Questions I Get Asked
Part five
My two questions: As a beginning sewer (is that a word?) I do not know how to make a knot! I realize I am supposed to knot the thread and pull it into the quilt so the knots don't show. I seem to get this at the beginning of the stitch but don't know how to knot the end.
Here's how I do it:
Take the end of the thread between my thumb and forefinger and wrap it once around the very tip of the finger so the end of the thread just overlaps and forms a loop. Use my thumb to roll the thread off the fingertip, twisting it a few times. Hold onto that loop and pull the knot down to the end of the thread with my pinched thumb and finger.
You may have to practice this to get a small knot at the end of the thread. If the tail is too long you can snip it off. If the knot comes out big and lumpy, you can cut it and try again.
Question two: I cannot seem to get my stitches close together without being long and kid of ugly. I want small, closely spaced stitches. Can you tell me the proper way to stitch through the quilt. I am using betweens. Are curved needles better? On this one I am using cotton/poly batting (thin).
Betweens are the proper needle to use. Sounds as if you are doing everything right, you just need more practice. I've been quilting for years and I get about 6 sitches visible on one side per inch. It's more important that they are even rather than small. Small comes with practice.
I am making my first quilt, and I am wondering where I can get detailed instructions on the various ways to transfer patterns onto the quilt top. I expect to do my quilting by hand, and since I don't have a lot of time to devote to it, I expect it to take a long time at it--maybe even a year. So I can't see transferring the patterns to the entire quilt top as I go along, as the books I have suggest doing. The lines simply wouldn't last long enough. I would like a technique that allows me to transfer the patterns as I go along. I have heard that water soluble marking pens might contain chemicals that could damage the fabric long term, and I know chalk wears away quickly. What is the best medium to use, and how do I use plastic (or cardboard) templates?
Unfortunately, I don't know of a much better method. You can use chalk, because it doesn't (usually) ruin the fabric, but you have to mark as you go. Pencil is longer lasting, in fact, I have some quilts my grandmother made that still have pencil lines on them....
If you do chose chalk, I've heard that some of the blue tailor's brands become permanent after time.
As you have heard, the pens are not suggested for heirloom use. People have noticed deterioration in just a few years, or less. Chalk wears off after a while, but it really has to be handled a lot for that to happen. It's what I use, and I quilt a little at a time myself.
The templates you use like stencils. Mark through or around them with pencil or chalk. You can get or make a chalk "pouncer" which is a little fabric bag with powdered chalk that you kind of stamp through the template to get the pattern.
I bought a kenmore (probably does not matter) machine from a pawn broker today with no instructions. Not ever having owned a sewing macine before I do not know where the thread is supposed to go except in the needle. Also how do I make the bobbin? work. I would like to be able to hem my jeans and now have the machine and no idea how to use it. Any reply would be helpful.
With Kenmore you can find their 800 number and call with the model number and get the booklet for it. If it's new enough, you might be able to get other parts.
Generally, the thread comes off a spool on top, through a hook of some sort, through the tension wheel, through the hook thingie that moves up and down when you turn the wheel, through a hook near the needle, then into the needle.
There should be a second spindle on the top, with a snap lock for winding the bobbin.
I suggest, since you bought it pawned and you don't know where it's been or how it's been cared for, that you drop another $50 and take it to a repair place for a tune-up. They may even be able to get the booklet for it, and can at least show you how to thread it and wind the bobbin.
What is interfacing, and what is it used for. Also do you cut or tear the following fabrics. Chiffon C/T Corduroy C/T Denim C/T Woven poly cotton C/T Jogging Fleece C/T Fun Fur C/T.
It is a lightweight non-woven fabric, kind of like tissue but softer, that is used to add weight or thickness to very thin or fragile fabrics. You'd use it on collars and cuffs, for example, where you want the fabric to be a little heavier.
Cut everything that isn't 100% cotton or that you don't want runs in. Tearing any fabric distorts the edges and stresses the fabric around the tear.
Can you please let me also know what kind of kneedle and thread you use to sew denim and crepe de chine. Thank you for your help.
You'd need a denim needle for denim, and probably a ballpoint for the crepe or any lightweight fabric.
Where do you oil it and should I do it myself... and when do I know if I need to???
