Quilts, Quips, and other Nearsighted Adventures

First thing let’s circle back to Felix Alexander.

Despite all the reassurances from Dr. Lori, Felix did not get better.  He was not fine.  He continued not eating.  His first trip to the vet (Banfield of Greensboro, South – do not go there ever—they are awful) was on a Tuesday.  By Thursday he still had not eaten anything.  We were back to see Dr. Lori.  I was offered a new kind of food and an appetite stimulant.  I was cautioned if he still had not started eating, we needed an X-ray.  Friday he was a wee bit better, but still not eating.  Saturday evening he began crying in pain.  Sunday morning I was back on the phone with Dr. Lori and her office manager scheduled an X-ray at 11.  We were there on time.  His carrier was bagged and tagged for X-ray, and I was ushered into an exam room to wait for the doctor.  A few minutes later the vet tech came in and the first words out of her mouth were these:

“I have some bad news for you.”

Well it doesn’t take too many brain cells to figure out where my mind went.  Then she stated their X-ray machine had been down since Saturday.  And no one thought to tell me this BEFORE   I made the appointment? 

From there because Banfield’s ineptitude I had to go across town to Carolina Emergency Services.  First words out of their vet’s mouth were “Why wasn’t an X-ray done at the first appointment?”

Seriously.

Two sets of X-rays, blood and urine analysis, and an ultrasound scan later, we did find that Felix had eaten something.  And that something was lodged in the tiny space of a cat’s gut where the small intestines and large intestines meet.  The object was the perfect size to completely plug up that tiny space and that’s what was causing him so much pain.  It would need to be surgically removed.  Carolina Emergency Services’ surgery was booked, but they so, so, so helpfully found us another surgeon.  Enter Dr. Wendi Wells of the Animal Care Clinic of Rural Hall North Carolina.  She was waiting on us when we arrived with Felix on Tuesday – a full week after this saga began.  After a brief consultation, Felix was on his way to have the object removed.  He sailed through the surgery, recovered from the anesthesia and immediately perked back up to be his bright-eyed and bushy tailed best cat ever self.  He stayed over night is now currently residing in a large dog crate in my bedroom.  He has to stay confined and quiet and in the Cone of Shame for eight to ten days.  He hates that cone so much that I searched for alternative things to keep him from licking his stitches.  Amazon has this:

So I ordered a couple of them. 

He’s eating normally and is on really good pain meds for the next three days.   He’s high as a kite and living his best life.

Oh, and the object that was causing so much discomfort?  It was this:

As soon as I saw it, I figured out the mystery.  This is one of those wooden caps that fit over top of an exposed inset screw in some furniture.  One had fallen out of our kitchen chair.  It is the exact size and color of the Temptations Cat Treats we feed him.  He probably thought it was one and by the time he figured out it wasn’t, it was too late. 

Now the question is, will he eat those treats again?

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It has been a while since I wrote a blog about the history of a quilt or quilt block.  This week, I want to talk about this lovely block which makes a lovely quilt:

The Seven Sisters

This is a lovely block with set-in seams and one you would probably use templates for cutting everything out.  Yes, this is one of those labor-intensive quilts, but it has a cloudy history which can be cleared up if you believe it has references to either the Civil War or Greek mythology.  Let’s start with the Civil War first.

Nearly 164 years ago, South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas seceded from the Union.  If you’re counting, that’s seven states which initially formed the Confederacy.  One of the first tasks this new union undertook was the design of a flag. 

The flag was similar to the Union Flag (what we know as the American flag), but the blue field held only seven stars.  The seven gold stars on a dark blue field of fabric looks almost identical to the Seven Sisters block. 

The gold stars on the blue background did not confine themselves only to flags.  The Seven Sisters-type block found its way onto women’s clothing and aprons, giving Southern women the chance to show their loyalty to the Confederacy even when their town may be occupied by the Union Army.  Most (if not all) of these Seven Sister-type blocks were appliqued, not pieced, most likely because it was easier and faster.  It wasn’t until the late nineteenth century that a pieced Seven Sisters block was designed. 

Just for fun let’s muddy the waters just a bit more – also during this time it was called Seven Stars, Seven Bright Lights, and Viriginia Pride.

Now let’s consider the Seven Sisters and the Greek mythology angle.  Some quilt historians believe the Seven Sisters quilt blocks refers to the Pleiades star cluster in Greek mythology, which is composed of seven visible stars, further supporting the connection to the star-shaped pattern. Pleiades, in Greek mythology, are the seven daughters of the Titan Atlas and the Oceanid Pleione: Maia, Electra, Taygete, Celaeno, Alcyone, Sterope, and Merope. They all had children by gods (except Merope, who married Sisyphus).

The Pleiades eventually formed a constellation. One myth recounts that they all killed themselves out of grief over the death of their sisters, the Hyades. Another explains that after seven years of being pursued by Orion, a Boeotian giant, they were turned into stars by Zeus. Orion became a constellation, too, and continued to pursue the sisters across the sky. The faintest star of the Pleiades was thought to be either Merope, who was ashamed of loving a mortal, or Electra, grieving for Troy, the city of Dardanus, her son with Zeus.

Since Greek mythology was studied and read during the nineteenth century, this version of the Seven Sisters is just as viable as the Confederate Flag theory.  Both quilters and non-quilters alike knew the story of the Pleiades and quilters could have easily designed a quilt block representing the story.

So which theory is correct?  Well, let’s not reach that conclusion until we research the block a bit more, and this time we’ll work with the name.  My Electric Quilt program (which also has Barbara Brackman’s Block Base) lists six blocks which go by the name “Seven Sisters” but for the sake of this blog we’ll only look at three – the other three blocks look nothing like the traditional Seven Sisters block.

This block:

Is not only known as Seven Sisters, but also Seven Stars (1989) and Seven Stars in a Cluster (Cappers Weekly, 1928).

This Seven Sister Block

Was christened with that name by Carrie Hall.

And this block

Is not only known as Seven Sisters, but also Spinning Spools (1990). 

Naming quilt blocks isn’t exact or uniform.  There was never a group of quilters who came together and decided on uniform names for all the blocks.  Unlike biology where you have sets and subset names which are consistently used throughout the scientific world, quilt block names are a verbal free-for-all.  One block can carry several names depending on the part of the world you’re at or the particular time period you’re in.  So for as much as this block is known as Seven Sisters, it actually wasn’t called that uniformly (more or less) until after the 1930’s.  The earliest reference this block has to the name we’re familiar with is in 1890 when The Ladies Art Company of St. Louis used the Seven Sisters tag in their early catalogs.

  By the 1930’s, Ruby McKim called the block Seven Sisters, and so did Eveline Foland when she sketched it for the Kansas City Star in 1930.  In 1935 Carrie Hall called it Seven Stars and wrote that the design offered “many possibilities and makes a very attractive quilt.”  However, in 1933, Nancy Page gave the block two names – Seven Sisters or Seven Great Lights. 

Needless to say, the name Seven Great Lights didn’t stick. 

One of the earliest references to the name Seven Sisters was in a March 13, 1933, Chicago Tribune article written by Nancy Page.  Page not only referred to the block as Seven Sisters, but also Seven Stars and Virginia Pride in honor of the seven lovely daughters of the old Virginia Fowler Family.  Which makes me wonder who were the Fowler Sisters and how did they rank getting their name on a quilt block?

So many names for seven stars set in a block.  However, in all my research (which I admit this week was limited due to my cat and his medical experience), I could find no link to either the Civil War or the Pleiades.  And the 1930’s were less than 100 years removed from the Civil War.  It does seem if there was some kind of link between the Confederate Flag and this block, someone somewhere would have left some kind of reference.  Or better yet actually remember it themselves.  So do I think the Seven Sisters block was influenced by the Confederate Flag?

Nope.

Do I think it was influenced by Pleiades?

Possibly. I think this idea has better footing than the flag.

What do you think?  Let me know!

Until Next Week,

Love and Stitches,

Sherri and the recovering Felix

Let’s have a word about Felix.

First a little back story.  Before Felix, I had Sam.  I had Sam the Cat for a little over 22 years.  From the inception of this blog, I signed off, Love and Stitches Sherri and Sam. 

At first it was almost a running joke with some of my readers.  If I taught a class or met up with other quilters who read my blog, they always asked about Sam and what he was up to.  Sam was smart.  I don’t care where I was, if I was at home when the clock hit 9 p.m., he would find me.  It was couch time.  TV, yogurt, and bed.  That was our routine.  In June 2021, the gray furball broke my heart by going over the Rainbow Bridge. 

You don’t easily get over the death of a companion of 22 years.  You just don’t.

Tired of seeing me moping for over a year, in November 2024, the hubs bought me Felix.  Felix is a rescue cat.  His mother was hit by a car when he and his two brothers were two days old.  A rescue team took in the babies and bottle fed them.  When they were old enough to be socialized, they were moved to a rescue in Trinity, NC.  The lady who ran the rescue had Felix and his two brothers at Pet Smart in High Point the very day I happened to be looking for a cat.  Two of the brothers were short-hair domestics.  Felix was a furball.  The two short-haired cats were bonded.  Felix was a free agent.  He did understand the assignment, though.  He either stayed in my lap or by my side during the entire interview. 

There really wasn’t a lot to discuss.  I paid the fee.  After the background check on me, the rescue team delivered the cat to my house the next day.  “The cat” was actually named Batman then.  The grand girls said he looked like a Felix.  So Felix it was.

Felix is smart.  Way smarter than any other cat I’ve owned.  He can open any door in the house.  He can turn on the water in the bathroom sinks.  He’s learned to flip the wall switches for the overhead lights and turn them on.  For a week we went through being abruptly awakened out of dead sleep by bright lights.

Two months later, he learned how to turn them off.

He’s a treat-begging, Churro-chugging sweetheart who currently can’t stand the sight of me.  Why?  Because I broke cat-code.

I took him to the vet.

For those of you who are currently worried about the state of his vaccinations, no, he’s had those, but he was so young he doesn’t remember them.  Nor the short overnight stay he had at the cat hospital to correct a small issue when he was about 10 months old.  However, Tuesday he began throwing up.  Not hairball throw up (for those of you with no cat experience, hairballs are a very distinctive kind of sick).  After cleaning up the fourth mess, I decided a trip to the vet was in order.  So one phone call and forty-five minutes later, he was in his blinged out carrier on his way to see Dr. Lori. 

One urinalysis, three blood draws, and a few tests later, the result was he seemed to have eaten something that disagreed with him.  We have no idea what, but something did.  Felix was given his rabies and feline leukemia boosters as well as an injection for nausea and sent home.  He still doesn’t have a great deal of appetite, and is resting in places just out of my reach. 

And when he does make eye contact with me, he’s all kinds of grumpy. 

His tests came back fine, he’s fine, no temperature, and according to Dr. Lori, he should be fully fine in a few days.  Meanwhile, His Royal Highness, Sir Mr. December of the 2025 Pawprint Calendar, Lord of the 300-piece Pawprint jigsaw puzzle, is sulking just a bit while he’s recuperating.   

Lord help me if his eyes could shoot lasers.  I’d be in trouble.

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The rest of this blog concerns a topic a reader suggested:  How to mark your quilts and when to mark them, and what do you use to mark your quilt top for quilting.  This is one of those topics which concerns both long armers and domestic machine quilters, although I do tend to mark the quilts intended for my M7 more than I do my long arm, because I use quite a few pantograms  for my long arm quilting.  Pantograms are designs printed on long sheets of paper.  You tape these down on the “back shelf” of the quilting machine, and use a laser attached to the head to “trace” the design.  While this is done from the back of the long arm, the needle in the front of the machine is quilting the pantogram design.  Thus little to no need for marking.  However, if I am freehand quilting or using rulers, I do tend to mark those quilts destined for the long arm. 

When to Mark Your Quilt

Ah….at this point, we’re on the downhill slide.  We’ve carefully pieced or appliqued or pieced and appliqued our quilt.  The corners match.  The quilt is square.  The applique is sumptuous.  Now all we need to do is sandwich it and quilt it. 

