Stitching the pieces together
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I've seen it done and also the drawers used as containers in other rooms....I was in such a rush...sigh.
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My mom still sews on her treadle. When I was in school, she took her treadle with us on vacation to Minnesota (we lived in Ohio) so she could finish our school clothes. My dad wanted to put her treadle in the boat and attach a paddle wheel to the peddle so he could troll around the lake. She has several bases, one came through a fire, that she has wood tops on and uses for plant stands in her sun room. She had several other machines that I think she gave away, I wish I had one of them. My hope is to get hers when anything happens to her.
Sheila
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Ooookay, oh Wise Ones, your kind advice please.
Whew, have I had a rough quilting week.
Spent HOURS Sunday just trying to cut out two blocks. Found out last night that there really was something wrong with my cutter, plus the Olfa ergonomic one really is poorly suited to my tiny hands. Got a new cutter & cut out pieces for two new blocks, plus recut the pieces for my split rail one. Pieces are now accurate. I was a happy camper.
HOWEVER, now my blocks are still coming out too small/ missmatched.
Here is the problem: I finally found a 1/4 inch foot for my Kenmore sewing machine online. My seams are off because this foot needs to have a right needle position and my machine only has a center & left position. I know I can draw a line on the very small table, BUT, this puts the line barely on the edge of the feed dog & then I have corners getting pulled down, chewed up. I really need a single-hole plate but I'm not having as good a luck with this as I did feet. What now? I really can't afford another machine right now.
See, I told y'all I liked hand piecing. Sigh...
Meece, very cute on the T-shirts.0 -
Melissa - not sure if I completely understand your question, but in the very beginning, I did not have a quarter inch foot.
I got some double-sided foam tape, and measured 1/4" from the needle hole to the right.
I then peeled off one side of the sticky tape, and stuck it down to make an edge that would channel my fabric directly into the needle at exactly 1/4". I think my machine has several needle positions, but the default is in the center (?) The tape ends well before the feed dogs start.
Later on, as I got more comfortable, I got a quarter inch foot. Of course, that doesn't work with my quilting foot, so you learn to look for "landmarks" on either your machine or your foot to tell where the 1/4" is.
Whatever method you choose, be sure to take some scrap fabric and run a series of 1/4" seams on it. Then measure the seams to make sure they really are 1/4".
I'm sure Barbe can come along and be of much more help than I was!!!
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Melissa, I'd be VERY surprised that the 1/4" foot needs a right needle position. Why do you think that? Does the instructions show it? Please check again against your ruler and let us know. Otherwise, Blessings has the trick I would have told you! The thicker tape helps keep things in line. I am SO glad you got your cutter worked out! Good for you for persevering!!!
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Kenmore no longer has a 1/4 foot available for my machine so I ordered one online. It has a guide and a curve on the foot where you can tell the needle can be switched to that position (if mine switched). When the needle is in center position it sews a wider seam than quarter inch to the guide on the foot. There are no instructions with the foot.
Putting tape on the table won't keep the feed dog from hanging up stuff when 1/4 inch is barely catching the right feed dog with a quarter inch seam.
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Melissa, that means you didn't buy a 1/4" foot. You shouldn't need to switch your needle position. Seriously. Talk to whoever you bought it from. Kenmore is made by Janome. So see if you can get a foot in your local store. Talk to a sewing machine distributor when you need to buy feet. The tape would run parrallel to the foot so there should be no problem with hanging up stuff. A 1/4" is a LOT bigger than I think you are getting. Your feed dogs should have NO problem grabbing the fabric. Put one of your clear rulers under the foot to see where the 1/4" allowance is. Otherwise, go to where you bought your machine and make them show you.
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Another thought: If you mean "hanging up stuff" means the fabric gets pushed into the needle slot that is easily remedied. Start sewing the seam with the fabric well under the foot and backstitch if needed (though we don't do that in quilting). That seam is going to get caught under yet another seam, so the loose starting of the seam will get stitched down later. Does that make sense?
