Tuesday's Tips and Tricks: First Edition

Welcome to the first edition of Tuesday's Tips and Tricks!  You asked and we listened....Here you will find tips, techniques, tricks and products related to quilting that have been vetted by our members.  Occasionally a question will be asked by a member seeking help with a particular quilting issue.  All of us have knowledge, skills and experience that we can share with others;  each of us can benefit and learn from the talents of our fellow guild members.  Let's get started!


Jackie offers these tips regarding needles:

• When threading a needle for hand stitching, insert the needle into a square of folded fabric.  Hold the fabric rather than the needle when threading.
• When switching sewing machine needles, leave a strand of thread in needle after removing to remind you this is a used needle.

Cara shares this trick for those of us who can never cut the fabric large enough when paper piecing:

• First photocopy an extra copy of the pattern and cut out the pieces.  Then as you get to each piece, lay the paper pattern piece on your fabric and cut around always leaving at least 1/4" and preferably a good bit more.  You don't need to cut in the exact shape (although this helps for knowing which way it goes), just loosely around it, making sure you have plenty of fabric to cover the area.  Now you have a piece that is sure to cover the needed area.

Debra asked for suggestions on how to quilt like a longarmer on her home sewing machine.  Does anyone have any tips or tricks for her?  If so, please leave them in the comment section.

I found a few on Pinterest that may be of use.  Check out these links:  

• Leah Day's video on quilting big quilts on a small machine
• Free Motion Quilting Project blog
• A Few Scraps blog which has a tab for Free Motion Quilting tips
• This blog post has tips on quilting a spiral which is one of my favorite ways to quilt a smaller quilt.

I am sure there are many other links to tutorials, videos, blog posts and other resources for helpful suggestions on free motion quilting.  Please share any that you find helpful!

Have a tip or trick you want to share with members?  Are you searching for tips or techniques for a particular project?  Please email Rene' (address in member directory) with any questions, comments or suggestions for inclusion in the Tuesday's Tips and Tricks column.   

Happy stitching!