It is super easy to go super fast at this point.  After all those weeks (or months….or years, but no one here’s judging), our quilt top is finally done and we’re anxious to get to the quilting part so we can move to the binding and labeling part.  But let me caution you to slow down just a minute or two.  Unless you know exactly how you are quilting your quilt, let’s just pause for a while.  Think about your quilting plan.  Ideally, you have some kind of idea in mind when you begin making your quilt (most quilters get better with this the longer they quilt).  The quilting process is the final flourish you can put on your top.  Decisions have to be made about design and thread.  Sometimes this is easy.  If the quilt is a play quilt, cuddle quilt, or a charity quilt, a simple all over design (such as an all-over crosshatch) may be perfect.  But if you want a little more “Ooomph” some decisions must be made.  This is why pausing for a bit is a good idea.  You can look through Pinterest or Google images or any of the countless quilt magazines and books to get an idea of how to quilt it.  You can search through your stack of stencils to see if anything is appropriate.  But I have found that (unless you have a definite quilting plan) jumping right into the quilting process is usually a mistake.  Take the time to think about what you want to do. 

I can tell you how I go through the process.  This works for me.  You may find something else that works better for you.  I lay my quilt top out somewhere I can look at thoroughly, from top to bottom and left to right.  I’m looking for several things:

1.  If the block has a lot of tiny pieces, can I outline them and move to the next block?
2. Are there ways I can keep moving from one block to the next without breaking thread, unless I want to change color?  Zone of Truth here – I think changing thread is easier on a domestic machine than a long arm. 
3. What would be a good “filler” motif?  This is important, especially in applique quilts where the background needs to fade, and the applique takes center stage.  Personally I like a micro-meander, but you may find something else works better for you.
4. If you like feathers and enjoy quilting them, now is a good time to see if you can work those into blocks or borders.  I’m not a huge fan of feathers, so I keep a few other motifs up my sleeve, but I know many quilters are feather aficionados. 

After I’ve made some decisions, I try them out by tracing the designs on my quilt with my finger to make sure they will travel well, and I can minimize backtracking.  If I’m not sure, I pull this out of my kitchen cabinet:

I love Press and Seal for a myriad of reasons, mostly concerning food.  However, it also works well in your quilt room.  I pull off some Press and Seal and press it over a few quilt blocks, overlapping the edges if needed. Then I grab my water-soluble marking pen (just in case I do get ink marks on the top I can easily rinse them out) and draw the quilting design on the Press and Seal.  This gives me a visual and a real feel for how the quilting will work. If it doesn’t work, I just remove that sheet of Press and Seal, replace it with a new one and try again.  I have also quilted directly on the Press and Seal if I needed some extra time to get used to the motif.  It’s a bit tricky to remove the Press and Seal from your quilt, but I have found a lint roller works great to get the tiny pieces off, once you’ve removed the larger ones.

Once I’m fairly certain I have decided on how to quilt the quilt, I back away from it for 24 hours.  I need this mental space.  If, after this time, I’m still good with the design, we’re off to the machine to quilt. 

If the quilt is a type of sampler quilt and each block is a bit different from the next one, my favorite approach is to use a copy machine.  I copy each block and then lay the paper blocks out in order.  I use a pencil or Frixion pen – some kind of writing instrument that I can erase if I make a mistake – to plan out the quilt design for  each block before I mark my quilt.  I’m not going to lie.  This is a time-consuming approach, but it works for two reasons.  First, by the time you’ve decided on your quilting, you’ve traced and re-traced the design, so your arm and hands have muscle memory.  This will definitely help you when you’re quilting.  Secondly, you always have a visual to refer to if anything goes sideways while you’re quilting.  I absolutely do not do this with every quilt, but it really helps with the “special” ones.

With any three of these approaches, the one consistent thing which follows through with each of them is this:  I mark my quilt top before I sandwich it.  Once batting and backing are added, you have soft surface that’s difficult to draw straight lines on, copy the blocks, or manipulate the motif in any way.  I know quilters who mark their quilt after it’s sandwiched, but I find it’s a lot easier to mark it before it’s layered with batting and backing.

What Do I Use to Mark My Quilt Top?

The list here is long, and your personal favorite is a personal decision.  I’ve tried all of these, and they all work well.  I usually use a different marking tool for my quilts I plan to put on my long arm, but there are a couple of crossovers.  No matter what marking tool you use and no matter if you’re quilting on a long arm or domestic machine, you’re looking for marking tools which:

• Will leave clear, distinct marks that are easy to see
• Are easy to use
• Shows up on light, medium, and dark fabrics
• Are safe to iron over without setting the marks or making the marks disappear before you’re ready for them to disappear
• Are easy to remove
• Leave little-to-no residue
• Will not return when there’s a change in temperature or humidity or exposure to sunlight

So, without further ado, here’s my list.  Granted, I realized there are hundreds of additional marking tools out there, but these are in my personal arsenal.

• Painters Tape – Strips of painters tape place across the quilt sandwich are a great way to perform straight line quilting – crosshatch, diamonds, hanging diamonds, or a grid – painters tape make a great reference guide.  The strips can be repositioned more than once before they lose their “stickiness,” and have to be discarded.  Two words caution:  First I recommend only painters tape because it will not leave the residue that scotch or masking tape will.  Second, personally I think this technique works best on smaller quilts. The great thing about painters tape is it comes in several different widths and can be found at hardware stores, Walmart, drug stores…just about anywhere.   I do not use this method with my long arm. 

• Hera Marker – This is a Hera marker:

When you press the marker against your quilt top, it will form a crease as a mark.  You simply quilt over the crease.  The quilting process will eliminate most of the crease and a good press with an iron will get rid of the rest.  I have used Hera Markers throughout my quilting history and like them.  I’ve never had an issue getting rid of the creases.  I have found the creases are a bit difficult to see on darker fabrics.  However, as I’ve gotten older and am now dealing with cataracts, I also have some trouble seeing the creases on light fabric!  I have had better luck using a Hera while quilting on a domestic machine verses a long arm. They are also a little tricky to use when marking sharp curves or circles.  Let me also add I understand you can use a dull butter knife in place of a Hera Marker, but I have never tried that myself.

• Finally! Silver Marking Pencil — Bucklebee’s Finally! Pencils are the result of years of searching for a fabric marking pencil that is truly removable. The pigment is completely water soluble, and disappears with a spritz of water and your fingers, or a damp cloth. There’s no wax to leave a mark after ironing, either! Laundering will also remove the marks. The silver marks show up best on dark or light fabrics. You’ll get two pencils in a protective plastic case—keep them in the case to protect them from humidity. Quick tip: Pop the pencils in the fridge for a few minutes before sharpening for a perfect point.  I  have successfully used this pencil on quilts for both the long arm and domestic machine.

• Clover Pen-Style Chaco Liner or Regular Chaco Liner – I prefer the pen because it seems to be easier to control and get a more definite line with, however, both are really great.  The liners come in white, blue, pink, and yellow.  There is some discussion about the ease of removal with these, but I haven’t had any issues.  I especially love to use the white liners on dark fabrics for the quilts I put on my long arm.  My long arm has a black light and the white chalk marks under the black light really stand out.  I tend to stay away from any type of yellow markers – I’ve always had issues with the yellow ones being difficult to completely remove.

• Soapstone – This handy-dandy natural mineral pencil can be found in hardware stores and at Amazon.  If you really like soapstone, you can buy it in bulk for under $10.  It can be easily sharpened.

• Tailor’s Chalk with No Wax – While wax can help you sharpen the Tailor’s Chalk to a sharp point, it will leave a residue on your quilt top.

• Chalk – Regular, school-grade, what-we-used-to-use-in-the-classroom-before-white-boards kind.  Use a piece of sandpaper or a fingernail file to make a point on one end and mark away.  This is actually one of my favorite marking tools.  It brushes away completely, works awesomely beneath the black light on my long arm, and each stick of chalk is nearly completely consumable.  If it crumbles, simply resharpen it and keep moving. 

• Ticonderoga #2 Pencil – This tool is kind of like chalk.  We associate with elementary school and maybe never dreamed about what an awesome quilting tool it would grow up to be.  I like this brand of pencil better than any mechanical pencil (including those made for quilters).  The lead doesn’t break easily, and it leaves a dark enough mark you can see it clearly but does wash out cleanly.  Just be careful not to iron over it.

• Ultimate Marking Pencil for Quilters and Crafters – This is a quilter’s mechanical pencil which refills with washable graphite.  I have used this pencil a lot with applique and it works well, but the lead does break easily. 

• Bohin mechanical pencil, white chalk –This has been one of my go-to fabric markers for years for dark material.  It works well and if you want to use a stencil to mark your quilts, but dislike using chalk, try this pencil. It has a super-thin lead (.9) so it can get into all those narrow places on a stencil.

• Sewline mechanical pencil, white ceramic – This is another quilter’s mechanical pencil, except instead of lead, it writes with ceramics.  It does offer sharp, clear drawing lines and it has an eraser at the top which is retractable.  This pencil comes with gray, white, green, or pink refills as well as refills for the eraser.  It has a cushioned tip to keep the “lead” from breaking under pressure.  Lines are removed by a damp towel or sponge or by using the eraser.  Don’t iron over the marks, or they will set. 

• Roxanne Quilters Choice Marking Pencils, Silver and White – First, let me state that I love Roxanne products.  They are Ph based, so they will do minimal (if any) damage to any part of your quilt.  These chalk pencils glide smoothly and evenly across fabrics without crumbling, leaving fine visible lines to guide your quilting stitches. They do not contain waxes, dyes or harmful chemicals. 

• Water Soluble Pen – This may be the marking tool most familiar to my readers.  Lots of folks manufacture these pens, but my personal favorite brands are Mr. Pen and Clover.  You simply mark what you want on your quilt, quilt it, and the marks come off when you rinse your quilt or spritz it with water and use a damp cloth on the marks.  A couple of things to keep in mind with this marker.  First,  the marks do fade over time.  I marked a quilt top with one of these markers, life happened, and I didn’t return to the quilt for a year.  The marks had faded.  They were slightly visible, but you really had to squint to see them.  Second, don’t press them with an iron.  That heat sets them, and you’ll never get them completely out.  Also be careful what type you order.  Fine line is not the same as extra fine or ultra fine.  Since a water-soluble marker is really a type of magic marker, the ink does spread a bit as you mark, so you may want an extra fine tip.

As you’re considering which marker to use, let’s enter Sherri’s Zone of Truth and let’s talk about our age.  I am 63 at this moment, and I’ll admit my 63-year-old eyes are not the same as my 30-something eyes were.  I need darker lines and the product to work accurately.  So as you’re making marking tool decisions, you will probably want to consider the following:

1.  How dark do I need my lines to be, and can the marking tool stand up to the pressure I put on them to get darker lines without crumbling?
2. Have my fabrics been prewashed?  Sometimes the finishes put on fabrics prevent the marking tools from working the way they need to.
3. How your climate may affect your marking tools.  Are you in a humid/wet/hot climate?  If so, you may find your water-soluble pen marks disappearing.
4. Is your water chemically treated?  That can make a difference in removing marks.
5. Think about your laundry detergent.  If it contains brighteners and color-fast bleach, this may affect the way your quilt top dispels the marks.   

How Do I Decide What Quilt Motifs to Use? 

The answers to this question are many and entirely personal.  I can offer some helpful hints, but the answers may change according to the quilt and according to your mood. 

I really like quilt patterns which suggest quilting options.  Those save a great deal of time and mental energy.  You may not like all of the motif, but may be happy with parts of it.  Quilt magazines in general have gotten really good about offering suggestions with most of their patterns, so if you don’t like the motif chosen for your particular quilt, you have others to chose from.  However, still the majority of our quilt patterns offer these three dreaded words:  Quilt as desired.  How do we know what we desire?  Like I said, I can offer some suggestions, but the final decisions are up to you.

Scenario One

The Fabric or Piecing is the Focal Part of the Quilt

If this is the case for me, I generally go for an all-over, easy design, such as a crosshatch or meander with a lightweight thread. If I’m quilting on my long arm, I use an edge-to-edge design. This allows either the fabric or piecing (or both) to take center stage.

Scenario Two

The Design of the Quilt is the Focus

For example, let’s say the quilt top is comprised of star blocks.  I would either try quilting stars all over the quilt or echo quilting the star blocks themselves and carrying that out into the sashing and borders. 

Scenario Three

The Quilt is an Applique Quilt

To me, this is the most fun quilt to quilt.  Typically I outline my applique with either a monofilament or a very lightweight polyester thread.  With applique quilts, you want that applique to stand out, so once it’s outlined you can make the decision to echo quilt around it again or proceed to the background.  You really want the background to recede as much as possible, so an overall meander, swirls, crosshatch (or something similar) is used in the background. 

