I use the thinnest pins I can find. If it is all put together and I havent starched yet, Im ok to starch then. Place your sewn square on your cutting mat. The grip of the double pin is bent for Ease in handling. Yay! As you get to a point or intersection, make sure to sew to the right of the point. The precise execution of these techniques is paramount to a beautifully finished quilt. Stitch C-D and A-B units together along length (Figure 3a). We only pushed a pin straight through and there is nothing really keeping it there. If you cut all your pieces out perfectly shouldnt you get perfect points and seams automatically? From the wrong side, mark your half-square triangle point where the pin goes through. Should this be your first time using this technique, dont worry if things look a bit weird. I am giving this a try as I always sew my points first and then the rest of the block. When I was learning to quilt, one of my main frustrations was getting my seams to line up and not cutting the points off. Also, remember to watch your fabric feeding into the sewing machine. I have been cussing and pulling my hair out, pledging never to sew again because of my seams. When pressing seams, refer to the quilt pattern for guidance. Corner matching points: Marks made on templates and pattern pieces indicating where corners come together. What a waste, when undoing a few stitches or a row of stitches just may save the whole thing. Other times the seam is too shallow and the points now float. The seams slide side-to-side, and matching points in quilting becomes nearly impossible. Thanks for sharing . Straighten the edge with a rotary cutter, leaving a 1/4 seam allowance beyond the block corners around the edges of the quilt. Connecting Threads and ConnectingThreads.com are registered trademarks of Crafts Americana Group, Inc. Or you might have a seam pressed to the side which hides the point. Marking a sewing line with a pencil - from dot to dot - is optional. The first thing you need to do is press the seams towards the same side. If you have a 1/4 foot, use it. Press to the CST. Another example of a misaligned seam. Put a straight pin through the points to match them up. Of these three intersections the set up for this block has both rows with the first intersection with one HST coming together on the left side of both HST. Be very careful about your pressing technique. Since I learned to sew clothing first, I always set my seams by pressing them closed first. And all together the block is practically perfect. You can stretch your units and make matching very difficult if you aren't careful. Your finished patchwork will appear much smoother and neater if you do. Im always open to learning or trying something new. 8. Starch, steam or sizing. Hopefully it makes some kind of sense As it turns out, you can teach an old dog new tricks. From an early age Ive had a love of craft and one early memory is spending my school holidays learning how to sew on my Mums sewing machine. The image below illustrates the fabrics appearance after the short vertical rows are stitched. What is most important is the fold along the grid line not the sewing that ensures accuracy. Here on the blog youll find all the tips, tricks, and tutorials youll need to either make your first quilt, or simply learn some new techniques! This is awesome. It happens, but Id rather do that before I start, if possible. This means that the seams of each row are aligned, and the pieces fit together almost like the pieces of a puzzle. Depending on how consistent you are with your seam allowances, little differences across your quilt blocks can change your block dimensions slightly. Unstitch that one intersection enough that you can make any adjustment needed, pin it again the way Ive described, taking note of how it was off before and making an adjustment to correct that, and sew that seam once again. You can pretty easily feel the difference between when the two seams are sitting on top of each other and when they fall into line with each other. So much out there in the world inspires me and Im glad I was able to provide you with a bit of inspiration as well! This works, but when triangles are introduced into our design, bulky seams make this technique not very effective. Sometimes you have two HST blocks that come together at the same intersection in one row, for example. Cut your fabric accurately. I press my rows first with the right side facing up on the pressing board. I go back to my sewing machine and I determine how many points are in each row. That makes the stars super easy to make and they'll always have their points. Using a rotary cutter and an accurate hexagon template cut all fabrics. Those more interesting angles and how perfectly sharp the tips of triangles appear refers to the quilt points. PIN THIS! I always match my intersections first then my ends. This usually involves matching a point or seam with a seam allowance, a straight or diagonal seam or another point in the other layer. If you sew a wavy line now, you are going to get a wavy seam. Thanks for showing us how you make your Practically Perfect Points! It is a Double Square Star pattern from Missouri Star Quilt Company. If you use the marking on your cutting mats, they may be marked differently on different mats and that can account for a difference in your sewing. What ideas do you envision with this technique and this product? Think youve got your pin at the perfect point and it seems like you are still cutting the point off? Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment too! If you sew directly on the top of your points, they are going to get sucked into the depths of your seam. And finally, use this pressing technique for impeccably flat patchwork. #2 - Sew a Wavy Seam. This kind of reminds me of how I learned to cross stitch. Take a pin and find one of the points you want to match up. If it isnt, you either made a cutting or a sewing error. Another secret Ive discovered is in the machine itself. Once the entire row is folded, stitch a 1/4 seam from the folded grid line. Check your SPAM folder or contact us. Please make sure to check your inbox and confirm the subscription. This almost always screws up my points by moving the bottom layer of fabric out of line. IMG 7. Check seam from the right side to double check you are happy with the seam alignment. There are a few things you want to remember as you sew. So much fun to read! Aiming slightly above your point will give you the opportunity to compensate for the extra bulk and still keep those perfect points in the design. I just make sure not to starch or steam unless I started with it before I cut my fabric. This is very good to know! An Invention Almost Better Than Sliced Bread, How Small Business Saturday Makes You a Better Person, https://gailgarber.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Blue-Rhapsody-by-Carolyn-Rider-Portsmouth-OH.jpg, Quilt As You Go Technique Top Five Things to Know, Top Five Things You Need To Know About the Janome 9450. If your points and intersections are all nice and pretty, this is the part where you can shout your Hallelujahs and press the seam. 4. Learn how inserting a matching pin aligns the points, and then how and where to place additional pins for making the ideal seam with perfect points. Scratch that, find one you love. 3. Now you need to be sure that the strips are pressed in alternate directions. Now cut from top to bottom, directly through the center. Drawing on the grid allows you to know where the lines are going to be before you sew them. Staystitch the Edges. Make sure that your block is indeed the size it should be at this point. This is a matter of preference. In quilting, there are special techniques used to sew patchwork pieces into blocks, then assemble those blocks into a quilt. If you have issues with a bulky intersection, it may help to sew to the intersection from one direction and then turn the whole piece around and sew the rest from the other direction and through the intersection. Sometimes feeding the fabric through a lowered foot will move one of the layers just enough that it makes the ends out of alignment. Rulers, Mats and Rotary Cutters. This strategy works for anything you might be trying to make a point to do perfectly in your quilt top. Here's a little schematic I put together. No quilting per se. Any plans to illustrate pressing patterns on other blocks? HST seam question. Sorry, can't remember correct name of it, but someone here knows and will direct you. I like to starch/steam or use sizing (whatever your preference is here) BEFORE I cut my fabric out. Next, cut the batting and backing fabric to the size of your quilt top. The pattern says to press the seams to the dark side. Zooming in exaggerates the misalignment and points being cut off. Tip: Sometimes you may get a seam that doesnt nest well and you may need to match the seams using a pin. Pin to secure, just where the crease of the 1/4 we have made. No poo for you. During the winter days she used to produce lots of new pieces, and she was giving them away like Christmas presents. Get everything included in Premium plus exclusive Gold Membership benefits. The nature of this product is to reinforce or strengthen fabric and as a result will cause the fabric to stiffen up. Lets admire our points. It's similar to putting together a puzzle; each piece has to fit perfectly in order for the larger picture to come into view. Accurate and consistent seams: If you do not sew a consistent 1/4 inch seam, it makes it may make it harder to match seams. You can do this over and over until you get them matching up the way you want them. Use a pencil to mark the points directly on the wrong side of the fabric for all of the hexagons. Since this is where you are going to start to sew, place the pin down about an inch instead of at the very end. On your right end of the rows, match the outside edges and pin both layers together at the end. First, with one strip wrong side facing up, use a seam gauge to mark the seam 1/4 from the raw edge of the fabric. Thanks for such a fantastic and helpful post. Thank you so much for your comments! Now that you are this far, lets start to sew these two perfectly paired rows together. When sewing you may need to sew a scant 1/4 inch* near your half-square triangle points. This multistep process reduces shifting and can make quilting