3 Common Mistakes New Quilters Make

Quilting is not as difficult as some might think, and like any other skill, the more it’s practiced the easier it becomes. Unfortunately people sometimes give up when their first attempts to quilt prove less than successful. Most of the mistakes made by novice quilters are fairly common and easy to avoid. Below are the top three quilting errors and suggestions to overcome them.

Poor Fabric Cutting

One of the biggest boons to quilters today is the rotary cutter. This hand held circular blade, resembling a pizza cutter, has made cutting even and uniform shapes a breeze. Rotary cutters are used in conjunction with a large gridded plastic mat and an acrylic, see-through ruler. Fabric is lined up on the mat, carefully squared on the grid and held in place by the acrylic ruler. Then the rotary cutter slides through the fabric making a smooth even cut. The larger the rotary blade the more layers of fabric it can cut through, but start out with just a few layers. It’s easy for the material to slide around if the pile is too high. The time invested in carefully smoothing, measuring and cutting your fabric will pay off when it comes time to sew and piece.

Uneven Seams

If your quilt is one solid piece of fabric, top and bottom, uneven seams pose less of a problem. However, if you’re piecing together blocks, strips or other shapes, sloppy or uneven seams may ruin your piecing project. Creating the perfect ¼ inch seam can be done one of several ways. Some machines come with an attachment that creates a metal ridge to the right of the fabric at exactly a quarter inch. All you have to do is sew slowly, and keep the raw edges flat against this edge.

If your machine doesn’t come with an attachment like this, use a ruler and measure ¼ inch to the right from the spot where the needle will enter the fabric. Mark it with a strip of masking tape. Once you’re certain the spacing is correct, add additional layers of tape to build up a ridge, or purchase adhesive backed moleskin and use a strip to act as a sewing guide.

Poorly Pressed Seams

A light iron pressing can keep fabric flat, wrinkle free and easier to work with, while ironing your fabric incorrectly can stretch the material or cause seams to crimp up. After stitching pieces together, make sure the fabric is lying flat, back side up, before pressing. Follow the quilt pattern directions and press both of the raw fabric edges in the same direction. Place the iron flat on the seam, allowing the heat and weight effectively press your seam for several seconds. Moving the iron back and forth can stretch fabric out of shape and cause puckering. Re-press seams after each stage in the sewing process. It takes more time initially, but will save you trouble when it comes to assembling your quilt. If your pattern doesn’t have directions, the best rule of thumb is to press adjoining seams in opposite directions.

Following these three simple steps will save you hours of seam ripping and frustration and make quilting a more efficient and enjoyable hobby.  If you need additional quilting tips, please see our list of helpful and informative classes offered by the sewing experts at Sew Many Ideas.