Monday, November 8, 2010

Treating Fabric

So, I've been cutting fabric this afternoon.

Harriet recommends a specific way to cut fabric which is perhaps a bit different from the way that most people cut fabric.

You'll need to know first a little of my history.

I have TONS of fabric.  I know, I know, most of us do.

MOST of my fabric is in fat quarters.  I would say that 90% of my fabric is fat quarters.

Harriet recommends tearing your fabric, starching it, and realigning it before you cut it. She's not a prewasher (YEAH!!!!!!).

Her method of cutting is a little different than I'm used to (you can read all about it in her book Heirloom Machine Quilting on pages 15-17), so I did some experimenting this afternoon and figured out what was going to work for me.

I'm still not sure what's going to work for all those fat quarters that I have, though.  I don't know if I should pre-wash them so that they will relax into straight grain and then starch them to make them stiff again.  (Harriet recommends working with stiff fabric when you piece.)  I haven't decided for sure, and I sent an email to Harriet and Carrie to find out if they had a suggestion.

So, back to my QA project...I got some 2" WOF (width of fabric) strips cut in WOW (white on white) and light blue and dark blue.  I probably wouldn't have chosen these two blues to put together in a quilt, but they were the only longer pieces of blue fabric that I had on hand.


So, now I'll go to work on getting a perfect seam.

I have to admit that I've been a little resistant in the past to use a thread guide on the machine, but I think I'm just going to have to let it go.  Actually, I'm not so sure that I can because I would have to take it off every time that I practiced FMQ (free motion quilting), so that wouldn't work.

So, I'm going to have to find a way to get a ¼" seam without using something on the bed of the machine.

For my Bernina, Harriet recommends the #13 foot with a thread guide on it.  I'm not sure if I have a #13 foot, I'm off to check!

4 comments:

  1. I bought a foot with thread guard for my bernina 930 and it has really helped me.

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  2. Are you talking about the #57 foot? I find that my seam is too wide with this one. I'm looking for a scant 1/4".

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  3. I must have missed something cos I only discovered today that you are doing this, I'm going to look forward to reading all your adventures!

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  4. Sue, I just started this blog, so you haven't missed much, lol.

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