There are hundreds of sources for how to quilt your quilt out there.   Angela Walters has an excellent website and YouTube videos, and I really recommend her, especially for beginners.  But before closing, I will tell you this about quilting your own quilts:

•  It makes you a better quilter.  Suddenly all that emphasis I put on squaring up your blocks and your quilt will make a lot more sense, as well as how to press. 
• Practice.  Practice.  And practice some more.  Get used to dropping your feed dogs and stitching.  Get used to manipulating the bulk of the quilt in your machine’s throat.  Make a stack of small practice quilt sandwiches and keep them near your machine.  A couple of times a week, quilt on them.  Draw a quilt block out and decide how to quilt it.  Try meandering and free hand.  And this is a GREAT use for leftover or orphan quilt blocks.
• The longer you quilt, not only the better you’ll get at it, but you’ll also discover certain motifs are your favorites.  You may find out you like quilting half-square triangles a certain way, so much that the motif literally flows from your fingers when your come to a HST.  Pinwheels may be the same way, and four patches.  I have discovered that I have a couple of favorite quilt pathways for basic block units and they’re generally my go-to.
• Study the way other quilters quilt their quilts.  This is a great way to get new ideas.
• I don’t often recommend books, but there are three I think quilters need in their library if they plan to quilt any of their own quilts:
• The Ultimate Guild to Free Motion Quilting by Angela Walters
• Quilting Dot-to-Dot Patterns for Today’s Machine Quilter by Cheryl Barnes
• The Grid Design Workbook by Cindy Seitz-Krug

I hope this blog has given you a bit more confidence and good information about how to quilt your own quilts.  I promise you’ll have fun with this process.  Even if you “quilt by checkbook” (have someone else quilt your quilts), some of this information is good to know.   When you discuss with your longarm quilter about the quilting design for your quilt, it’s good to have some idea of how and what you want. 

Until Next Week,

Love and Stitches,

Sherri and Felix

Zone of Truth right here, right now…

I’m not going to do this topic justice. 

Yup.  That’s right.  Because technically, all fabric can be applique fabric.  Any fabric.  Silks.  Satins.  Fleece.  Lace.  Applique is the unifying quilting technique which brings all fabric under the quilting umbrella.  Unlike piecing, where the quilter is strategically positioning lights, mediums, and darks for the best results, the applique quilter is going for effect – what fabric will give the best representation of what I am trying to convey?  So applique is a wide-open field for all fabrics.  The trick is knowing how to handle them and what fusible to use (if you’re machine appliqueing). 

But before we delve into what makes good applique fabric, I’d like to stress four points:

• Be well-versed in your fusible webbing.  And by this, it’s not just what fusible you like better than another.  If I had my way, I’d use Soft Fuse for almost everything I machine applique.  But it’s not always the best fusible webbing.  If a fabric such as canvas or denim is used, a fusible with a heavier adhesive (such as regular Heat-n-Bond) may be needed.  Likewise, if you want to add lace to your applique, it’s good to know that Misty Fuse has an ultraviolet fusible that completely disappears to the naked eye and is great to use with lace or netting.  However, it’s also good to know that Misty Fuse handles differently than any other fusible and is a bit time consuming, but worth the effort. 
• Batiks work for machine and hand applique, but each technique requires different handling. If you go here:  https://sherriquiltsalot.com/2022/01/12/sewing-with-batiks/ you’ll learn that batiks are processed differently from standard quilting cottons.  Batiks are constantly introduced to a wet environment and then dried.  So by the time you get them home and add them to your projects, the Batiks have a really tight weave because of the shrinkage.  This makes them the ideal candidate for raw-edge applique.  That tight weave prevents nearly all fraying.  

However, also because of the manufacturing processes, Batiks can feel stiff, which makes them difficult to hand applique or use for prepared edge machine applique.  But if you wash them in hot water and allow them to air dry before using, the fabric takes on a silky feel, and makes them ideal for hand or prepared edge machine applique.  Not all batiks need this treatment, but for those particularly stiff ones, a little time in some hot water may allow you to use them as needed.

•  Re-think pre-washing. I’ve admitted in the past  I’m primarily a pre-washer.  Fabric comes into my home, and it’s washed, ironed, and stored.  Through the years of teaching and talking with other quilters, I feel as if I’m in the minority.  But there is a time if you’re not a pre-washer, you may want to change gears and throw the fabric in the washing machine – and that’s if you plan on using machine applique.  And the reason behind this is not shrinkage or color fastness or any of the other reasons I prewash.  In the machine applique realm it has to do with the finish on the fabric.  Sometimes the finish on the fabric keeps the fusible from completely adhering to the wrong side of the fabric.  I’m dealing with this now.  I’m machine appliqueing the cutest Jack O’Lanterns, but since the project is a kit, I didn’t pre-wash any of the fabric. I’m having a really difficult time getting the Heat-n-Bond Light to work.  The eyes and noses and mouths are sliding everywhere.  Oy-vey!

If you are like me and are an avid pre-washer, there is one time you may want to avoid it and that’s for the background of a hand applique project.  After the applique square or project is complete, then immerse it in water and allow it to dry.  The background fabric will shrink slightly and pull those tiny hand stitches just a bit tighter under the applique fabric, rendering almost invisible. 

•  Choosing good applique fabrics takes time as you develop an “eye” for it.  This is one of those quilting things which can’t be taught, but you develop over time.  Applique quilters “see” fabric differently than quilters who primarily piece.  For instance, I rarely use solids in my applique.  They do appear in my pieced quilts, but not my applique because to me they appear “flat.”  Objects – whether they’re flowers, animals, trees, or whatever – have lights and darks, sunshine and shadow.  Solid fabrics don’t.  The fabric I use in applique usually has some kind of print or mottling to them.  Over time, you begin to see fabric in a very different way.  Suddenly even the ugliest fabric has potential.  Take for instance this fabric:

This is definitely not my favorite piece of fabric and if I were piecing a quilt, this fabric would be completely overlooked.  But you know what this would be good for?

A bird’s wing.

Looking at fabric this way takes time, experience, and practice.  A good way to practice this would be to look at your own stash and see what objects it could work for. Or Google ugly fabric swatches and pull up those images (yes, this is a thing) and think how those swatches would work for applique.

The Pros and Cons of Applique Fabric

Let’s talk about the good things about applique fabric first. 

• All fabric and most scraps have potential.  Even the ugly ones.
• Most of the time, you only need bits of fabric to do applique.
• The sales shelf at your local quilt store will have enormous possibilities.

Now let’s talk about the not-so-good things about applique fabric.

• All fabric and most scraps have potential.  Even the ugly ones.
• Most of the time, you only need bits of fabric to do applique.
• The sales shelf at your local quilt store will have enormous possibilities.

That’s right.  The pros and the cons are the same.  All of this wonderful fabric that manufacturers make has immense potential, we only need “bits and bobs” of it, and even that ugly-hasn’t-sold-in-years fabric at our LQS has promise.  Which means we can easily overwhelm our stash with fabric to the point we don’t know what we have and what we need.

So what should we do? 

It’s impossible for me – or anyone else – to give you a list of what applique fabric you need.  Most of it depends on what you like to applique.  My applique quilts tend to be flowery (if you can’t grow ‘em, sew ‘em – that’s my motto).  For this reason, I have a rainbow of fabric colors for any type of flower my heart desires, lots of yellows for flower centers, and a seemingly endless array of greens for leaves and stems.  However, if landscapes or seascapes were my applique of choice, I’d have fabric which could pass as wood, stone, or brick texture.  I’d need blues, grays, and blue-greens for water.  Light blues for skies, whites and grays for clouds, and even more greens for grass.

Your favorite applique subject essentially chooses what fabrics you have in your stash. 

It’s also important to remember that items – living, such as flowers, and non-living, such as buildings – aren’t all one solid color.  As light hits the object, the colors change.  The area where light hits directly is lighter than the other areas.  The places furthest from the light source are the darkest.  Flowers higher up on a stem are lighter than those closer to the bottom.  So, let’s put this into perspective.

Let’s say I want to applique a purple coneflower.  From past observations, I know purple coneflowers aren’t colors of solid purple.  Coneflowers have petals with streaks of color and a large center.  I set aside my solid purple fabric and begin to look for purples with splotches or streaks of color in them.

This will work for those petals closest to the front viewing area (those nearest the light source).  Those behind will need to be a bit darker, so I find this:

Now for the center.  Coneflower centers can be brown, green, or pink, with brown being the color center we’re most familiar with.  And the center is kind of fuzzy, not a solid ball, with the brown speckled with flecks of yellow and orange.  The search for a brown fabric should include those browns which are mottled with other colors.

Applique Fabric Tools

I would like to introduce you to a couple of tools which may help you as you choose your fabric.  The first is a template.  Take a piece of paper, mylar, or cardboard and trace the shape you want to find fabric for.  Then cut the shape out, leaving the paper, mylar, or cardboard intact, so you have a negative of the object, like this.

Take the negative and place it on the fabrics being considered.  This negative will help you in your search for the best fabrics for flowers, bricks, stones, etc.

The second tool is this:

A flower catalog.  Since most applique patterns are overwhelmingly floral, a seed, bulb, or flower catalog is very helpful in your flower study.  There are closeups of the petals, centers, and leaves, giving you lots of hints about what colors can be used and how and where they change from light to dark.

As a matter of fact, magazines or Google images are great places to start your fabric search, no matter what you want to applique.  If it’s buildings, an Architectural  Digest would probably be a great help.  And nothing beats going for a drive or a walk with the camera on your phone ready to take pictures of what’s tickling your applique itch. 

Once the applique fabrics are chosen, it’s important that the background fabrics support the applique fabrics well.  Personally, I even like applique fabrics with a small tone-on-tone print – they’re just more interesting than a solid piece of fabric.  What you want to look for is a background fabric that enhances your applique.  Backgrounds can be colors other than white or ecru.  I love to use black as a background fabric (even though it’s hard on the eyes when you sew), but if I do this, I need to make sure the applique fabrics are bright and bold.  Pastels may “washout” with a dark background.  Audition your background fabric just as thoroughly as you do your applique fabric. 

Before I close out this blog, I would like to leave you with a few additional applique tricks I’ve learned from almost forty years of loving and using the  art:

•  Notice where you place the light source.

By this I mean, where’s angle the sunshine/lamp shines from?  If it’s on the left side of the image, that side will be lighter than the right side.  And keep the light angle in mind as you work on the right side of the image – that side will be just a shade or two darker than the left.

•  Buds, new fruit, and new leaves will be lighter than their adult counterparts.
• Need a light fabric and can’t find one that works with the fabrics you already have?  Audition the wrong side of the fabric.  Hey, I’ve pulled this trick lots of times, and the wrong side of the fabric has met a lighter fabric need more than once and did it well.  You pay for both sides of the fabric – use them.

• Don’t be afraid to fussy cut your fabric.  This is especially true for those print fabrics you’re not sure exactly what to do with.  For instance, this is a piece of Tula Pink fabric.  I love her designs – they’re whimsical and bright and many times you’ll unexpectedly find an animal image staring back at you.  The pink of this fabric drew me to it, but the elephants caught and held my attention.  I wasn’t quite sure what I’d use this fabric for, but over time I discovered those elephant ears made wonderful flower petals.  What’s left of this fabric now resembles Swiss Cheese because I’ve fussy cut nearly the entire three yards.

• Broidery Perse is always a valid option.  Want a floral bouquet of appliqued roses but don’t want to go through the fuss?  Find a rosy floral, fussy cut out the roses you want, then applique the roses into your bouquet.  It’s beautiful and it’s a lot easier than navigating all those rose petals.

In so many ways, this blog is only scratching the surface of what can be used for applique fabrics.  Developing an “eye” for what would work best takes time and practice and…mistakes.  Give yourself time.  Don’t be afraid to consider fabrics you normally wouldn’t give a second glance at.  Think outside the box.  You’ll only be limited by the boundaries of your imagination.

Love and Stitches,

Sherri and Felix

When we left last week’s blog, I had just given you a list of quilting tools I think merit having a second look at for this year, as well as a few others which are new to the quilt studio.  This week, I want to give you some ideas about what to look for when you shop for quilting notions and tools and how not to be taken in by the “knock offs.”

As I’m writing this, I’m taking for granted a few things.  First, we want to pay for quality notions and tools.  Unless they’re something consumable, such as freezer paper, we don’t want to keep re-buying seam rippers and stilettoes and such on a monthly basis.  However, we also don’t want to overpay, either.  And since the average quilter is somewhere around 65, we also want notions and tools which are easy to use and easy on the joints.  They should seamlessly into our quilting routines.