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Another way to avoid the 'hanging up stuff' is to chain piece. I found this on connecting threads that explain chain piecing and using a leader fabric to start the chain.
http://www.connectingthreads.com/tutorials/Chain_Piecing_101__D96.html
Sheila
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What I ordered:
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What I got:
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Well, after a multi email exchange & sending photos of my machine & a closeup of the shank, problem solved. My particular machine does not use the Janome made feet. It uses generic ones & my needle WAS in fact misaligned with the foot. He is sending me a correct one that will work. I knew I wasn't crazy!
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Melissa - so glad you got the problem solved. You are such a trooper to keep at this with all the trial and errors you are having. Hope things start going smoother for you now. I sometimes use a stiletto to help guide my fabric through when the seam is small and the feed dogs do not catch the right side of the fabric. I have some projects that call for a 1/8" seam and that does get a little tricky at times. At other time I start sewing on a scrap piece of material then chain the real project piece to that. You are doing great at solving all the problems. You will wind up knowing more that most of us by the time you get the hang of things.
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I was just so aggravated because after finally getting my cutting fixed I KNEW my pieces were correct, my seams were perfectly straight to the guide on my foot & the block still came up small. I knew it should have been pretty close to perfect.
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Melissa you are doing one of the things I was taught to do, practice, practice, practice. I do that on scraps of every kind of fabric, thread, stitch, interfacing, everything that I am going to sew. If I skip, I make a mistake that always takes way longer to fix that practicing would have. You are doing really well!
Hugs Ginger
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I use chain piecing and drive-on/drive-off pieces all the time.
Talk about practice, I came across a bias tape foot in the parts to DH's aunt's old machine. I sat there yesterday practicing, but am having difficulty keeping the fabric deep enough in the foot for the bias tape to sandwich. Any hints?
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Congrats Melissa!! I've never seen a foot like that second one. It wouldn't even stitch in that left hole properly, why is that hole there????
Meece, a stiletto could be used to get the fold in closer to the foot. Or how about ironing? Would either of those help?
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It is there purely to keep you from breaking your needle if you should have the needle position set wrong. It is a safety feature.
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Smart! But dumb at the same time if you can't move your needle to the right!
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No, my needle wasn't in the little hole. It just needed to be further in the slot to the right:)
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Probably both. Thanks,
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I am sooo happy!!!
DH and I went to the new Walmart Super Store that opened 5 minutes from our house....and THEY HAVE FABRIC!!!!!
This was a big deal here in town...they discontinued carrying fabric at the old store closest to us, so I had to drive alllllll the way across town to the store that carried it.
Of course, there's a wonderful quilt store very close to me, and their fabric is luscious....but everything is $12 - $15 a yard - and sometimes I just don't want to spend that much.
Especially for projects I'm learning on... I'm pretty good at judging the quality of the fabric, and yes, there were some really cheezy bolts of cheap stuff at Walmart. But they had a huge selection of quilting cottons, and most of them were very nice, and priced at $4.44 a yard.
So I was very happy to come home with a few yards of really cute, inexpensive fabric Wednesday night. (And one was a Mary Engelbreit print....woot!)
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A Walmart in the town I used to live in put a good number of local businesses out of business. Some local seniors were trying to tell people that would happen but we didn't listen and the carnage was terrible. Starbucks did the exact same thing and again we didn't listen and lost old family businesses. I hope your quilt shop is somehow protected because Walmart will not listen to you if they decide to pull the fabric section. Advice I wish I had listened to myself. Among other things we lost a rather large fabric and machine store, a small Viking dealer with high end fabrics and good notions and excellent lessons. About 5 years later Walmart pulled the, by then, crappy fabric department. I don't remember all the stores we lost but it was tragic, the down town is now gift and and antique stores. It still looks charming but it's artifice.
