In an effort to use up my scrap stash instead of just storing it I have made a second practice quilt with leftover fabric from a couple of projects. So far only one member of my family likes it. That's ok, it's just for me to practice my free motion quilting on.
There are still a few more scraps I plan on adding to the back. Is it as bad as my family seems to think it is or is it just more modern than they are used to? I don't know. I do like the improvised piece in the bottom left. I created that design myself. It's probably been done before, but I've never seen it before.
Now for confession of a wanna-be quilter. With my old machine I had a piece of tape marking the 1/4" line, and the outer edge of my presser foot was a scant 1/4". On this new machine I didn't have tape because it has a 1/4" line on the plate. I quickly discovered this was not accurate. At least not for the scant 1/4" we quilters need. I tried lining up my edge with the edge of my presser foot, but this didn't work either.
I bought a 1/4" presser foot and lined up my fabric with the outer edge of the foot, and it still was a bit too big. Ugh! Even with the needle in the far right position. I was at a local fabric store and saw this low tack bright tape and decided I was going to just mark out the 1/4" line and do it the old fashioned way that worked for me for years.
In order to get a perfect line I also got this handy ruler. The needle fits right into the pre-drilled holes so you can be sure you are sewing accurately. At first I thought it might be a waste of money, but I am glad I got it!
After fitting the needle into the holes I made the brilliant discovery that I had been lining up my fabric with the wrong edge of the presser foot. I could have smacked myself in the forehead. It seems so silly to me now.
I was lining up with the outer edge, when I was supposed to be lining up with the edge of that long piece sticking out the front. I wondered why it was such an odd shape. I figured it was just to give me more sight of the fabric going in. There is always something new to learn or learn again. Now that I figured out the correct way to use my presser foot, I am hoping that I will have fewer struggles with having my points line up.
Creative Blessings,
Heather North
8.10.2013
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2 comments:
Did you sneak any cat fabric in? It took me awhile to figure out the 1/4 inch mark on my older machine. Combine that with not knowing that I should trim things to size = lots of cut off points. And that bottom left corner creates some fun lines to do practice quilting! Hope you are having a wonderful evening!
Actually, I was just working on one of those cat fabric pieces. Have you worked on yours yet? What would you quilt in those stripes? I'm thinking I will probably do a different pattern in each section. That will be very good practice.
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