It Matters What It’s Made From

When purchasing quilting tools, it’s important to evaluate the material quality of the tool because good quality quilting tools work to greatly enhance your quilting experience.  Poor quality tools can make your sewing time miserable.  When searching for cutting tools, pay attention to what the blades are made of.  High-grade stainless steel or titanium carbide guarantee scissors and rotary cutters stay sharper longer, and will cut cleanly and effortlessly through several fabric thicknesses.  They also will have the durability needed for long quilting sessions.  Natural materials, such as hardwood, are also worth noting.  They provide a sturdy, but lightweight option, improving handling and precision.  Stilettos and pressing tools made from hardwoods are great, long-lasting options.

If the notion or tool you’re purchasing is made from plastic, go for the high-quality ones.  A self-healing cutting mat may be a bit expensive, but you won’t need to replace it for several years.  Rulers can be a bit of a tossup.  Personally, I like the clear acrylic for both cutting and measuring and quilting.  However, there is a fair share of opaque rulers purchased.  As long as they are thick and the measurements are clearly stamped on them, either is a good choice.

Pressing areas received an upgrade with the introduction of felted wool pressing mats.  These retain heat beautifully, allow you to press multiple fabric layers efficiently, and produce a smoother fabric.  If you need to replace your ironing board cover or simply want to upgrade that small pressing area near your seeing machine, a wool cover or mat is well worth the investment. 

There Should Never Be a “One-Trick” Pony in Your Studio

This one may be a bit personal, but in my quilting world, there’s only one uni-tasker in the room:

If you’re paying good money for quality tools and notions, they should perform more than just one job.  A rotary cutter should be able to easily slice through multiple layers of fabric.  Stilettos or seam rollers should be able to hold seams and manipulate fabric.  Those large clippies should have measurements marked on them.  And with rare exceptions, most of them should be portable. Lightweight and compact tools make handling and storage easier, especially when I’m working in small spaces and attending classes and workshops.  Which leads us to…

Size and Portability are Important

Tools which are six and twelve inches are ideal as they can easily slip into a bag or sewing kit.  Weight is also an essential factor.  I like tools which weigh less than two pounds (with the exception of my sewing machine) which means they are easier to handle, and this reduces fatigue during long sewing sessions.  And the more functions one tool can handle means you have less to carry and keep up with.

If you attend classes, retreats, quilt bees, or workshops, think about storage.  Tools which can lay flat, particularly cutting mats and rulers to avoid damage and maintain their shape, are easier to transport. 

Good Ergonomics and Common Sense are a Must

Quilters love when they have extended time in their studios or uninterrupted quilting time at a retreat.  It’s important to take the strain off of your back, arms, wrists, eyes, and fingers as much as possible and this means you have to pay attention to how a quilting tool is made.  Rulers with double color sight lines and large print numbers are really great additions to your sewing kit.  Rotary cutters with ergonomically designed handles can greatly reduce hand fatigue and strain, allowing us to cut for longer periods of time without discomfort.  When looking for tools, check to see if they have contoured grips and strategically positioned handles to enhance control. 

Weight distribution is also important.  Evenly distributed weight takes the stress off of wrists and fingers, feels more balanced in your hand, and makes quilting more enjoyable.  Non-slip surfaces are also a priority.  They improve grip and stability, ensuring precise movements and reducing the likelihood of accidents.

Softer, textured finishes are also important.  They provide tactile feedback and minimize pressure points.  Every quilter’s hands deserve a break and choosing tools that prioritize ergonomic design can make a world of difference.  By investing in these comfortable tools, you can focus on your creativity and less on fatigue, making the quilting experience more enjoyable. 

Now let’s talk about the common sense end of this issue.  I am of an age where I just like to pull the quilting tool – whatever it is – out of the box or the bag and it work.  I don’t want to spend a lot of time setting it up, or have a set of directions in three languages with thousands of pictures like Ikea.  I want intuitive functionality.  I don’t want to watch YouTube videos to learn how to use it.  The set up must be easy – and fairly quick. 

Precision and Accuracy are Crucial

Quilting is wonderfully creative.  It’s colors and textures and shapes.  It’s painting pictures with fabric.  However, any quilter who has been at her craft for a while will tell you accuracy and precision play a vital role in creating wonderful quilts. If you’re shopping for rulers, look for those which guarantee clean, straight cuts and accurate seam allowances.  Obviously every ruler is marked in inches or centimeters for measuring, and some of them even have angles on them, but make sure they’re accurate.  Personally, I think it’s always best to go with a name you trust, such as Olfa, Creative Grids, or Quilter’s Select – that way you know the product is good quality. 

Marking Tools that Disappear When You Need Them To

There are so many marking tools on the market.  We have pens whose ink disappears when you press the cloth with an iron.  We have pens whose ink disappears when you wet the fabric and  ink that simply disappears over time.  Then there’s always the good ol’ number 2 pencil.  Which one is best?  Which one should you trust?

Marking tools again are very much a personal choice.  I like the Frixion-type pens which disappear when you hit your cloth with an iron, and so far I’ve had really good luck with no “ghost” lines re-appearing.  But my experience may not be yours.  I believe marking tools are like rulers – stick with the name brands which have always worked for you. 

They Must Be Durable and Low Maintenance

It’s easy to overspend on quilting notions.  The quilting market offers so many options, it’s easy to think we need everything.  However, whatever we purchase, we want it to last for a while (unless it’s consumable).  As you shop, look for tools made of high-quality materials, such as stainless steel, heavy duty acrylic, or durable plastics.  These materials resist wear, bending, and rust and will last for years.

Regular maintenance extends the life of your tools, but it shouldn’t take an engineering degree to keep them in good working order.  Make sure your wooden tools stay dry and store flat to keep from warping.  When purchasing a rotary cutter, make sure the blade is easy to change.  We all know we should change our blades as soon as it begins skipping over fabric instead of cutting it.  But if the blade replacement is difficult, we all know we put off replacing that blade for as long as we can put up with a dull blade.  And when you change the blade, be sure to wipe down the inside of the cutter to get rid of any lint that could gum up your cutting experience.  Personally, I’m becoming a huge fan of titanium blades.  They cut better and longer than stainless steel ones.

Make Sure You’ll Get Your Money’s Worth

Quilting is, overall, not an inexpensive hobby.  Make sure what you purchase will not only last, but that you will use it.  It’s easy to look at a new gadget one of our quilting buddies has and think we need the same thing.   Then once it’s purchased, we never use it.  Make sure the tool or notion fits in your quilting style. For instance, if one of your friends has the latest version of Electric Quilt, and you’re not a computer person, chances are that, even if you purchased it and your friend helped orient you to the program, you may not use it a lot. It would be money wasted.

Multi-functional tools often provide better value.  A good ruler may not only measure inches and help you cut straight, but have angles printed on them too.  Some wooden stilettos sometimes have a pressing tool on one end.  Look for tools that give you more than one user option, if possible.

It’s also important to compare the total cost of ownership, which includes the initial purchase price and any necessary accessories or replacement parts.  This kind of falls under maintenance.  We all know our rotary cutters need blades replaced.  However, the cost of replacement blades isn’t so expensive or so often it negates the initial cost of a cutter.  Neither is replacing a sewing machine needle.  But if the sewing machine has a reputation of needing it’s bobbin mechanism replaced every two or three years, that may negate the introductory, low-price of the machine. 

Do Your Homework

I think it’s a good idea to pause and read the reviews before you purchase any tool from a manufacturer you’re not familiar with.  You can Google it or check on Amazon to read what people are saying about it. Keep in mind there’s going to be one person who didn’t like the notion or tool, and they will give it a negative review.  But if most of the review are good, give it a whirl.  Chances are it may fit well into your quilt studio.

And finally….

Everybody Hates a Phony

In last week’s blog, I discussed how quilters need to be careful while they are online – about quilt groups and sharing pictures.  This week I want to warn you about manufacturers who produce knock-off quilt notions.

One of the reasons I always encourage quilters to purchase from manufacturers and designers they know well or have heard of is this: Their products do what they say they will do and generally their customer service is also good.  Which means if you do have issues with a tool, you can contact customer service and they can talk you through how to use it, replace it if the tool is defective or refund your money. 

Knock-off, imitators, phonies … they can’t, won’t, and don’t.

Like those data collectors I warned you about in the other blogs, knock-off quilt tool manufacturers work in a similar way.  They peruse our Facebook pages and other social media to discover what tools we are raving about and using regularly.  Then they will produce a product so similar, we can hardly tell them apart – except by price.  The cost of these knockoffs is generally well below what we pay for them from our normal supplier.  And the quality is well below what we expect, too.

These imitations can be difficult to identify.  Sometimes the packaging looks identical to the real deal.  There is currently a ruler supplier online whose rulers look exactly like Creative Grids.  Directions and everything (I think they cut and pasted the directions from the Creative Grids website).  The only thing missing is the QR code which comes on the Creative Grids packaging (users can scan the QR code to get a video which gives instructions and tips when using the ruler).

Templates resembling those from Missouri Star are also floating around cyberspace right now.  They’re the same yellow color, but the packaging is simply a clear, plastic bag with no directions instead of the very nice packaging from Missouri Star with all their clear instructions.  And to add insult to injury, their ¼-inch seam markings are off.  Way off. 

These are only two of the many examples of knockoff supplies out there on social media.  I have a few helpful hints to avoid them.

1.  Don’t purchase anything off social media.  Unless it’s the supplier’s direct Facebook or Instagram which links directly to their webpage, don’t order.  As a matter of fact, I would close down the social media and go directly to the supplier’s website.
2. Be wary of emails from stores or manufacturers that promise you a great quilting tool, but you’ve never heard of them.
3. Watch for odd spellings of well-known names.  The fake Creative Grids dealer had his name as Creatives Grids.  They simply added an “s” to Creative.
4. If a deal is too good to be true … it probably is.  Avoid it.

Lastly, if you know the tool is a fake, what should you do about it?  Don’t buy it, of course.  And tell all your quilting buddies about it so they don’t buy it.  You can try to report it to the social media you found the fake thing on, but don’t expect the platform to jump through hoops to take the phony tool off its site and cancel the contract.  And finally you can report it to the real tool’s developer, but expect varying results.  Some may immediately begin tracking down the imposter.  Others may do nothing – it all depends on how successful they’ve been in the past with this situation. 

Be wise as you purchase new tools and notions.  Be open minded to new things and new manufacturers and designers, but do your due diligence.  A Google search only takes a minute or two but could save your hours of frustration and a few dollars, too.  Reading a few other quilters’ opinions about a product can help you make good decisions about what goes in (and what stays out) of your studio.

Until Next Week,

Love and Stitches,

Sherri and Felix

This blog is a bit of a rant.  I haven’t ranted in a while, but a few things have occurred in my quilting world that’s sent my normal, sane self over the edge and I want to share these things with you because I don’t want your normal, sane self to be sent over the edge with me. That, and the fact I dearly love quilt designers and want them to be protected from some of the shady stuff going about online.  This blog will be split into two parts – and depending on the length, may be split into two blogs.

In short, I have a lot to say about these shady shenanigans and about the good tools now produced to make quilters’ lives easier. 

Let me begin with social media.  For the purpose of this blog, I’m not stating which social media platform is more sus than the other but I’m looking at you Facebook.  I’m not even saying social media is bad.  I believe those platforms are like most things involved with the internet – they’re neither good nor bad.  They are neutral, but the way they’re used can make them a force for good or evil.  Let’s start with quilting groups.  More specifically those groups you can join on Facebook or Instagram or X (Twitter). 

I belong to several groups on all three platforms.  I enjoy the tips, and I enjoy helping folks in these groups when they have a problem.  I’ve appreciated the fellowship and the encouragement.  And it’s usually not the quilters in these groups I have issues with (there’s always going to be one or two members who stir the pot, but most of the time the admins shut them down quickly).  However. I do think we need to be wary about the way we share our quilts and sewing projects.  This cautiousness is merited due to the number of scammers who have invaded our quilting pages and groups. 

By this time in our internet lives, scammers are nothing new to any of us.  Most of us have been the victim of a scammer or two at least once or twice in our lives.   My worst scammer experience involved someone who found one of my checks, bleached it with a software program, re-did the check number, my signature, and changed the amount of the check to make herself about $3,000 richer.  Yes, the bank was immensely helpful, but it took hours out of my week to get the problem corrected.  Scammers who invade our quilt groups are just as harmful as the one who took advantage of my checking account.  They ask if they can copy the picture you posted of your latest project and use them on another group’s page. 