perfect points an achievable goal. Always set the seam by pressing the joined pieces with right sides together, just as you sewed them. And in my opinion, it makes all the difference in the world. I have found that using the flower head pins you usually find in shops that are designated for quilting, to be really thick. I often wonder anyone finds these things helpful. We reposition the piece until the points coincide, as seen in the IMG 4. I design modern quilt patterns that are thoughtfully written. The nice thing is that you really dont even need to take out the basting stitch once you are done. Flip top half of block right side up to reveal your completed eight point star quilt block. The last possibility is that intersecting points slide side-to-side and appear misaligned. That seems like a whole lotta words just to describe how to get your rows ready to sew. When the seams of each row come together, they nestle nicely and almost lock into place. If you are interested in learning an alternative method for quilting perfect points in patchwork, check out the following videos: document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Brilliant! I decided to pin on the left side along the HST line but you could run your pin straight if that works for you. If your seams were open, you are going to want to make sure the pin goes directly through both the seams. In this tutorial Im going to share my process for achieving matching seams and perfect points! I have had all kinds of difficulty with accurate seam lines with the pattern below until I decided to use quilters grid. Press seam toward D. 4. Don't forget to breathe. Making sure the pin is running straight in, I put a pin to both the right and left side of the intersection. Leave your fork pins in when sewing near your point following the directions outlined in Steps 3 & 4: Match Seams Perfectly with Fork Pins. Find out how to utilize different colored shapes and fabrics without creating visual chaos. See my favourite quilting tools for more details. The pinning takes seconds and it all adds up to a better end result. The applications are endless so keep an eye out for them and be sure to keep this technique in your quilting tool box for next time. Now put two pins in the piece as you would normally pin, one on either side of this straight pin. If you matched the ends of each row before you stitched them, you shouldnt have any trimming aside from threads at this point. Keep in mind that you have a little bit of bias on the edges of your blue strips and yellow triangles. Cut out the left hand side You might not like to hear it, but pinning is going to be the best thing you can do. Disengaging the cutting knife is the best idea when using pre-cut quilting squares, but if you do use the knife, make sure to remove the least amount of raw edges as . Use your fabric marker to mark points: My eyesight isnt what it used to be and the contrast between a white cotton thread and fabric is hard to see. Lining up those seams is indeed challenging when youre just starting out and can be a little discouraging. Learn to concentrate on your pressing, sewing, and cutting before matching seams and you'll be on your way to a perfect center where 8 tips meet. But when standing back I decided it was near enough! Every time I use it, it makes me smile. Youd think with cutting the same exact size square that everything would end up nice and even. I LOVE to match up my seams as nicely as I can. I have made many a quilt, and all are far from perfect. The third intersection is a reverse of the first. Nest your seams. Sometimes diagonal lines need to be aligned to form a straight line between the two blocks. Quilt Block Notes. Yes, of course, send me a picture and Ill give my suggestions. My first preference would be to nestle my seams. 2. Sew the rows in order. This is a thin fabric made from 100% polyester. I think this and the automatic cutting feature on my machine are worth their weight in gold. If any of your intersection only have one side with a point and the other coordinating seam with no points, I first run the pin through the tip of the top point and then just pin the seam intersection to match the seams , making sure the top of the fabric from both rows are level with each other. Quilting is about enjoying the process and is often a type of therapy for many people wanting to unwind or retreat from difficulties in their life. Even after seam ripping and sewing again, sometimes I still cant get the seams to match. Love this feature. Im not pressing down enough to hold the fabric from moving. Thank you so much for being a part of our quilting friends. Then I cut. I gently press the seam the direction I want it to go. Stitch C and D rectangles together along 6" edge (Figure 2). For example, sometimes there are less points on one row, sometimes there are the same number. Check out - What type of spray starch to use for quilting - for more information. Try aiming slightly above where your block point is. Hold the two pieces to be matched and the alignment pin straight with one hand and insert another pin slightly to the right of the alignment pin.
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