If it is all put together and I havent starched yet, Im ok to starch then. Voila! Yay! See questions and answers I have no excuse for poo points now! by Paige | Aug 29, 2020 | Make a Quilt, Quilting 101. If so, this wonderful pattern is for you. I have been cussing and pulling my hair out, pledging never to sew again because of my seams. If you dont have it, and I didnt for over 10 years of sewing, just try to leave your needle down if you stop during your sewing while the fabric is still under the presser foot and you are still working on that seam. You can stretch your units and make matching very difficult if you aren't careful. Kelly Hanson shows us how to make a mug rug that is perfect for holding coffee or tea without making a mess. Even after carefully pinning, sometimes you will get a misaligned seam. Be very careful about your pressing technique. Yes, of course, send me a picture and Ill give my suggestions. Its a pity that I didnt learn myself. Ok so there is no doubt, I love making pretty points when sewing my blocks together. Seams can be bulky where many fabrics come together making it difficult for quilting and may wear faster at that point (there are easy methods for flattening these points) Shadowing caused by seams pressed one way add depth and dimension that is part of the feel of a traditional quilt Seams pressed open: Use a -inch seam allowance. Take a pin and do the same thing on the the third intersection. Now cut from top to bottom, directly through the center. It happens, but Id rather do that before I start, if possible. This is a Quilt as you go and each block is made of scraps from a quilt (or quilts) that I have made. Coming Soon! Now that you have your blocks pinned, you can take them to the machine and sew them together with a quarter inch seam. And dont get me wrong, sometimes they are still real poo. Add a CST triangle to the Row One corners. Then you can remove the perpendicular pin and sew. Step 2: Sew a few stitches back and forth just along the intersection. Wonderful post Anjeanette! Actually, it could end up messing up your whole block or quilt. It is clear your grid method is a great way to ensure thatyou get itright everytime and you have expained it all so well. Pretty simple as there were four squares making this row. More often than not I was reaching for the seam ripper! In the next row, press them to the other side, so that they are nesting again. Join a D CST to the top left corner of P. Join B on top. This almost always screws up my points by moving the bottom layer of fabric out of line. After asking quilting friends and quilting FB groups, my friend Holly's mom found . Consider the following before reaching for the seam ripper: Stand back and look objectively at your piecing. Skinny/Thin Pins This one is one that really drives me crazy. Please feel free to tell me if you found something that works better for you. Im glad you thought it was helpful! Check each seam is aligned correctly from the right side before sewing. A little tutorial on making practically perfect points in quilt blocks, Tutorial: Pretty points pieced block | Quilting | CraftGossip.com, Layer Cake Sampler QAL Week 5 {Blocks 9 & 10} | Material Girl Quilts, My favorite way to stitch EPP together | Anjeanette Klinder, A New York Beauty for Riley Blake Classic Caskata Project Tour. I dont like poo. Use a pencil to mark the points directly on the wrong side of the fabric for all of the hexagons. But it really is just keeping most of these things in your mind as you sew. I followed a pattern for a basket sampler quilt that recommended pressing the seam, then folding over and pressing the seams to one side to nest them. So much fun to read! As a general rule, if the size of the squares are more than say 4 or 5 inches wide, I would secure a pin in the middle. Why do you think it took me so long to figure it out? I am going to press my seams open since they were kinda bulky. I cant say for sure if quilters grid was used here but if it were me making a postage stamp quilt top like the one shown above (from RedPepper Quilts), quilters grid interfacing would be the only way I would be able to get every square to line up so straight and perfect. The first time I tried this product I had only one word for it magic. Needle Down. For many of us who quilt, and especially those starting out, we may not be at point where this level of perfection is necessary and would rather take the philosophy: Better Finished Than Perfect! 