At this point, it’s easy to feel flattered.  You think they were so inspired by your work, and they simply want to share this point of inspiration with their friends and other like-minded creatives. 

Nope.

Nine times out of then they want to turn your latest, greatest creation into clickbait.  Clickbait refers to content designed to attract clicks and engagement, usually for financial gain or other shady, nefarious, ulterior motives.  And pretty pictures of your project act as bait to foster their motives, which could be:

Data Harvesting —  Scammers often create fake groups and posts to collect personal information from users.  They use enticing clickbait to encourage users to comment, share personal details, or click on external links which may prompt them to enter sensitive information like email addresses, phone numbers, or passwords.  This information can then be used for identity theft, phishing attacks, or sold on the dark web.

Engagement and Legitimacy – Fake quilt groups may use clickbait to increase engagement, such as likes, shares, comments, and followers.  This can make the group appear more legitimate and attractive to potential victims or advertisers.  A group with a large number of members and interactions may seem trustworthy, even if its content is fraudulent.

Monetization – Some scammers aim to monetize fake groups by using clickbait to drive traffic to websites containing advertisements or affiliate links.  Each click and page view can generate revenue for the scammer through ad networks or affiliate marketing programs.

Spreading Malware – Clickbait in fake groups can lead users to malicious websites or encourage them to download files that contain malware or viruses.  These can compromise the security of the user’s device and lead to further scams or data theft.

Phishing – Clickbait may lead users to fake login pages that resemble legitimate websites (e.g., Facebook, email, banking, PayPal).  Users might unwittingly enter their login credentials, which can be stolen by scammers for unauthorized access to their accounts.

Financial Scams – Some clickbait within fake groups may promote fraudulent schemes, such as multi-level marketing, get-rich-quick schemes, investment scams, or other schemes to separate you and your hard-earned money.  Users who click such content may be lured into making financial transactions or investments which lead to financial losses. 

Social Engineering – Scammers may use clickbait to manipulate users emotions psychologically or politically.  This can be done by spreading sensational, false, or divisive information to influence public opinion, manipulate sentiments or inciting conflicts. 

So how do you avoid becoming a victim of clickbait?  First, be skeptical.  Question the credibility of posts and groups that seem too good to be true (because they probably are) or make sensational claims.  Second, verify information.  Before clicking on links or sharing information, independently verify the information through reputable sources.  Third, review your privacy settings.  Adjust your privacy settings in the groups you belong to in order to limit exposure to unknown groups and posts.  Fourth, report suspicious content.  If you come across fake groups or clickbait, report them to Facebook or Instagram or whatever social media platform you find them on.  They probably won’t do anything about it (which is aggravating), but you can still try.  Fifth, educate yourself.  Stay informed about common online scams and tactics used by scammers to better protect yourself and others in your network. 

And last, learn to protect yourself.  Be cautious of the groups and pages you join.  Just because a group has lots of posts and comments doesn’t mean it’s legit.  Look for multiple administrators and observe the groups before joining and posting in them.  Also consider adding a watermark to your photos before sharing them online (any photos – from your dinner to your quilts).  Watermarks take time for a scammer to remove and instead of dealing with all the work it takes to remove it, the scammer will bypass it and go for another one without the watermark.  A watermark is a faint, semi-transparent mark or text that’s superimposed onto an image.  It’s placed in a way that doesn’t distract from the picture, but it makes it difficult for others to steal or misuse the photo.

There are several apps and websites which can be used to add a watermark to your photos.  An easy and free one to use is Visual Watermark.  It’s a simple process and only takes a few easy steps.

From social media, let’s take an abrupt U-Turn and talk about quilting tools.  I know there seems to be no correlation between the two, but trust me there is.  Just hang with me for a bit.

Almost every year, at some point, I give you a list of quilting tools you may want to take a second look at.  Some years have great strides made in quilting notions and other years, not so much.  This year is a mix.  So listed, in no particular order – the tools you probably want if you don’t already have them:

• Wool Mat – These retain heat, come in various sizes, and are portable.  The texture does keep fabric from stretching.  Wool mats also have a few cons, the primary one being the odor.  For a while, a wool mat can smell like a wet dog.  I use my mat almost every day, so either I’m nose-blind to it or the smell goes away after a while.  I know some quilters use an essential oil, such as lemon, on their mat to offset the wet dog odor.  These mats must be stored flat and avoid keeping a hot iron on them.

• Clippies – I loved these little gadgets from the moment I bought my first pack – which didn’t contain but maybe a dozen.  Initially I used them to keep block units together, but then I discovered they work great with binding quilts.  When I began to teach my two grand darlings to sew, I didn’t give either pins.  I supplied them with this cute little tin of clippies:

Now they come in various sizes – from small to large – and the long ones have quarter inch and half-inch increments listed on them.  Now instead of the packaging containing only a couple dozen clippies, there may be 100 in a box, and the price has come down.  The tin of 100 clippies I purchased for my grand darlings was only $9.99.  The only cons of these little wonder tools are they may not work for thick fabrics and some clips may be broken during shipping.

• Savina Seam Roller and Stiletto – If your home improvement projects ever included hanging wallpaper, the seam roller may look just a bit familiar.  A very similar tool is used to seal the seams of wallpaper.  However, in our case, it’s used as a substitute for an iron, and it really comes in super handy when you’re paper piecing.  Instead of taking the time to press the seam with an iron, you can run the seam roller over it and keep moving. 

A stiletto is a tool every sewist should have in their sewing kit.  The pointy end can hold fabric steady as it’s fed over the feed dogs and beneath the needle.  This particular stiletto has a wooden handle with a blunt, sloped end.  That blunt, sloped end is the perfect tool for opening up a seam allowance in order to press it open.  Both have an ergonomic design (meaning it’s easy on your hand muscles), they have versatile applications, and are compact and portable.  However, both of the pressing tools do not take the place of a regular iron.  You still need one of those.  The wood needs to be treated with a food-grade oil (other oils may transfer to your fabric), and the pressing end of the stiletto and the seam roller may not work well on thick seams or fabrics. 

• Wonderfil Doublesided Instant Applique Paper – At last – an applique paper which is sticky on both sides.  If you love to applique (and especially if you use the Apliquick method), you realize that glue can be part of the equation – especially if you use the Apliquick or freezer paper method. Typically with either of those, the sticky side of the Apliquick interfacing or the shiny side of the freezer paper is pressed to the wrong side of the fabric, the shape is cut out, leaving about a ¼-inch or less of fabric margin around the shape, and then that margin is glued to the backside of the interfacing or freezer paper. 

But not with Wonderfil’s Doublesided Instant Applique Paper.  Both sides are sticky, so no glue is needed.  This is a brand-spanking NEW notion just recently offered by Wonderfil.  I ordered a roll (around $20 for a 180-inch x 11-inch roll) and will let you know how it works.

• Wooden Clapper

I’ve mentioned these before, but they’re worth another mention.  After you have  pressed your seam and the fabric is still hot, run the wood clapper down the seam line.  The cool wood will push out the heat and your seam will lie perfectly flat. 

• Karen Kay Buckley Scissors – These scissors have been on my cutting table and in my sewing kits for years.  The tiny, serrated blades grab fabric, and the microscopic, pinked edges keep fraying to a minimum.  The ergonomic, soft handles mean they can be used for hours at a time without hurting your hands. 

• Cutterpillar Light Box – There are lots of different kinds of light boxes on the market and they can run the gauntlet of price points from under $50 to over $200, depending on the size and the accessories.  And technically you don’t have to buy one – you can use a window, a glass top table, or — if you have a Lucite extension table for your sewing machine – you can place a light source under it (like the flashlight app on your cell phone) and use it as a light box.  However, if you really like applique, you’ll probably want to consider a Cutterpillar.  I have two of them.  They are wafer-thin and the smaller one has both a self-healing cutting mat and a heat-resistant pressing surface which can be used on top of the lighted surface.  Both have nice carrying cases.  I wish I could find one as large as my dining room table as I seem to be appliqueing more and more borders.

• Rotating Cutting Matt – I think – and this is my personal opinion – a quilter needs three cutting mats: a large one for their cutting surface; a medium-sized one to take to classes and retreats, and a rotating cutting mat.  The rotating mat just makes it easier to trim blocks because you’re spinning your mat around, not your block.  And they are a great tool to have if you like to foundation paper piece.

• Roxanne Basting Spray – If you quilt your tops on a domestic or mid-arm machine, the quilt sandwich must be held together by some means – thread basting, pinning, or basting spray.  There are several different kinds of basting spray on the market, but the Roxanne Basting Spray is perfectly Ph balanced, meaning it will cause no long-term harm to even your most heirloom quality quilts.  

• Blade Saver/Thread Cutter – These little things are a great way to get the very last life out of a dull rotary blade.  While the blade may be too dull to cut fabric, it’s still perfect for cutting thread.  Just load your dull blade into the stand and use it to cut your block units apart when you chain piece.  By the time the blade is too dull to cut even thread, it is well and truly used up and ready to be tossed.

• Washi Tape – I use this tape to mark my rulers.  For instance, if I am cutting out a quilt and I need to cut out a lot of 3 ½-inch squares, it’s much easier just to mark the 3 ½-inch line on my ruler than trying to find it every time.  A strip of neon orange Washi Tape is easier to find than the 3 ½-inch stamp on the ruler.  I also use it to mark angles on the ruler, so I don’t goof and cut a 60-degree angle when I need a 45.  It does sound like a picky, little thing, but after you’ve worked all day and you come into your studio a bit tired, any visual cues are welcome.  And yes, you could use masking tape or painters tape, but masking tape leaves a residue and Washi Tape is prettier than painters tape.

• Rulers – Rulers to use in rotary cutting are now a given.  When I began quilting back in the early eighties, you could find quilt patterns which gave directions for both cutting out by template and scissors and rotary cutting.  Not so much any longer.  Every pattern has rotary cutting directions, meaning you need a mat, a rotary cutter and a ruler.

There are literally hundreds of rulers on the quilting market.  Some are better than others.  Some are “one trick ponies” – they’re more templates than rulers and can only be used for one type of block.  Avoid these unless you plan to spend the good bulk of your quilting career only making that one block.  There are always other ways to make a block without spending a lot of money on a ruler/template. 

Ruler choice is a personal preference.  I prefer Creative Grid rulers because they have grippy circles on the back and along the edge of the rulers, so they don’t slip out of place while you’re rotary cutting.  I think quilters should have a square ruler the same size as most of the blocks they make or a bit bigger (just in case they go up a size in blocks).

A long ruler to cut across the width of the grain of the folded fabric.  My personal favorite is a 24-inch long, 4 ½-inch wide ruler with the locking lip at one end so it won’t wiggle out of place as you cut out fabric strips.

A shorter ruler to keep at your machine or toss in your sewing bag to take to class, sit and sews, or retreats. 

I also like this ruler:

The Creative Grids Multi Size Triangle 45- and 90-Degrees Quilt Ruler.  It allows you to cut triangles out of any size strip of fabric – including jelly rolls. 

There has been an awesome phenomenon happening with domestic sewing machine quilting.  Ruler designers have now come out with sets of rulers you can use on your domestic sewing machine which mimics the look of long arm quilting with rulers.  If you have a ruler foot for your machine, and you are pretty comfortable dropping those feed dogs and freestyle quilting, you may want to invest in some of the quilting rulers for domestic sewing machines.  I will warn you; these are slightly expensive and (once you get the hang of them) highly addictive.  Angela Walters has several in the basic shapes needed to get started. 

No matter who you purchase them from, make sure they will work with a domestic machine and one which allows you to do straight line quilting is a great place to start. 

This is a lot of information for this fairly long blog, so I will stop at this point.  Next week I want to discuss what to look for when choosing quilting tools and how to avoid purchasing the “knock offs” which are greatly inferior to the real deal – but can look enough like them to confuse you.

Until Next Week,

Love and Stitches,

Sherri and Felix

This question has been batted back and forth between quilters for ages.  How big is your stash?  Is my stash big enough?  How much fabric should be in my stash? What kinds of fabric should be in my stash?  Stash – for those of you who are unfamiliar with the term – is fabric.  Fabric which is either left over from a project or purchased with no clear quilting path for it or bought for a particular quilt pattern.  The fabric either fills a niche missing in the quilter’s needs or it’s simply liked enough for the quilter to leave the local quilt shop with a yard or two of it. 

I know quilters who have no stashes, small stashes, and floor-to-ceiling-come-to-Jesus stashes.  And honestly, before we venture into the territory of how big a stash you need, the first question which should be asked is “Do you need at stash at all?”

