I am teaching an upcoming three-part beginning quilting class, and I need your help. What do you wish you would have known when you started quilting? Is there a tip that changed the world for you? Please share!I had two aha moments lately--I realized that my kitchen counter is the perfect height for cutting fabric!! I need to make a class sample, and I started to cut my Oliver + S charm pack into 2.5 inch squares, only to remember that I got a 2.5 inch square mini-charm pack of Leisl Gibson's newest line, Cape Ann, at Quilt Market. I added in some kona sky (I think) and the pinks from a City Weekend charm pack, and I was good to go.
Clearly, my daughter thinks we have more important things to do than take pretty pictures or blog. She has her pool shoes on, ready to go. And off we go.
Linked to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced
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Good luck on your class!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you'll be a great teacher
1/4" seam is something that is so important as well as squaring the fabric and cutting accurately. Have fun teaching the class, I'm sure you'll do a great job.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Cindy Lou, the seam allowance- neat and consistent! Also the impotance of ironing. Keeping everything even after sewing and pressing. Good luck, it'll be fun.
ReplyDeleteAgreed on the 1/4" seam - maybe testing the accuracy of it? Also maybe a discussion on pressing fabric - the pros/cons of seams to the sides & seams open? Oh, and pressing blocks on the top also :)
ReplyDeleteI'm right there with you on the kitchen counter business! Just wish mine was a bit wider :) As for a good tip, the quarter-inch seam is a biggie, as is making sure you don't rely on the accuracy of a quarter-inch foot until you measure to seam it creates - I know I have to move my needle position to make my quarter-inch foot actually produce a quarter-inch seam! I think you will be a fantastic teacher :)
ReplyDeletewhere are you teaching?! can i be in the class???? so excited for you!
ReplyDeleteI understand about being pulled away to "more important things". Hmm... what did I wish I knew? I tell you what I still have trouble with is lining up fabric correctly when you have to cut long straight strips. You know, so it won't have that nice bend in it halfway down?
ReplyDeleteBe willing and committed to unpicking anything that is not correct. I guess you have to be a bit humble and determined at the sometime. Oh- I love your baby's toes in the picture. Sew cute!
ReplyDeleteI can't tell you how many beginning quilting classes I've taken. I wish someone had sat me down, shown me how to find my 1/4" seam and more importantly, how to keep it! Sewing 3 squares together and them measuring accurately isn't enough.
ReplyDeleteI wish I would have known that using the best equipment you can get goes a long way... it's worth the investment (cutting board, ruler, sewing machine). Also that pressing your seams goes a long way - when I first started, I ignored this step... probably I was lazy :)
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the class. I think would have like more demonstration on how to press, not iron.
ReplyDeleteEven though it sounds like heresy, you can just rip apart a quilt. Get the seam started that you have to unpick, then grab the sides and yank hard. Of course, if you have a lot of little blocks, it won't work as well, but fine if you have strips sewn together and change your mind. Good sturdy fabric won't budge when you do this, and of course, we are sewing with high quality fabric, right? (I learned how to do this when I majored in Clothing and Textiles at BYU, and the German professor taught us that trick. DON'T rip out bias, or curved seams, however.) Or show them the "use your rotary cutter" rip out process (just catching the threads to slice them, not the cloth).
ReplyDeleteTip #1: use high-quality cloth.
Tip #2: use good quality thread (polyester or cotton--doesn't matter, really)
Tip #3: figure out what your machine's 1/4 S.A. is by stitching on some graph paper with no thread. Adjust your machine's needle position until you get a scant 1/4" inch seam allowance (to allow for the cloth to turn)
Tip #4: Use a steam iron to press the seams, but be aware that you can distort your cloth--be as careful in your pressing as you are in your sewing.
Tip #5: Good music, good friends or good chocolate can be a good addition to time at the sewing machine, so good for your class for joining together!
Hope these help. I'll leave others to talk about pressing open vs. pressing to one side (in 1/4" seams, I'm in the "pressing to one side" camp, but I've done it both ways).
This is really fun! Where are you teaching?
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting reading the comments! I am planning on teaching some church ladies beginning quilting, so the comments were especially helpful. I agree, a 1/4" seam is oh-so-important.
ReplyDeleteHope you are surviving your high humidity triathlon training. I don't know how you do it!
I hope you have a lot of fun teaching, and I agree the kitchen counter height is the best for cutting, really saves your back.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of tips, I would encourage you to spend a fair bit of time on how to cut their fabric properly and safely. And my other tips are, change the needle and the blade in the rotary cutter often, and remember to clean your sewing machine a lot, way more often than you want to.