gmcsewer

Hi, I have been searching for tutorials on the pinwheel and found what I think will help you a lot. This is the web address. www.connectingthreads.com/tutorials/Pinwheels-Intro_to_HSTs__D4.html. Hope it helps. When you sew the two sides together to complete the block, use the nesting technique, where you have the seam on the top squares, pointing up and the seam on the bottom squares pointing down and as you sew, it will push the top seam right into the bottom seam and thus your center seams will match exactly.

garysgal

Brother makes a really neat quilting 1/4" foot that probably will fit any machine. It's hard to describe, but the front of the foot is cut away on the right side and you line the fabric edge with it and if you keep the edge of the fabric alligned with the foot, you have a 1/4" seam all the way. I found mine at Walmart and it was around $11 or $12. It was worth it for me because I have so much trouble getting the seam 1/4" and I have tried many different things. This works.

skavanau

I have an 1/4 inch foot but still cant line it up correctly. So do you line the material up to the edge of the foot or the metal plate. maybe thats what Im doing wrong. I wish the machine just had it marked 1/4 and I would have no problems.

garysgal

Line the fabric up with the edge of the foot. On the brother foot, you line the fabric up the same way, but it is "indented" or cut out, so it's kind of like the foot is only 1/4" wide. If you can, google it or stop in at walmart and look at the foot to see what I mean. sorry I can't be more helpful, but I don't seem to be able to describe it very well.

garysgal

Here is a link-
http://www.amazon.com/Brother-SA125-.../dp/B0007XOEV6
You line the fabric up with the indented part of the foot.

Maggiesmom

I love using Thangles when I do HST's. They are quick and almost always are perfect in size.

Regina

Pam in WV has the best solution I have found in stitching on the bias. Hold two sqs RST and stitch 1/4" each side of line. This helpw to prevent stretching the bias on each single triangle section. I also found a few times that if I traded corners some how it worked. In other words switch left corner (wrong looking piece) to right corner. and the right to the left and restitched together.

skavanau

So if my squares look off, that means I have cut them on the bias or not cut them on the bias. I want to do my quilts right. So how do I tell which is the bias and when to cut on the bias? Sharon
Sorry for all the questions, but maybe thats why my sqaures are out of wack.

Jingle

You will know the bias by holding corner to corner and gently pull a little, bias will pull, I would take a scrap piece of fabric, it will stretch. I would follow the lesson on all things frugal, someone put a link to that site on an earlier post. Just save it in your Favorites so you can refer to it as much as you need to. Once you do it exactly like she tells you, you will learn how to do it. Once you get it, you will laugh at how easy it is.
I hope this helps.

skavanau

Thank you very much..