When You Don’t Need a Stash

The one rule I’ve had about my fabric stash is this: It needs to remain in my quilting area.  The minute it begins to spread to other areas of the house (unless I’m working on a project in another room), the stash has gotten out of hand, and it’s time to par down.  More or less, I’ve been successful.  However as my quilting areas have become larger and larger, I’ve picked up a bit more fabric than I had back in the early eighties when this magnificent journey of thread and needle began.  So while my fabric does all live in one room, the room is significantly larger than that small corner of the dining room I had back around 1985.  If you’re quilting area is small, you may not need a stash because the fabric could overwhelm the space you have to construct your quilts. 

Another reason a quilter may not need a stash is simply because they do not want one.  When I was first taught to quilt, one of the topics my first teacher talked a lot about was her stash – how much she had, why she had certain fabrics, etc.  As a result, quilters who have quilted about as long as I have tend to have extra fabric laying around their quilt area. 

However, I’ve noticed that many of today’s newbie quilters don’t want a stash.  It has nothing to do with the size of their living or quilting space.  It has to do with their philosophy towards minimalism and simplifying their lives.  They purchase the fabric they need as they need it, buying only what the pattern requires, and giving away or donating most (if anything) that’s left over. 

If your quilting space is small, you’re a minimalist, or you simply don’t want to deal with lots of fabric hanging out in your quilt room with no clear purpose in mind, really consider if you need a stash at all.   It may be more of a burden to you than a help.

I’m the Kind of Quilter Who Needs a Stash

Okay, so you’ve looked around your quilting area and have decided it can hold a bit of extra fabric, you don’t mind having that extra fabric around, and minimalism isn’t in your lifestyle vocabulary.  How large does your stash really need to be in order to be useful, but still not overwhelming? Ideally, a quilter’s stash should be large enough to comfortably complete the projects you are currently working on or planning to make, but not so large that it becomes overwhelming or takes up too much space.  The size of your stash ideally depends on your quilting style, project types, and personal preferences. 

Let’s break down those last three phrases: Quilting style, project types, and personal preferences.  If our stash size depends on these three, it’s important to know exactly what they are.

Quilting Style – Please realize we are painting with broad strokes with this one.  I know quilters can switch up styles just to have a change of pace.  They can go from making 30 years’ worth of traditional quilts and then jump track to make a few art quilts just to see if they like that genre.  However, let’s look at your overall quilting style.  Do you primarily make traditional quilts?  Are they nearly all pieced?  Are you a mainly modern quilter?  An applique aficionado?  Here’s a hint.  If you’re not sure yourself, ask your quilting friends.  Believe me, they probably have you pegged. 

Why is this important? If you’re carefully curating your stash, and let’s say you’re a modern quilter, it would make little sense to have a large portion of your stash in Reproduction Fabrics. You may occasionally make a quilt with those fabrics, but by and in large, your quilts are modern, which means you use a lot of fabrics for negative space (usually solids or small prints which read as solids), and bright hues. Purchases for your stash would reflect the modern quilt style.  And while you may very well have some 1930’s Reproduction Fabric tucked away or some traditional florals, those will not be the bulk of your fabric. 

Your stash should contain fabrics which reflect the types of quilts you make the majority of the time.  Otherwise, those other fabrics will languish in the corner of a box or shelf and never reach their potential

Project Types – We will also paint this category with broad strokes, because we all know quilters make all kinds of quilty objects.  So, again, review the types of projects you’ve made.  Are those mainly bed quilts, wall hangings, lap quilts, small quilts, or bags and pillows?  The fabric cuts in your stash should reflect the majority of your projects.  If you primarily make bed quilts, you’ll have more yardage in your stash than fat quarters.  If wall hangings or small quilts are your favorite, yard cuts, half-yard cuts, and fat quarters work well in that stash.  With bags, you may have the standard quilting supplies in your stash (fabric, batting, and backing) as well as the specialty notions bags need.  But again, we’re looking broadly at this category.  So if wall quilts make up the majority of your project type, it would not make a whole lot of sense to have lots of five-yard cuts in your stash.

Personal Preferences – This part can be a bit tricky.  Ideally a quilt – no matter how large or how small – needs lights, mediums (also known as blenders), and darks.  However, I can tell you from experience that capturing true darks can be difficult for two reasons.  First, there are fewer dark fabrics printed (most quilting fabrics are actually mediums).  Second, most quilters don’t naturally gravitate to darks.  Again, mediums tend to grab most of our attention.  So, you may find your stash contains mediums, lots of your favorite colors, and many fabrics from your favorite designers.  A quick glance at my stash will show lots of yellows, pinks, and corals (my favorite quilting colors) and Fig Tree Fabrics (my favorite designer).  But a balanced stash needs to have mediums, darks, and lights.  You may find yourself like me – if I feel I need to add to my stash, I have to critically look at what I have and purchase more of what I need (such as darks) rather than what I like (which would be Fig Tree).

However, the neat thing about curating a stash is it does reflect who you are as a quilter.  As you balance lights, mediums, and darks, you may find you have an affinity for small prints which can read as solids but are so much more interesting than solids.  Or you may discover you love batik fabrics or fabrics which can “read” as batiks.  These facts and fabrics help you develop part of your quilting style.  You may make dozens of pieced quilts, but folks can recognize them as distinctly yours partly because of your personal preferences.

Important Facts to Remember as You Build Your Stash

In 2014, the National Quilters Association surveyed hundreds of quilters about their stash.  Through their research, they discovered the average quilter’s stash was worth $6,000.  Allowing 2024’s  inflation, the fabric stored in your quilt room could be worth as much as $7,897.  Of course, this figure depends on whether you have antique fabric or super-fancy designer fabric.  Your stash could be worth more or less subject to these circumstances.  However, if your stash is worth that amount of money, you certainly want to make sure you can use it to its greatest ability.  Instead of purchasing fabric willy-nilly all the time (purchasing willy-nilly some of the time if perfectly fine), it’s good to remember these key points.

1.  Fabric Type

Consider what type of fabric you need.  If you need background fabrics, you will probably want to purchase larger cuts of this.  The same with focus fabrics.  Accent prints (such as your mediums and darks) won’t need as much yardage.  And while solid fabrics aren’t my favorite, they do make great binding.  A couple of yards of solid black (or another color) fabric is often enough to bind several quilts.  Keeping in mind you will need lights, mediums, and darks, you will have to decide what types of fabric will fill those slots.  Fabric types are blenders, neutrals, solids and solid-ish fabrics, and focus fabrics.

Blender fabric is a quilting fabric with a small, tone-on-tone print which looks like a solid color from a distance.  It’s used to pull together (blend) different elements of a quilt, such sashing, backing, and binding.  I’ve often called blenders the “little black dress” of stash.  You can use them to dress up a quilt or make the quilt very casual – it all depends on how you use them.  Most blenders are mediums:

Meaning they will appear gray in a black and white photo.  While they are crucial to a good quilt, the use of too many blenders in a quilt can make it appear “muddy,” which means if you take a black and white photo of your quilt, most of the top will appear gray, instead of having a balance between lights, mediums, and darks. 

Blender fabric is non-directional.  The pattern is small enough you can cut in any direction without changing the design.  The print is subtle – often less than an inch and draws the eye to the main section of the quilt without overwhelming the viewer.  And blenders can be extremely versatile.  They can add character and interest to quilts, especially when you need similar colors but different textures, or when you don’t have enough of a specific fabric. 

Neutrals are white, beige, tan, ivory, cream, gray, and black – which means if you use black as a neutral, you have your dark!  Lots of neutrals can also be eco-friendly, meaning they are made from renewable resources, free of harmful chemicals, and manufactured using low-carbon processes.  I call neutrals my “family therapist” quilt fabric – they are used to make all the other fabrics play nicely together.  Neutrals are not very intense or saturated.  Neutrals can be solid colors or tone-on-tone.  If you applique, you will recognize we often use these neutrals as our background fabrics. 

A couple of color issues to remember about neutrals.  If ivory, beige, tan, or cream is used as a neutral, they can “muddy down” the fabrics next to them – that is they can make bright colors and hues seem a little tamer than they really are.  They do a good job giving a quilt an “antique” appearance, though.  For scrap quilts, white is generally my neutral of choice, as it makes all the fabric play nicely together.  Blacks and grays are great neutrals, just make sure the accompanying fabric is bright enough to stand up against it – batiks work really well with the darker neutrals. 

It’s also important to consider the batting color if the neutrals take up a lot of the quilt top’s area.  If white fabric is used, pick a white batting.  An ecru batting will throw the white color a beige-ish cast, but an ecru batting works great with the ivory, tans, creams, and ecru neutrals.  If gray or black is the neutral and the quilt top is predominately gray or black, use a black batting — just avoid quilting heavily over the lighter areas of the quilt.

One last word about neutrals.  In today’s quilting world, a neutral can be almost any color.  In the past ten or so years we’ve seen pinks, reds, blues, and a host of other colors proclaimed a neutral and used as such in a quilt.  And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with this.  The only color theory issue to keep in mind is this – you always need a fabric to act as a light in your quilt.  Many times quilters will use the lighter colored neutrals as their light fabric.  So if you do use a darker neutral or a color not considered a “standard” neutral as your neutral, remember to add a light to your fabric pull.

Focus fabrics are fabrics with multiple colors or a prominent pattern within a fabric line which is used to select coordinating fabrics for a quilt.  Essentially it acts as the central color palette for the project when choosing other fabrics to complement it.  Normally, it’s a busy print with various colors which help guide the selection of other fabrics to create a cohesive color scheme in a quilt.  A quilter uses the range of colors in the focus fabric as a starting point to choose the other colors of fabric which will either match or harmonize with the focus fabric. 

I have the most fun with focus fabrics.  They tend to be my “favorite child” in a quilt.  A good focus fabric can give you a color palette to concentrate on as you choose the rest of the material for your quilt.  Focus fabrics are used in the areas of your quilt where they are readily seen because they serve as the unifier of all the fabrics.  So borders, sashing, and the center of blocks are where you will normally use focus fabrics.  A couple of fun facts about focus fabrics:

• Often focus fabrics are used as the center piece of a family or line of fabrics.  Find a current focus fabric and chances are the fabric manufacturer already has a line of blenders, lights, and neutrals to match it.  If you’re lucky, they’ll also have a dark, but that’s happening less and less.  You may have to shop for a dark separately.
• I know quilters whose stashes are only focus fabrics.  These are generally quilters who want only a small stash.  They’ll purchase several focus fabrics they really like, and trust the quilting universe to supply the additional fabric when a pattern is found.
• Have a piece of focus fabric you absolutely love but not enough of it to make a quilt?  Take your focus fabric and find material which will coordinate with it, and then remove the focus fabric from the line-up.  You’ll have a great group of material to work with, that will coordinate, and will make a wonderful quilt.  Bonus: You keep the focus fabric you love.

I realize this is a lot of information, however, don’t get too antsy about it.  The longer you quilt – or if you’re involved in another visual art – the easier this becomes.  As a matter of fact, I’m firmly convinced that a lot of this information we innately know.  It’s already programmed into our brains.  It’s just now we’ve put names to the process, and it may seem overwhelming.  Don’t let it be. 

A couple of additional tidbits before we move on to the last part of a stash.  One fabric issue you may inevitably have to deal with is holiday fabric.  Christmas fabric, Halloween fabric,  Easter, St. Patrick’s Day and even Thanksgiving Day fabric abounds in our quilting world.  Will you add it to your stash?  That’s a really personal question.  If you’re a huge Christmas fan, you may find Santa or Poinsettia fabric will creep into your stash.  What do you do with it?  I keep my holiday fabric separate from the rest of my stash.  It’s just easier to manage that way.  However, on the whole I have found it more economical not to purchase a lot of “in your face” holiday fabric.  So material with Santa and Jack O’ Lanterns don’t take up a lot of space in my stash.  But red, green, and orange fabrics are there.  This way I can incorporate the “regular” fabric into my “normal” stash and use it either for holiday or non-holiday quilting. 

The second fabric issue you may have to work through is the “favorite color trap.”  It’s super easy to purchase fabrics with your favorite color on it somewhere because it makes you happy.  And there’s nothing wrong with having fabric in your favorite color – just don’t let it overwhelm your entire stash.  My favorite color is purple, but that color actually takes up only a small percentage of my stash. 