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. If desired, insert another pin slightly to the left of the alignment pin. Typically, it consists of a series of many, if not hundreds, of tiny 1 or 1.5 (postage stamp size) squares of fabric sewn together in neat rows. Buy Alibris Books Stunning Stitches For Crazy Quilts: 480 Embroidered Seam Designs, 36 Stitch-template Designs For Perfect Placement - By Kathy Seaman Shaw in Canada at TheBay. But really, nothing can be further from the truth. You want them to stay where they are so that they lay nicely while you quilt your quilt. Draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of the square, referring carefully to figures for direction. If you only have one intersection or point that is off, you can just unstitch about 1/2 before and 1/2 after the intersection. Of course it does. You can play around with this part until it works best for you, but as a general rule, I always sew about two threads to the right of the points. You know they are going to match up nicely. Pin more, seam rip less! The seams slide side-to-side, and matching points in quilting becomes nearly impossible. That's a lot of seams coming together and I'm concerned about the bulk. If you have used Pellon 820 Quilters Grid and this or a similar technique before please leave your comments and / or pictures below! This is how I pin to both sides of a pressed open seam. Leave them. Matching seams is a skill Im still trying to perfect. 2. ToilAndTummyTrouble 21 days ago. We reposition the piece until the points coincide, as seen in the IMG 4. That makes the stars super easy to make and they'll always have their points. This means that the seams of each row are aligned, and the pieces fit together almost like the pieces of a puzzle. Hopefully you dont need to do it over and over again. You now have beautifully matched up points in your quilt! This is magic! . Especially important when hand-piecing, as the seam allowances are unstitched. You are going to have people that swear by another way. Time for new rules, a new technique and a whole new product to make it happen. Fold again along the lines perpendicular to the ones you just stitched. Sometimes when I am pressing heavy seams open or to the side, they dont want to play nice. Using your fingers, and keeping the pressed seams to opposite sides, wiggle the two seams back and forth. Match rows right sides together with raw edges aligned. Just adjust for your specific pattern. Step 1. Thanks for showing us how you make your Practically Perfect Points! Yes, that and then fingerpress the seam open improved my accuracy! So my sewing start is that of a different nature than just starting out quilting in the sense that I do now. This prevents any shifting when sewing the two pieces together. That means to press the seams of one row to one side and the next row to the opposite side. I used clips to keep the rows straight while stitching the longer horizontal rows. I thought Id take pictures along the way to share. Maybe you already know how to do this. Continue stitching each of the short rows. Next, cut the batting and backing fabric to the size of your quilt top. There is a learning curve, as with any skill worth acquiring. Seam Matching Perfectly matched seams the first time, every time 5,625 views Apr 27, 2018 92 Dislike Share Save Heartfelt Quilt Design LLC 59 subscribers When quilting, do you have problems. I love hearing how different people do things as sometimes a little twerk to my own style makes all the difference! Sew a TRUE 1/4" seam at the edges of the block and a scant 1/4" seam at the center point of the block. Both ways though, Im pinning fairly close to the intersection. The first thing you need to do is press the seams towards the same side. Sometimes this just doesnt make sense. I think this and the automatic cutting feature on my machine are worth their weight in gold. As far as learning to quilt youre never too old to learn! Turn the quilt 180 degrees and repeat for the remaining two corners. We strive for perfection, but sometimes near enough is good enough: We are our own worst critics, so be kind to yourself. Loving the Layer Cake Sampler as I am getting lots of practice is sewing these points! Your article remains about my grandmother. 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. Ones lower than the other, theres gaps between them, or they are cut off entirely! This helps make sure that the quilt corners are also square. I believe that your seam ripper should be your best friend. If you sew a wavy line now, you are going to get a wavy seam. Stitching two points to one another is one of the more difficult seams. This act will ensure no loose threads in between in your quilt, which others can see and spoil the look. During the winter days she used to produce lots of new pieces, and she was giving them away like Christmas presents. I use the same ruler, mats and rotary cutter for the whole process. Enter in your email and password to create a FREE account. We only pushed a pin straight through and there is nothing really keeping it there. I used to use my wheel on the right of my machine more than anything else before I got my current machine with the needle down