There will be little holes in the case for the oil. On older machines sometimes they are outlined in red. You really need the manual to show you all the places, though.
When do you need to? Well..... it's kind of like knowing when to change a baby. They make noise, and you get to know what the noises mean. With some experience, you can feel it, too. :)
If you can get the manual for the machine in question it will have oiling guidelines. Many new machines do not need to be oiled much at all.
What is the difference between a babylock and a serger? are they the same? I would like to buy a serger but I am not sure the difference. Thank you
Babylock is a brand name.
What is the best way to mark your quilt for cross hatching. What distance between the lines is the best?
Use chalk or something that will wash out. Pencil is permanent, and those chemical "wash-out" markers eat your fabric after a time.
Your lines should be no farther apart than 4", depending on the batting. It usually says something on the package. 1" is typical.
Hi, would you happen to know of any general "rule" for converting measurements. For example, I've done several 12" blocks just fine. For my next project I want to do 18" blocks due to the nature of the pattern on the fabric and I'd like to convert the blocks from 12" to 18". Is there a standard mathematical equation I should use?
Thanks for your help, Nicole
Not that I know of. What I do is look at the block pieces, and see how they are proportioned. Look at the block and figure out if it can be divided into thirds, quarters or fifths. Then guess the ratio of ech reduction. For example, if it is a nine-patch in a 12" size, each square is going to be 4" wide. If I want to make that a 9" block, I'd need 3" squares. Graph paper helps. :) A lot of the time if your proportions aren't exact when you reduce it, it doesn't matter all that much anyway. You can fudge things a bit.
I've been looking everywhere for an answer to this one. I'm hoping you can help. I have started designing my own blocks - now problem there. HOWEVER, how do you know to CUT the patterns out on the fabric? Is there a rule for where the grain should go on standard shapes? Or is there an easy (hopefully) way to say, right - that's the block, now all the grain lines should go this way!
Yes, straight edges should be on the grain. If you have to cut triangles you want to avoid having the outermost edges (as they are pieced) end up on the bias. So, whatever side of the triangle will be the edge of the block should be on the straight grain. When possible, cut repeat shapes going the same direction. (All rectangles cut laying the same way) This makes the fabric look better in the finished quilt.
Hi, I have looked the web over and found nothing that tells you what you need to start your on guild or should I say club? I don't know with is correct. I have a group of ladies that meet once a month to quilt and share ideas. We would like to be our on club and move forward, but no where can i find any information on how to start this. Can you help me? Please. Thanking you in advance. Mary
I haven't started a quilt guild before, but it seems to me you're on the right track. You have a group of people who meet regularly to share ideas and friendship. Most "Guilds" I know of are incorporated as non-profit orgs because they have large sums of money to track. I guess when your group gets to that point you can do the same.
When I was in college and a bunch of us wanted to be an organization we got together and determined our meeting times and place and let everyone know with flyers and an article in the school paper. We had to file a form with the university saying who our officers were, but in this case there's no official register of guilds so you won't have to.
For now I think it's just a matter of "acting" like a guild. Give yourself a name, post flyers in quilt shops, and maybe have a small event or two, a show-and-tell night or something you can advertise around town.
Good luck!
I am very proud of myself for having joined my girlfriends and making a quilt in a day (actually about 2 days so far). I do not sew. I am therefore stuck. I am to the point where I need to handstitch the edging and my girlfriend says I need to blind stitch it. I have no clue what this is. We are no longer working in a group so I won't have a chance to get their help for a while. Is this something you might be able to help me with? blindstich? Thank you
This is something that I could *show* you in two seconds, that I can only hope I can describe in words. :)
Pretty much you want to fold your hem down and pin it in place. The stitch you are doing is going to look like a spiral notebook binding when it's done, except you won't really be able to see it.
Bring your needle up from under the fold of the fabric so the knot is hidden. Take a stich diagonally over the edge of the folded hem and into the quilt top.
Push down into the top and come up again through the binding, right at the edge.
With practice you can do this so it barely shows, and thus is "blind". You come up through the binding right at the fold, even a few threads under it, and go down just under the edge of where the binding lays, so no stitches show.
I find it works best for me if I hold the piece in my left hand, with the binding on the left side and sew "down".
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