The last part of your fabric stash to consider is scraps.  What do you do with them?  Do you keep them or toss them?  Do you hang on to them or give them away?  This is an area I struggled with for years because I’m primarily an applique quilter, and with an applique quilter every tiny scrap has potential.  A small scrap could be a leaf or the center of a flower or a wing of a bird or butterfly.  Do I keep it or toss it?

Scrappage is a personal choice.  Some quilters don’t want to be bothered with the issue.  They either toss or give away all their scraps.  They may not have the room to store them, or they may not want to worry about sorting and then remembering what they have.  If you primarily make large quilts or quilts with large blocks made from large pieces of fabric, scraps may not have any place in your quilting life.  But if you do applique (either by hand or machine) or make smaller blocks, scraps may become a necessary part of your stash.  The first hurdle to face is how small can a scrap be and still be worth keeping? 

This is a question only you can answer.  For a couple of years after I began quilting, I kept every scrap.  After I had a pillowcase full of them, I realized I rarely used the small scraps.  So I dumped out everything and threw away the small scraps.  Now I keep only scraps which average 8 square inches and above.  From this size I can get several stems, flowers, flower centers or other applique needs.  I sort these according to color and keep them in bins.  When a bin gets too full, I sort through it again and take the large scraps out I can trim to 5-inch square blocks.  A few years ago, I was introduced to Pat Speth and Nickel Quilts.

All the quilts in Pat’s books are made from 5-inch square pieces of fabric, and all her quilts are scrappy.  When I have enough 5-inch squares, I make a scrap quilt which I generally donate somewhere. 

This process helps me:

• Know exactly what fabrics are in my scrap bins.
• Become more productive in my quilting
• Keep large pieces of fabric out of landfills

In closing this rather lengthy blog (seriously, my blogs keep getting longer – I hope I’m not boring you to tears) I would like for you to conceptualize a few ideas.  First, you don’t have to cultivate a stash.  There’s nothing wrong with not having a stash.  It all depends on you, your lifestyle, and your storage space.

Second, if you do decide to keep and cultivate a stash, do it wisely.  Fabric is a wonderful quilting tool and we quilters get very enthusiastic about it.  It’s really easy just to purchase fabric that grabs your attention at the moment and not contemplate where it may work (or not work) with the fabric you have already.  It’s a good idea to go through your stash about once a year to know what you have and what you may need so you can spend your money wisely.

Third, how you sort and store your stash will evolve and change over time.  Most quilters begin by sorting their fabric by color, and pull the focus fabrics to the side by themselves.  This is how I began.  After a few years, I pulled the blenders out and sorted them to according to color, set my focus fabrics aside, sorted the solids according to color, sorted my neutrals separately, and changed my scrap bins to reflect large pieces of fabric.  Now, since I applique so much, my stash sorting has changed again, and I sort according to color and texture with some of my fabric.  This works for me; it may not work for you.  It all depends on the type of quilter you are.  There are no quilt police and there’s no right or wrong way to handle your stash – just make it work for you.  However, it’s important to remember the larger the stash, the more it requires careful organization and storage. 

Until Next Week…

Love and Stitches,

Sherri and Felix

PS — If you remember my last blog of 2024, I mention Felix has been featured as Mr. December for PawPrints 2025 calendar. Gotta hand it to the cat. He is a handsome devil and very ambitious. Now he has a puzzle gig. His sweet face is now on a 300 piece puzzle. There will be no living with him. He’s already asking for double the treats and two catnip breaks a day.

I had something entirely different planned for this blog.  Entirely.  But this week…well, this week was hard for a lot of reasons I will get into later (everyone is fine and I’m still quilting, but there’s a lot going on).  Sometimes I have some topics that need to be written about, but I don’t have enough on each subject to write a 2,000 word blog.  So I throw them into one blog with lines separating my thoughts.  Due to time restraints this week, today’s blog is one of those mashups.

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There is a lot of stuff occurring in our quilting world.  And when I look over the past almost forty years I’ve quilted, a lot has happened.  We’ve lost local quilt shops.  We’ve lost quilting magazines (the real-actual-paper-pages-you-have-to-turn kind).  Quilting teachers have retired.  Thanks to a pandemic, our guilds and groups can meet on Zoom and many non-retired teachers have moved to teaching only on this platform.  Our quilting world has largely gone from brick-and-mortar shops to online stores where we can peruse the inventory in our pajamas with adult beverage in hand.  While I’m adult enough to realize that nothing ever really stays the same, I still miss what we’ve lost. 

We lost Hancock Fabrics on July 27, 2016.  That was a heavy-hitter and a fan favorite.  The most wonderful thing about Hanocks was they stayed open until 8 p.m., which meant if I needed needles, fabric, zippers, or stabilizer after work on a Friday night for a class early Saturday morning, I was covered.  Didn’t have to think about it.  Just zip in after dinner, pick up the supplies, and grab those few extra minutes of sleep on Saturday morning before class started.  The Greensboro Hancocks was always within 10 minutes of my house (they moved three times), which meant anytime I just needed to get away from everything and pet fabric, I had an out. 

Due to decreasing sales and underperforming retail locations and issues with pensions and retirement benefit costs, Hancock’s called it quits and filed for bankruptcy.  Michael’s bought the rights to the Hancock brand, fabric, and trademark.   Everything else – store fixtures, remaining inventory, etc. – was sold off.  I could go through cost analysis, overshooting profits vs. actual costs, and all that spreadsheet nonsense Geeks like me geek over, but honestly, as a consumer and quilter and frankly a huge Hancock fan, I think their demise boiled down to this:  They tried to be something they weren’t.  If you had a Hancock Fabrics in your area for a while, try to remember what it was like when it first opened.  All types of fabric, from dress goods to quilting, were sold.  Simplicity patterns, Butterick, buttons, ribbon, batting – anything you needed to make garments, quilts, or sewing related projects was sold.  Now remember what the store was like when it closed.  Furniture.  Lighting.  Jewelry making supplies, yarn…and some fabric.  However, as all the non-fabric or garment/quilt making paraphernalia occupied more and more floor space, the inventory of fabric for quilting and garment making shrunk.  To add insult to a quilter’s injury, the quality of fabric sold declined (in my opinion).  Much of it was lower-end and thin.  This was probably an effort to bolster the bottom line, but I think it simply alienated (and angered) their customer base. 

In short, I think Hancock Fabrics was trying to be something it wasn’t:  Hobby Lobby.  Hobby Lobby (love it or not), has fabric, yarn, flowers, furniture and all kinds and types of hobby and arts supplies but it doesn’t market itself as a fabric store.  You go to Hancock Fabrics and you expect fabric.*

And while the door has firmly closed on Hancock Fabric’s, we are facing yet another closure – Joann’s Fabric.

Founded in 1943, Joann operates stores in 49 of the 50 states – the only state without a Joann’s is Hawaii.  While I am not a regular Joann’s shopper, (the nearest one is across town and doesn’t cross any of my normal errand traffic) I do go there for notions, zippers, and Pellon SK135 White Sheer Knit Fusible Interfacing (my stabilizer of choice for machine applique).  I’ve always found Joann’s to be neat, the customer service fairly good, and with their 40% off coupons, a great place to shop to pick up a bolt or two of that Pellon SK135 I love so much.  It filed for bankruptcy once recently, but when it filed again this year, I opened my Joann app on my phone and purchased another bolt of the Pellon.  The writing was on the wall.  At present, there is one bid in for the company.  Gordan Brothers Retail Partners (the same company that liquidated most of the Big Lot stores) has a preemptive bid in for the company in order to prevent any low-ball offers.  I’ve heard unsubstantiated chatter about other buyers, but I can’t verify anything. Either way, in a couple of weeks, Joann’s may be no more, even though (as of this moment) they’re closing hundreds of their stores as a pro-active gesture.

Joann’s has always had craft items other than sewing/quilting related notions, so that’s not what caused their financial struggles.  Citing inventory issues and sluggish retail sales, Joann’s decided to put this second Chapter 11 filing in motion and cut their losses.  Since they technically don’t own any of their locations, and if Gordon Brothers does have the winning/lone bid, only left-over inventory, assets, and store fixtures can be sold. 

Not exactly a comforting thought to crafters.  It seems we quilters/sewists/crafters are losing our world a bit at the time.  While there are hundreds of craft suppliers and sites we can purchase quilting supplies online, most of us like to touch, feel, and see our fabric in person, not through a screen.  If you don’t think it can’t happen to you, let me give you a personal example.  I live in Jamestown, a small town wedged between High Point and Greensboro.  I’m actually closer to High Point (population approximately 117,000).  There is nowhere in High Point to purchase fabric in person now except Hobby Lobby.  The one quilt shop, Dragonfly, closed years ago.  As of November 2024, we can no longer shop in person at Keepsake Quilting.  They’ve moved to all online sales, with little chance of any additional warehouse sales.  The three quilt stores in other cities nearest to me are 12, 20, and 40 miles away respectively.

Maybe we should all whisper a prayer for Michaels.

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In the past couple of months, I’ve written several blogs which mention “fusible webbing.”  That’s a generic term for temporary fabric bonding agents such as Heat and Bond.  I fielded a few question about types and kinds and considered writing this week’s blog on fusibles, when I remembered this blog https://sherriquiltsalot.com/2022/02/09/sticky-situations/ I wrote in 2022.   It sums up fusibles nicely. 

The only additional information I’d like to offer is there now a new fusible very similar to Soft Fuse.  Soft Fuse is the fusible of choice for a lot of quilters.  However, from what I understand, the developer of Soft Fuse passed away or has become seriously ill and no longer makes it (someone please correct me if I am wrong).  While there is a lot of  Soft Fuse in inventories, Wonder Fuse is a great substitute if you can’t find Soft Fuse.

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And finally, in closing this kind of random blog, I’d like to remind you that everything is a journey.  We’re used to the saying that “Life is a journey.”  But I would like to go one step further and state everything is a journey, or at the very least, a process.  Need groceries?  Make a list, go get them, come home, put them away.  Need to clean house?  Sweep, vacuum, mop, dust, clean the bathrooms and the kitchen. 

Everything takes time.  And what I would like to do is encourage you to take time with your quilting.  This doesn’t mean you go as slow as a glacier, but it does mean you take the time to enjoy the process and learn what the quilt is trying to teach you.  Some journeys are short and simply re-enforce skills you know – such as half-square triangles.  Others are a little more detailed, like the hand-quilted, needle-turn one you’ve been working on for years.  They all have something to tell us.  Quite often it’s whispered over late-night quilting sessions, or caught in the middle of a laughter fest at a quilt meeting.  Sometimes our fingers and our minds quickly pick up on it, and at other times, it may take more than one quilt to push us ahead on our quilt journey.

Cut accurately.

Sew consistent seam allowances.

Press.

Lights, mediums, and darks.

Recently there was a survey sent out to some quilt bloggers which directly asked which quilts were “journey” quilts – which ones served the most to push us ahead in our quilting life – and which ones were “just for fun.”  Personally, I think all quilts should be made for fun  because quilting is fun.  But I also think all quilts have something to teach us – sometimes the lessons are about the craft and sometimes the lessons are about us.  And if I had to get down to the nitty gritty, I’d offer that those quilts with details are the ones which teach us the most.  The ones which make us slow down, watch our stitches, take our time, and park on some techniques are the ones which push us to be better quilters, make better quilts, and quiet us down so we can hear what the quilt is telling us. 

In our quilting journey, we’ll make both kinds of quilts – the quick, easy fun ones and those which really stretch our abilities and test our mettle.  Don’t shy away from either.  They both serve different purposes as they ease us down our own Yellow Brick Road of Quilting. 

Until Next Week,

Love and Stitches,

Sherri and Felix

*Please note that Hancock’s of Paducah is not the same as Hancock Fabrics.  Two entirely different companies.  Hancock’s of Paducah is still open and fabulous in Paducah, Kentucky.  They have a great online store and if you’re ever near their area, it would be a wonderful idea to go in and do some shopping at their brick-and-mortar storefront.  You will not be disappointed.

This week we will look at choosing the right threads for different quilting techniques. No matter if you’re piecing blocks, machine quilting, hand quilting, or appliqueing, the thread you select can impact the overall look, durability and quality of your quilt.

Piecing Thread

For piecing quilt blocks, you’ll want a thread that’s strong, thin, and doesn’t add bulk to the seams.  Cotton thread is the go-to choice for many quilters when it comes to piecing.  It’s compatible with natural fibers, has low lint, and comes in a variety of weights.  The most popular weight for piecing (and my personal favorite) is a 50 wt cotton thread.  The 50 wt offers great balance between strength and fineness. 

