Sewing Techniques

When I am hand quilting,to make it easier to pull the needle through the quilt,I take surgical gloves and cut the fingers off. Put one on my thumb it helps to grip the needle and pull it through the quilt much easier. Works for me. 

FAST AND EASY WAY TO MAKE TRIANGLE-SQUARE UNITS

STEP 1 - FIRST CUT OUT  SQUARES OF TWO DIFFERENT FABRIC MATERIALS A 1/2 INCH MORE THEN THE SIZE OF SQUARE YOU ARE USING FOR YOUR PATTERN.

STEP 2- THEN TAKE A SQUARE OF EACH DIFFERENT FABRIC MATERIAL WITH THE RIGHT SIDES FACING EACH OTHER

STEP 3- HOLD THE FABRIC SQUARES DIAMOND SHAPE UNDER THE SEWING MACHINE

STEP 4- FROM ONE POINT OF THE DIAMOND TO THE OPPOSITE  POINT OF THE DIAMOND SEW  A LINE ON  EACH SIDE OF THE POINT TO OTHER POINT

STEP 5- AFTER SEWING THEM THEN CUT DIRECTLY DOWN BETWEEN THE LINES FROM POINT TO POINT THEN OPEN IT UP YOU HAVE YOUR  TWO TRIANGLE-SQUARE UNITS

STEP 6- YOU MIGHT NEED TO TRIM THE THE BLOCKS A LITTLE BUT IT'S SIMPLE AND EASY  

CHRISTINA DEBORD

take all the corners you cut from your quilting, also the ends of strips you won't use in your quilt. use these as anchor clothes as you sew. make strips of them. when you have a 8 to 12 in. strip, sew them to an used dryer sheet as you would paper peaceing. fill severl dryer sheets, use them to create.  I just finished a weather roll for the back door. it sure stoped the drafts, I love the roll, every time I look at it, I see a fabric I used in something, and think of the person I gave it to. I am going to make more things this way. the dryer sheets make a great founddation.

I seem to always have scraps around not all big ones.  One day I used an used dryer sheet as the stablizer in one of my crazy quilt block and it worked great.  The nice part is they are free and you dont have to take them off like paper.  I just reach in my scrap can and place a piece of fabric on the dryer sheet, and top it with another and sew my seam to join them.  I open them up and keep going until I have the dryer sheet covered. I then turn the block over and sew a scant 1/4 inch around the edge and trim off the extra.  I set them aside until I have enough blocks for the quilt I want to make  Using the same box of dryer sheets makes the blocks the same size, and a small box will make a nice childs quilt.  just remember use the sheets in the dryer first.

 I am new at quilting... But what I do I get all my material together & make my blocks then I set it out the way I would like it  then I take a picture of it .That way I know the way it is suppose to be. Saved me a lot of time.. Happy Sewing... I also write down the needle I have in my machine & the date I put it in I have a black board in my sewing room that way if I am having problems it might be the size needle I have in my machine. Thank You ,Shirl 1

I really enjoy hand quilting but have trouble seeing the miniscule eye of a #12 quilting needle even with my reading glasses.  My daughter has much younger eyes...so whenever she visits she starts my needles.  I have her thread 40 or 50 of them on the spool so I can just pull the thread to the length I want and still have more ready.  It is a great time to visit and share what's going on in her life.  If you don't have a daughter...make sure you offer to teach a youngster to quilt and you will always have a special friend with whom to share quilting projects. NOTE:  A large magnifing light works too but it is not nearly as enjoyable.

When you are machines quilting and you have a quilt top already pinned in and you come to a seam that has come loose and wonder what to do , take a  piece of tape and cover your seam with the tape , then go ahead and quilt over  the tape.  the tape works wonders.

I made 42 potpourri bags for a friend.  I had all sorts of scraps of tulle, organdies, lace, ribbons, trim and threads cut off.  I saved them to make a "crazy quilt card."  I will put them all on my foundation and sew in all directions to secure them.  Good way to utilize my tiny scraps.

Due to uneven cutting and sewing, you may find yourself attempting to mesh two different-sized blocks together. To get better results, place the shorter of the two blocks on top and the longer on the bottom. This helps in two ways: the feed dogs often pull the bottom fabric through slightly faster than the top fabric, thus eating up some of the extra. Also, it is easier to pull or stretch the top-most layer since the feed dogs do not grip the top fabric. Between the faster feeding of the bottom layer and the stretching of the top layer, it is possible to even out differences of up to 1/2 inch!