Grandma Cindy

are you standing up to cut or sitting down? I cut best standing, ...

JudithAnn

Just square them up as best as you can and cheat the seams to make em straight! Perfection is just a pipe dream and normal a setting on your dryer :lol: It is more important to enjoy what you are doing than to stress yourself out on being perfect.

bonniebusybee

When I first began quilting, I took a class from a professional, and we put dots on the fabric 1/4" in at all corners, then ran a pin through those dots. The results were beautiful. I'm just finishing a Lone Star and the templates in the book all had those dots. I matched them up carefully (every piece, all 288 of 'em!) and it worked perfectly.

Are you sewing bias edges to blocks cut on the straight of the goods? This can cause problems if you're not really careful.

Also, when you're pressing, just PRESS, don't iron by sliding the iron on your material. Even a little bit of the resultant stretching can cause problems.

bonniebusybee

Hi, "Stitchnripper" ..... I just saw your pink and lavender quilt, and it's beautiful! Such a lovely blending of colors.

Annya

A while ago a teacher came to our Quilt group and one thing she said was that if your ruler had thick lines you work will be out and adding all the seams with that fraction of an inch out will be big enough to throw your work out. Also check that your ruler is measuring right and with straight lines, use a metal tape measure as it wont be stretched and see if the measurements are right. She said to get rulers with thin lines and if you are getting different sizes make sure they are all the same maker as that too could be throwing your work out. Hope this helps you.

applique

Now to summarize all this and put it into a tutorial!

Grandma Cindy

Amen...

BizyStitches

I have watched a demo with cutting fabric with a Cricut, but the lady had to do a lot of fiddling and it seemed like it took a lot of time just to cut out a simple shape. I have the Accuquilt "GO" cutter and it is "SEW" much faster and very accurate cuts. Hope this helps.
Jenelle

jenniferlrn

You know i was having a real problem with my blocks not coming out right and it had nothing to do with my cutting but everything to do with my seam. I was using a 1/4 in foot and I was using that and thinking that all of my seams would be 1/4 inch but they were not. Use the 1/4 inch seam guide on your throat plate of your machine and see if that helps or not. You may also need to put your pinky out on the cutting board when you are cutting. My mom always told me measure twice and cut once. It has truely helped me out a lot. Hope that helps. Jennifer

stefanib123

You can pm me if you like, I'd be happy to help in any way I can.

With the Cricuts, you pretty much only use them for applique. You have to use a stablizer, I usually use the heat n bond lite, to be able to cut with it.

Someone suggested using freezer paper, and then pulling it off after cutting it. This sounds like a fantastic idea! I'm going to try it, and I'll let you know.

The Cricut is absolutely amazing. If you don't have the software to use a computer with it(SCAL, MTC) you should get it. Never have to buy another cartridge again, and you can cut ANY image you can see on your computer screen!