feature. Do not back stitch or reinforce your stitches. Every time I use it, it makes me smile. Giving yourself a guideline left by the bobbin thread makes those seams a breeze. It makes me all excited when I do this and then look at the nice points and matched seams. Practically Perfect! There are lots of tutorials on how to do this. It isnt going to get better as you go. You could also just move from intersection to intersection and hold the fabric taught while you sew. Carefully press it under at this line, then unfold and lay it back out flat again. Step 2: Insert a pin from the wrong side (WS) of the top layer. I was struggling. Flip top half of block right side up to reveal your completed eight point star quilt block. Usually I am pressing my seams in alternating directions for each row for less bulky seams, and pressing open large/bulky seams. You can choose to pin between the blocks too. Your piece should look like this. Ask yourself, is it really worth unpicking? The dogears help you match points and keep the fabric evenly distributed. You want to make sure both layers of the fabric are aligned at the edge. Sorry, can't remember correct name of it, but someone here knows and will direct you. Its not a hard thing to do or really even take that much time which is the good part about it. Practice these techniques and you'll be stitching perfect points in no time! If it isnt, you either made a cutting or a sewing error. Find out how to utilize different colored shapes and fabrics without creating visual chaos. Thinking the whole time about how the directional seams are going to lay flat. I have one that the blue bead head was put on crooked. Check your SPAM folder or contact us. I mean real poo. Your diagonal seams should line up perfectly. When you open up your two or more layers of fabric, you are adding a little bit of bulk to your seam. Push your pin through the back of the block right at the tip of the point and double check the right side to make sure youve got the pin coming out the other side at the right spot. Hopefully the pictures will help clarify what Im talking about here. I gently press the seam the direction I want it to go. Match the points together and pin each one carefully to line up points. If the bottom layer moves, you are going to have a wavy seam. Or in the case of quilting, you can nest your seams to avoid bulks. Stitch and press Stitch right along your marks (take your pins out as you go, don't stitch over them). 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. Check out - What type of spray starch to use for quilting - for more information. At this point, the seam can be iron opened or to one side. After this ditch quilting, you can anchor the seam lines between the borders and center of the quilt. IMG 2. Love this feature. For a 1/4 inch seam, fabric rests against the edge of the 1/4 inch sewing machine foot. Once you have all of your points pinned together, you can go ahead and pin the rest of the seam as needed. If you only have a few cut-off points in a large quilt, they may not be noticeable to anyone but you. Get your copy of the Vichy quilt pattern FREE! It has a point that helps me open them up and then I use it in front of the iron in place of my fingers. Then use the grid lines on the mat to line your ruler up straight. Your blocks may look different but this is the basic method I use each time I am sewing blocks and even quilt tops together. For instance, when writing my Cosmic Cactus quilt pattern I decided that pressing seams open would reduce bulk where a number of seams met in some places. My machine doesnt always grab the top and bottom fabrics at the same time resulting in unmatched cornersmany unmatched corners. A couple of seconds with a hot iron and the interfacing is semi permanently fused to the back of the fabric. But always before. Nest your seams. 2. Take a pin and find one of the points you want to match up. Place a 2 square of fabric within (4) grid squares on the back (rough, adhesive side) of the interfacing. You might notice a slight ripple where the excess was eased in. If your seams were open, you are going to want to make sure the pin goes directly through both the seams. Binding Basics - Part 3: Preparing the Quilt, Binding Basics - Part 4: Attaching the Binding by Machine, Binding Basics - Part 5: Hand-Stitching the Binding to the Back, Binding Basics - Part 2: Making the Binding, Nine Patch Lesson 1: Basic Piecing with Charms, Nine Patch Lesson 2: Speed Strip Quilting for a Baby quilt, How to Sew an Accurate Quarter Inch Seam Allowance, How to Pick the Right Quilting Design for Your Quilt, Machine Quilting with Golden Threads paper, Perfect Points Sampler Free Quilt Pattern Download. Step 11b With right sides together stitch Row 2 to Row 3, first match center seam and then nest outer seams. Thank you so much for this excellent, descriptive tutorial! It took me a while to find the name of this pattern. The seam allowance and its accuracy is especially important when you are matching seam points and sewing - like you do when making a quilt or joining pieces in making garments. This multistep process reduces shifting and can make quilting perfect points an achievable goal. I use the thinnest pins I can find. Be careful to make sure that you keep . Leave your fork pins in when sewing near your point following the directions outlined in Steps 3 & 4: Match Seams Perfectly with Fork Pins. Pin more, as desired, and sew the seam with a 1/4 seam allowance. 