March Newsletter - Correction
Happy Monday Quilting Friends!!
Sometimes my fingers are too fast on the key board and I make mistakes. Thanks to one of our readers, she alerted me that I made an error in the Tips & Tricks for the month. I'm reposting it here with the accurate 1 1/2" strip measurement, rather than 1 inch that was noted in Step 1.
Tips for Creating Accurate Seam Allowances:
In quilting, we use a seam allowance of ¼” unless the pattern directs otherwise. The standard when quilting is a ¼” seam allowance for your pieced blocks. This ensures your seams don’t pull apart when the top is being quilted or during washing.
How do you know if your seam allowance is truly ¼”?? Sometimes it is hard to gauge just looking at it.
Here is a quick method to check your accuracy--
1. Cut 3, 1 1/2 inch strips of fabric about 6 to 10 inches long.
2. Sew 2 of the strips together with what you think is a 1/4” seam allowance. Sometimes there are markings on your sewing machine. Some people use a piece of tape. We’ll call this Unit A.
3. Press the seam of Unit A to the left or right side (it doesn’t matter which.)
4. Sew the 3rd strip to a raw edge of Unit A using a ¼” seam allowance. We’ll call this piece Unit B.
5. Press the seam of Unit B in the same direction as Unit A.
6. Turn Unit B to the right side. Using your ruler, measure the center strip width. If your seam allowance is ¼” wide, the center strip width will measure exactly 1 inch.
7. If the measurement is more, or less, than 1 inch, repeat steps 1-6. But first adjust your needle, or marking tool (eg., painter’s tape mounted to your sewing machine), etc. to the left or right depending on what is needed to come closer to ¼”.
Happy Quilting!
Linda
Log Cabin Quilt’N Sew
703-586-3265