I suppose I am raining on your excitement. Sorry truely to do that. I did shop for a while at the one in my town, like everyone else and it was convenient to have everything in one place. I understand that, I am venting. Now I am old like those seniors who were warning us. What fabric of quality will we be able to lay our hands on if this continues. I know we can't support quilting stores alone, by ourselves but maybe there is some strategy we can take.Love Ginger
PS How about talking to the quilt store about their prices and mareting their advantages to the sewer? A thought.
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Ginger, a lot of the smaller stores can't compete with the large stores as manufacturers drop the prices a huge amount in order to sell quantity. The mum &dad stores can't buy the quantity and so pay higher prices. It happens all over the world........sigh.
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My father's store was ultimately put out of business by a K-Mart. Where people used to shop for quality, the big stores sometimes opt for low price, and people don't realize how sometimes a low price can cost you more in the end.
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We had a lovely quilt store here which closed several years ago. Turns out they still exist on the web and one of our better fabric stores now carries them. Really lovely fabric. All fabric has become pretty expensive, but if you're putting a lot of work into it you want it to last.
I'm using my old stash to try out new things. That way I have a new garment if it turns out and haven't spent any money (now) if it doesn't.
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When I visited the USA in 2011 I also visited a lot of quilting fabric stores.........I was amazed at how cheap your fabrics are. I pay anything from $20 - $30 Australian per meter. A meter measures 1 yard and 3 inches. I did but a few pieces but would have loved to buy a lot more.......lol
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Ladies - I hear your concerns.
However, our two locally-owned quilt shops have no worries from the newest Walmart coming in.
They have been in business for years and years now, and continue to carry the highest quality fabrics and offer personalized service. They are always busy, and sales are brisk, even in a down economy.
There are many experienced quilters who refuse to even consider Walmart fabrics, saying that they are inferior in every way. Well, if I turned out the heirloom quality quilts that they do, I wouldn't use anything but the best, either.
My point was that for me - a fumbling beginner - I can't affort the $15 per yard to make a queen-sized sampler quilt that I don't know if I will finish or not. Add up the cost of the fabric needed to complete all the blocks, and the batting, backing, and binding, and now we're up to almost $400. And taking it to someone who can professionally quilt it will add another $100 or so. NOT a cheap hobby!!!
I use the cheaper fabric to practice my blocks...and make projects that are assigned in class... like tote bags using fiberglass screen and fabric.... or placemats and kitchen items.
I'm sorry for the Mom-and-Pop stores that have been put out of business by large chains... which is why I try to buy local whenever I can.
It's just that the cheaper fabric I found allows me to afford a hobby I might not be able to do if I had to depend only on what the privately owned stores offered.
And, being a semi-beginner, I have no "stash" to speak of... I pretty much have to purchase fabric for every new project.
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Oh Blessings, you weren't a target of my rant. Walmarts business practices was. I am so sorry you felt you needed to explain yourself. I completely understand your point of view, I have been there myself.
An idea for very low cost fabric is local thrift or resale stores. They are sometimes the recipients of someones stash and can have amazing finds. You can even call and ask if they have fabric and save yourself a trip.
Again I apologize if I linked too closely to you and you felt bad. I didn't mean to hurt you in any way. I should be more careful if I am going to carry on about something that is a tangent from a topic.
Love Ginger
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I lost my business to a FabricLand store that opened up in my small town!! They carried fabric for $4/metre that at my local vendor were marked "Walmart Special"!!!! If you drove 5 minutes up the main street you would have reached a FabricLand in the next town!! WHY did they build so close to me??? The only solace I have is that after I closed down - so did they shortly after!!! ehhehehehe At least I made it 5 1/2 years.....
I don't wash my fabric as I do wall art. So the cheaper fabrics CAN work. I ask for specials when I go into a new quilt store. They are eager to show me what's on sale - otherwise I would have had no idea!! Stores often do "fat quarter" specials that they don't necessarily sign. Like instead of $4 each, they may do 4 for $12 or something. It's always worth asking. Regulars know the specials and are awarded them. New comers have to ask! Y'all know what fat quarters are...right?
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