1999-2023 Crafts Americana Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Yes, I really do this. By doing this you can see the intersecting stitching lines much better when sewing! Enter your email below to get notified when it goes live! See examples of quilts and learn how to effectively mix color intensities for your own quilts. I call this good enough. THE TRICK IS: Line up the seams and then pin directly through the seams or as closely as possible to them. Of course, sometimes you just have to change out your blade during the process. They are more significant than regular scissors while you are doing quilting. So, I set off on a quest to discover how I could achieve matching seams and perfect points. Staying consistent during the entire process, makes a huge difference in my accuracy. Now you need to be sure that the strips are pressed in alternate directions. She provides helpful tips and techniques that ensure a great end result for your quilts. See the many examples provided as well as what techniques work best when using certain pins. I even have gotten to know the quirks of some of them. Still, Andy Farrell's men had enough quality to earn a third bonus-point win, thanks to tries from James Ryan, Hugo Keenan, Bundee Aki and a brace for Mack Hansen, whose second finally saw them . Basting is replaced with fusing. There's a quilt I've been working on where the open seams and teeny tiny piecing was getting me. The second intersection both layers have two HST coming together at the intersection. I go back to my sewing machine and I determine how many points are in each row. I have made many a quilt, and all are far from perfect. 3. It has a rough side where the adhesive is infused and a perfect 1 grid printed over the entire surface that is visible from both sides. Create a square with sides that match the calculated size. 4. I recommend using a special presser foot with a -inch guide if you have one for your machine. Now I know I can complete it without difficulty. That way they fit together like a cute little puzzle. Oftentimes, you will end up with a bubble or nipple at your intersections. Raise the iron and move to the next section pressing (hold down only do not iron or slide the iron from one section to the next). I can also see this as a front panel for a pillow. Pin both sides of the seams with a fork pin. Any plans to illustrate pressing patterns on other blocks? Now put two pins in the piece as you would normally pin, one on either side of this straight pin. Once it looks good, press your seam open. The starch or even steam can make the fabric shrink. That was amazingly and helpfully thorough! 2. Also, because it is wood it doesnt melt and it doesnt conduct the heat of the iron onto my fingers. Didnt receive an email? I absolutely believe that if you are careful to cut your initial squares or shapes, you sew carefully and you square up your blocks after each block is made, it makes putting the blocks together a breeze. Once youve completed all the steps above the result is a fabric panel that you can do most anything with. If I had to give you four tips for a great quilt, they'd be: 1. Make sure your points are present (not cut off) and your intersections are matching up nicely. So, of course, I'm working on a quilt with a bunch of HSTs. I hope! 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. Had I more time to spend, I could have finished the edge by attaching binding. 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. 8. This is a thin fabric made from 100% polyester. This makes it inevitable that you will not be able to just sew two blocks together and things just fall into place. Do you just spray it all down and iron it before starting cutting? Press your top and bottom seams in opposite directions, allowing the seams to nest. As you get to a point or intersection, make sure to sew to the right of the point. With a little practice aiming, youll be making perfect points in your quilts like a pro in no time. Then I watched this video again and used Julie's tricks to help me conquer my problem blocks. It can be frustrating to spend time to cut and stitch accurately only to have a machine with poorly designed feed dogs that causes the fabric to be unevenly fed under the presser foot. Learning to nest your seams, my friends, is a quilter's best friend. Shop our collection of Alibris Books Books online and get free shipping on $49+ orders! Dont push your iron back and forth or you will get a mess under it. Use a 24 ruler, placing the ruler's 1/4 line where seams cross on the corners of the setting triangles. 