Using Your 1/4" Foot
#31
I watched the Quilt Show with Eleanor Burns in her studio with nine Ladies doing "Fabric Frenzy" together. She adjusted all nine machines, same stitch length, same tension, needle and foot. So all the squares going into the joint quilt would be perfect. I use a featherweight so it's always the same. My Janome's I use for other things.
#33
Junior Member
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Cross Timbers area, TX
Posts: 250
I do what Quilt-till-you-wilt does. Set my needle to the 1/4" mark and even then you have the possibility of veering off a bit. I also like to tape a credit card or two (stacked) to be 1/4" to the right of the needle then keep the edge of the fabric up against the card(s). Along with all of this, I still always use the same machine for all the blocks. I've even made my blocks a bit larger so I can trim them down to be the same finished size.....depending on the pattern of the block.
#35
I always use the same machine, same foot throughout a project. I also have a little ruler with a hole for the needle that indicates 1/4". I place the ruler down under the needle, drop the needle into the hole, make sure the ruler is very straight, drop the presser foot to keep the ruler straight and then place a thick strip of masking tape (or comparable) along the edge of this ruler. Finally, I move my needle one click to the right. This only takes a few seconds and my seams are much more consistent that relying just on the 1/4" foot.
#36
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Clearwater Kansas
Posts: 386
I too have this problem only i have 2 Bernina quarter inch feet. One the a guide and one without. The one with the guide is NOT a quarter inch foot. I have to move the needle over to get a quarter inch seam. Relaly irritated me when I discovered this. Now I always measure every new foot.
#37
Junior Member
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 183
I have learned, the hard way, to start and finish your whole quilt using same machine when you use the 1/4" foot. Didn't know it would make that much difference, but it does. Maybe it is the mfg. I was using a Pfaff and a Brother machine. Has anybody else noticed the difference?
#39
Member
Join Date: Dec 2011
Posts: 16
I've learned that the hard way also. I have a Bernina and Husquvarna (sp). The 1/4" foot is different on each of them. I wished I had bought my second machine of the same brand as the first. The Bernina was my first machine. And the one I like the best. The other is my traveling machine.
#40
Super Member
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Littlefield, TX, USA
Posts: 1,077
I use two different machines...an older Singer and a Brother SE270D...one upstairs, one down...there is a difference, so I have marked "my" 1/4" on both...this way the seam allowance stays consistent no matter which machine I use.
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