Tips from You!
Below are quilting tips from visitors to the National Online Quilters. Please feel free to add your favorite tip! If your tip is too long to fit in the small amount of space, you can email it to me and I'll add it to the classroom. Thanks, and happy quilting!
Cleaning up tip-buy a carpet rake (most hardware stores have them). Running this rake over the carpet before vacuuming will collect loose threads and keep them from wrapping around the beater bar. Also great for collecting material scraps too big to be vacuumed.
Martha Hertz <GHertz@compuserve.com>
USA -
One simple trick that is a real plus is as simple as painting your nails. I paint the inside of my thimble with several coats of bright colored nail polish. Why? 1. It keeps all black marks off the finger tip. 2. It cushions the fingertip and helps keep the fingertip in the thimble without being uncomfortable. 3. And, best of all, it makes the thimble very easy to see in the work bag or basket. 4. It marks the thimble as your possession. If you wear polish, you simply say, "See, it matches my nails!"
J. Colleen Fry Segroves <segroves@flash.net >
Plano, TX USA -
When doing mini quilts, use extra-fine thread to cut down on the bulk in the seam allowances and make the quilt more precise.
Loons <csimmerman@noqers.org>
USA -
RELAX, RELAX, RELAX!!!!! The best tip I could ever give to anyone working with fabric is to stay relaxed physically and mentally. Why? If you allow your body to tense up with either the effort of seeking perfection or from working for too long you begin to put that tension into the work. The result can be fabric pieces that are stretched out of whack, or worse yet, mistakes that can't be easily corrected. Remember why you are quilting and keep it a relaxed, even meditative activity. Let the fabric to flow through your machine instead of forcing it to behave. Take breaks often, stop when you no longer feel productive. You'll actually save time in the long run with the mistakes that are avoided and you'll find that your pieces fit together better when you begin to join the smaller units into larger units. This is fun friends, not work!!!
Karon <karont@yahoo.com>
Germany -
Hope my name is now properly entered on the list, so you will accept my tip. My favorite tip concerns ripping....when you need to 'unsew', on the top of your fabric, run your seamripper thru every 4th stitch from start to finish. Turn fabric over, and lift off the bobbin thread...this way, the fabric will not be distorted in any way whasoever; works even for bias! Happy Ripping...
Sandi Case <snlcase@Dnet.net>
Murphy, n.c. USA -
Don't have a sewing machine foot that measures ¼"? Place your Quilters Rule directly under the needle. Carefully lower the needle *by hand* until it reaches the ¼" mark and place a piece of masking or non transparent tape along the edge of the rule. Use the tape as your guide. You can also place a seam guide along the edge.
Rita <riden@bellsouth.net>
Wellington, FL USA -
To color-test fabrics before using, cut a 6" piece of the light fabric, and a small piece of each of the other pieces. Wet all the pieces, and wrap the dark ones inside the lightest piece. Let sit for a few minutes, and unwrap. The light fabric will show any bleeding, and you can decide if you want to make it colorfast or try another fabric.
Laura <nailtopia@aol.com>
USA -
I found this tip in "Sew Many Quilts" and felt it was worth sharing: Experiment with Christmas Fabrics. Most quilters don't want to commit to making an entire quilt using one particular block or technique until they can practice to see what it will lok like. I suggest that the quilters use Christmas fabrics for learning techniques or new patterns. If they like the result, they have a practice piece to follow. If not, they can store all the Christmas "orphan" blocks that they have made until they have enough for a whole sampler quilt. And, it doesn't have to be just Christmas fabrics. If you have any fabric you don't particularly care for, or scraps you don't know what to do with, etc. this is a wonderful way to use them and eventually end up with a quilt. hugs and happy quilting, momakat
momakat <carnagey@supersat.net>
USA -
When you are first learning how to do free-motion machine quilting, use a "cheater" panel. You can learn outline quilting, how to keep the piece moving under the needle, tension adjustment, and other fine points of machine quilting, without the risk of having imperfect quilting on the top you spent months working on. When you're done, you can bind it and use it for picnics. :)
Loons <csimmerman@noqers.org>
USA -
Before you begin a machine quilting project, gather a square foot of the backing, batting and front fabric and sandwich it together. Thread your machine with whatever thread you're going to use. Put the square in the machine, and stitch a few inches. Look at the back of the piece, without removing it from the machine. Make a minute adjustment to your tension, and stitch a few more inches. Keep stitching and adjusting until you have the tension just right. Now you can remove the practice piece and know your tension is set just right.
Loons <csimmerman@noqers.org>
USA -