In mid-August, I designed a quilt for the "men's fabric" I had been given. I cut the pieces and there it stopped. You can read about it on this post.
At the time, I was waiting for a design wall so I could plan my quilt.
Now I have a design wall but I have instead decided to make a random scrappy quilt. I often overthink things so I'll see how this goes!
I need to practise straight stitching and this quilt will be a great vehicle. If you look at the design again, you can see it is made of 48 rectangular blocks consisting of two shorter strips, one longer strip and a square. Perfect for practising straight, 1/4 inch piecing!
So, I finally stopped procrastinating and just did it!
I will then join two opposing half blocks to make one block.
Can anyone tell me how one can sew using a 1/4 inch foot and still not get a straight seam?
At the time, I was waiting for a design wall so I could plan my quilt.
Now I have a design wall but I have instead decided to make a random scrappy quilt. I often overthink things so I'll see how this goes!
I need to practise straight stitching and this quilt will be a great vehicle. If you look at the design again, you can see it is made of 48 rectangular blocks consisting of two shorter strips, one longer strip and a square. Perfect for practising straight, 1/4 inch piecing!
I joined 96 short strips to make 48 units, then joined each unit to a fussy cut square to make a larger unit.
I then began to match the strip/square units with one long strip to make half a block.
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| This half block has not yet been trimmed to size. |
Can anyone tell me how one can sew using a 1/4 inch foot and still not get a straight seam?
More practice needed.
hi Lynne,
ReplyDeleteI can't speak for seams in quilting, but when I learnt to sew, I found it difficult to keep the correct seam allowance in dresses etc. I was shown to not watch the actual sewing but to line up the edge of the foot with whatever seemed easy to use and to follow that without looking at stitches. A bit like carrying a cup of tea without spilling. Look ahead, not at the tea.
Whether this works in your situation, I have no idea, but it came to mind when i read your post.
Reasons not to have a straight seam; fabric isn't cut straight, feed isn't dead center on the sewing machine, stitcher has issues....
ReplyDeleteSolutions-check fabric with ruler, especially after ironing, use a foot with a guide on the presser foot to keep the edge of the fabric in line--
For this project, sew the blocks together, press and then square up the blocks. It will work fine!
I agree with Jan, that's how I sew. I don't look at my stitches but just making sure that the edge of the fabric lines up with the edge of the foot.
ReplyDeleteI wish I knew how. I did a lot of 1/4 inch foot seaming today and was not entirely happy. Things to learn. Things to learn.
ReplyDeletePressing with steam can shrink fabric that isn't washed, stretch fabric that has a loose weave, and generally warp things with multiple seams to death. Make sure you are pressing straight up and down with just a hot iron. Do not iron side to side like you do when getting wrinkles out of clothing.That should help a lot too.
ReplyDeleteYour moose fabric is fantastic!!
One more tip. If you are using a rotary cutter make sure you hold it as verticle as possible. If you have the blade at a slight angle it will change the seam. With many seams being put together that micro change can add up to quite a bit. I learned this lesson the hard way when making my spock quilt;)
ReplyDelete