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. First, selvages have a tighter weave than the rest of the fabric (quilter's cotton) and have a tendency to act a little wonky and not lay as nice sometimes. 381. Don't forget to breathe. I just wasnt able to consistently get my seams to line up and not cut off those points. You can feel a seam is nesting when the seams bump up against each other. The attention to detail that preserves those points is a credit to the quilter. Sometimes you have two HST blocks that come together at the same intersection in one row, for example. To make it easier for me to see where I should be sewing near a point, I make a mark on the fabric with a fabric marker. Rulers and rotary cutters are the same way. Website design by Holly Knott LLC. I couldnt figure it out until I realized I was starching AFTER Id cut the fabric, right before I sewed the pieces together. When the seams of each row come together, they nestle nicely and almost lock into place. Make sure your 1/4 seam allowance is accurate. If it is something that will be taken care of in the seam allowance, or if it is close, I may leave it. 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. Choose some fun fabric and. > 1/8 of an inch or less difference here. When you have stitched the whole row together, open it up and see what your intersections look like. Your email address will not be published. Matching Seams in Quilting - Pro-Tip Tuesday Summer Lee Quilts 493 subscribers Subscribe Share Save 12K views 4 years ago Pro-Tip Tuesday In this week's Pro-Tip Tuesday, I show you an easy way. Im working on my block for this weeks Layer Cake Sampler Quilt Along that my sweet friend Amanda of Material Girl is hosting. And I agree, Im not a fan of poo either . Press all block seams toward the churn dash blocks. I know this post was like 2 months ago, but can you tell me more about starching your fabric before you start? If you dont like it, find one you do like. Print Article Make sure that your block is indeed the size it should be at this point. I press my rows first with the right side facing up on the pressing board. This occurs because seams are pressed to opposite directions when sewing sections together. These are the important things that are going to make the block or quilt off. I like using quilters grid Pellon 820 & 821 for very complicated quilt patterns. Step One: Trim. Not just ordinary pins, but fork pins. I usually pin before the intersection and sometimes after depending. (Its not visible in this picture but Im using a 1/4 presser foot with a fence along the right side to ensure a consistent 1/4 seam. We hope you enjoyed this video and these quick tips. Next, press the horizontal seams open. I decided as this point was at the bottom of the block (and not the cactus points) I could live with it. You can do this over and over until you get them matching up the way you want them. Thank you so much for being a part of our quilting friends. Staystitch the Edges. I look at how many of the points have just a single HST and how many have two. In this tutorial Im going to share my process for achieving matching seams and perfect points! I suggest reading through it all once before you try it, because peppered throughout is a lot of back story to why I do it the way I do. The nature of this product is to reinforce or strengthen fabric and as a result will cause the fabric to stiffen up. If you matched the ends of each row before you stitched them, you shouldnt have any trimming aside from threads at this point. I was told to use starch which I dutifully did until I realized after cutting all my pieces, they were off. Get exclusive premium content! But Ive heard great things about other brands too like Mary Ellens. If you have a 1/4 foot, use it. What is a nesting seam? Learn how colors interact with each other and how to ensure the colors make your quilt rather than break your quilt. Become best friends with your seam ripper. 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. I love my pins. Now lets admire your block. If I cant, I will mark the point with something like a disappearing FriXion pen at the very tip so that I know where they are as I am sewing. Instead Ive made a lap quilt, a wall hanging, a shopping bag with larger 7 squares and now this mug rug. Im so happy you found this helpful! Yes, the thinner pins do give and bend more, but they seem to work better for me.
matching seams and points in quilting