pieces to correct the wonky seams.
And I'm much happier how everything goes together so easily when it's time to assemble the blocks. I've decided this is a hand/eye coordination problem. I can see what I want to do - I just can't execute it easily without help.
And I'm much happier how everything goes together so easily when it's time to assemble the blocks. I've decided this is a hand/eye coordination problem. I can see what I want to do - I just can't execute it easily without help.
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