However, like most all issues with quilting, there are “work arounds.”  You want your piecing thread to be strong, but you also don’t want it to take up a lot of space.  And even though thread is deceptively skinny, between a strand of it and the tiny bit of bulk produced with the fabric is pressed to one side, there is some thickness produced. So what if the thread is 40 wt instead of a 50 wt?  A 40 wt thread is thicker, so it obviously takes up a bit more room than 50 wt.  This means you may need to make your seam a thread or two larger than the traditional ¼-inch. Likewise if your thread is 60 wt and is not as thick as a 50 wt, you may want to opt for a seam allowance a thread or two smaller — a scant quarter-inch . The best way to make sure you have enough room in your seam is to make a test block (or at least run a test seam) with your chosen thread.  If the quilt block is the correct unfinished size or the seam is exactly ¼-inch, you’re good to go.   Otherwise, you may need to keep playing with it until you can make sure the seam is ¼-inch.

Thread also has plies (not to be confused with staples):

Think of plies like pieces of cord wrapped around each other to give the thread strength.  Some 50 wt piecing thread have two-plies and some have three.  Neither is better than the other, whichever one you like is a personal choice.  I really like to keep my quilt’s bulk as low as possible, so I opt for a 50 wt, 2-ply thread – namely Aurifil. 

Since we’ve mentioned staples, let’s go ahead and define what that is and why it is important to your quilting experience, especially since I’ve mentioned long-staple thread is really best.  Cotton thread is manufactured from this:

The cotton boll.  Cotton bolls are fibers which have to be pulled apart, the seeds removed, and then the fibers (staples) are spun into thread.  Some cotton boll staples are short, meaning a strand of thread is comprised of lots of short fibers (much of American cotton is short staple).  With other cotton, such as Egyptian cotton, the fibers which comprise a cotton boll are long, and these are long-staple cottons.  Ideally, we chose to use the long-staple cottons for piecing as these threads are longer and less linty than short staple cotton thread.    

There are some quilters who swear by using 100 percent polyester thread instead of cotton.  While this certainly isn’t a traditional choice, polyester thread can be incredibly strong and thin, making it a good choice for precise piecing.  However, the cheap polyester thread doesn’t care for the high heat we use when pressing – so be sure to use high-quality brand of polyester thread to avoid any potential melting issues during pressing.

Machine Quilting Thread

While cotton thread seems to be the thread of choice for most quilters when they piece, machine quilting is a whole ‘nuther world.  The thread options for machine quilting are almost endless.  Piecing thread is hidden between the folds of fabric, but machine quilting thread is there, front and center, for everyone to see.  Machine quilting thread adds texture, contrast, or it can blend seamlessly into your quilt top.  The most popular options are:

Cotton Thread – Great for an all-natural quilt, and depending on the look desired, a 50 wt, 40 wt, or 30 wt can be used. 

Polyester Thread – This thread is strong and colorfast, and is ideal for quilts which will be washed frequently.

Cotton-Wrapped Polyester – Combines the best of both cotton thread and polyester thread.  Given the choice between polyester and cotton-wrapped polyester, I usually go with the cotton-wrapped.

Metallic Thread – This thread adds a touch of sparkle and glamour to a quilt.  As I stated earlier, metallic thread rules Christmas quilts. 

When machine quilting, it’s crucial to match the thread weight to the quilting design and the fabric.  For instance, if almost all of your fabric is busy – it’s florals and geometrics and ditzies, chances are even a bold quilting thread choice (such as a 30 wt) won’t show up because the fabric is so busy.  It would be perfectly fine to use a 50 wt cotton thread on a quilt such as this. 

However, if your quilt has some negative space or uses either solid-colored fabrics or small print fabrics which read as solids, a bold thread choice – such as a 30 wt thread – would be stellar because your quilting will show up in such a lovely way. 

With same line of thinking, when machine quilting, it’s also important to match the thread weight to the quilting design.  For intricate designs, a finer 50-weight or less thread works well, while a heavier 30-weight thread can make bold designs really pop.  According to a survey conducted by Quilter’s Review, 62 percent of quilters prefer using a 40-weight thread for machine quilting, striking a balance between visibility and smooth stitching.

Hand Quilting Thread

When it comes to hand quilting, you’ll want a thread which is strong, smooth, and easy to work with.  Traditional hand quilters usually opt for cotton thread specifically designed for hand quilting.  These threads are glazed or waxed to reduce tangling and make it easier to pull through multiple layers of fabric and batting.  And if you’re ever in a bind and need hand quilting thread but you’re completely out, reach for your dental floss.  Unwaxed dental floss has saved the day for more than one hand quilter.  It’s smooth, strong, and comes in a variety of colors.

Thread for Applique

Machine applique requires a thread which can blend in seamlessly with your fabric or stand out for decorative effect.  And while there are lots of different types of thread available for applique, the kind of thread you use depends on the applique technique used. 

          Hand Applique – There are many types of hand applique: back basting, freezer paper, needle turn, finished edge, and Apliquik.  However, the type of applique used doesn’t matter as much as the technique.  Hand applique requires fine silk or cotton thread at a 60 to 80 weight.  I have used 100 wt polyester for hand applique if the applique pieces are super small. Personally, I prefer cotton thread to silk.  It’s easier to manage.  Plus, silk thread can break under the weight of the quilt if the quilt gets wet.

The fine thread and tiny stitches required by hand applique make the shapes seem as if they are floating on the background fabric.  To enhance this “floating” look, don’t prewash the background fabric.  Once the quilt or block is complete, soak the block and allow it to air dry.  The background fabric will shrink just a bit, pulling the applique stitches under the applique pieces, making them seem to disappear.

          Finished Edge Machine Applique – Like hand applique, for finished edge machine applique, the thread should melt into the fabric, appearing nearly invisible.  Machine applique quilters use a blanket stitch, blind hem stitch, or fine zigzag stitch.  The stitch you prefer doesn’t matter as much as the thread chosen.  Polyester or cotton thread in a 60 wt and above works well.  I’ve also used monofilament thread in finished edge machine applique. 

          Raw Edge Machine Applique – Personally, I think this is the most versatile type of machine applique.  With this applique, the thread can be a co-star or steal the limelight – it all depends on the look you want.  For smaller pieces, you may want to use a lighter weight thread, but I don’t believe any raw edge applique thread should be less than a 40-wt because the thread must encase the raw edges of the fabric to keep it from fraying.  You can plan for the thread to match the fabric, contrast the fabric, or to bling out everything and use a metallic or embroidery thread for shine. 

If you’re using this technique for a quilt with lots of color, it’s tempting to use a monofilament thread to save yourself some time – after all that thread is see-through, so it wouldn’t matter. Well…yes, it would.  Monofilament can be as light as 100 wt – far too thin to adequately encase any raw fabric edges.  If all that different fabric makes you a bit weary just thinking about all the thread changes you’ll have to make, find a good, variegated thread 40 or 50 wt. and use it.

This is a lot of information about thread – maybe more than you ever expected.  So how, with all of this minutiae about thread, do we ever decide what thread to use? It’s not difficult.  First, decide what kind of thread strength and durability you need.  If the quilt is one which will see the inside of a washing machine quite a bit, its thread needs will be different from a quilt which will hang on a wall.  Fiber content and thread construction are important.  Quilters tend to have an affinity for all things cotton, so naturally many of us reach for cotton, quilting thread.  However polyester threads often offer superior strength and resistance to abrasions.  According to a study by Textile World, polyester threads can be up to 2.5 times stronger than cotton threads of the same weight.

Color selection and color fastness should also be considered.  Granted most thread produced today is pretty color fast, as we normally think of the term – it maintains its color when it’s washed.  However, other elements can cause fading, such as sunlight.  Color choice, well it’s seemingly limitless.  As a piecer, we can usually get by with grays, beiges, whites, and blacks.  But when it comes to quilting thread, we need to decide if we want the thread to blend into the background or stand out and make a bold statement, or show off stunning effects (and our quilting skills) with a contrasting color.

In addition to these, machine compatibility is also important.  And “thread” acceptance can vary from machine to machine.  My Janome M7 can deal with anything I thread her up with.  I may have to fiddle with the tension and needle selection, but I have yet to use a thread that the M7 just absolutely won’t work with.  My long arm?  She’s completely another story.  That cheap, dull cotton thread you use on a serger?  She loves it.  Bring a spool of Glide anywhere near her and she goes into conniptions.  Know your machine and know what works on it and what doesn’t.  Above all, use quality thread.  Cheap thread can be notoriously linty.  So can 100 percent cotton threads.  To minimize lint issues, use high quality, long staple cotton thread or those threads designed specifically for low-lint production (such as polyester). Be sure to clean your machine on a regular basis (which we will get to shortly).

Maintaining Your Thread

At some point in your quilting/sewing, you’ll sit back and survey your surroundings and realize, “Wow…I have almost as much thread as I do fabric…maybe more.”  To that thought, we contemplate what is the best way to store and keep our fabric.  However, sometimes thread gets overlooked.  But when you think about it, if the average quilter’s fabric stash is worth $6,000, thread cannot be that far behind.  If you have piecing thread, applique thread, and quilting thread, not only are you replacing thread faster than fabric, but also the dollar amount between fabric and thread is pretty much the same. Improper storage of thread can cut down on its lifespan by 30 percent.  How and where we keep our thread is important.

A few years ago, maybe back in the Nineties, there was this rumor floating about in quilting circles concerning storing your thread in the freezer.  Supposedly this cold storage added years to the thread’s lifespan and cut down on lint.  Of course this is wrong on two levels.  First, putting thread in the freezer exposed it to moisture and second, the thread took up room which could have been used for ice cream. 

That’s a funny thought, but let’s do think about thread and moisture.  When thread is exposed to moisture, it is more likely to attract dirt and lint, which means when you use the thread in your machine, it also is exposed to moisture, dirt, and lint – which is not good.  Thread should be stored:

• In a cool, dry, place away from direct sunlight – UV rays can weaken fibers over time.
• In thread organizers help keep it tangle-free.
• Away from dust and lint to prevent contamination.

Thread and Tension

Thread and the correct tension go hand-in-hand to create a wonderful sewing experience.  If one or the other gets out of whack, you have all kinds of sewing issues.  If you have problems with thread tension, stitches, or bobbin barf on the wrong side of the fabric, check the following steps.

• Re-thread the machine.  This is the first step I take when I begin having problems and most of the time this takes care of the issues.  Somewhere along the thread path, I missed something and the machine rebels.  Rethreading solves the problem.
• Always thread your sewing machine with the presser foot up to ensure proper thread seating.
• Use high-quality thread that matches needle size and fabric weight
• If you feel you do need to adjust the tension, do it gradually, making only small changes at a time and testing it out on scrap fabric.
• Remember this:  Upper thread visible on the bottom? Lower the tension.  Bobbin thread visible on the top?  Increase the tension.

If, after checking the tension, you still are experiencing thread breakage and tangling, try these steps:

• Check for rough spots on your needle, thread guide, or bobbin case that could be catching the thread.
• Ensure the thread is feeding smoothly from the spool – maybe you need to change the spools orientation from vertical to horizontal or horizontal to vertical.
• If you’re using a cone, you may need a cone stand to reduce tension on the thread.
• Check your machine for lint build-up.  Even if you use long-staple cotton thread, polyester thread, or thread advertised as low-lint, lint will happen.  Check your bobbin and bobbin case to make sure there is no lint build-up, and if there is clean your machine…which brings us to….

How to Clean Your Machine

Disclaimer:  Before beginning any cleaning process on any sewing machine, be sure to consult your manual.

It’s a given fact—if you sew, eventually – no matter how careful you are with thread and fabric selection – you will need to clean your machine because there will be lint and dirt build up.  Regular cleaning can prevent up to 80 percent of common quilting machine issues.  How often should you clean your sewing machine?  Rule of thumb is if you sew every day, clean it once a week.  If you sew less than this, you can stretch the times between cleaning out a bit more.  Before I purchased my M7, I cleaned my machine on the first day of every month, after I finished paper piecing a project (paper piecing is notoriously linty), or after I quilted a quilt.  Now, like so many of the new quilting sewing machines, my M7 has a sensor in it and if the lint build up triggers the sensor, I get a message in the dialogue box on the machine.  And I must stop and clean it, or it won’t let me sew another stitch it is a bossy thing. 

Each type of machine is a bit different and it’s important you check your machine’s manual to make sure you’re cleaning yours correctly.  Generally:

• Remove the needle plate and clean the feed dogs with a small brush.  My favorite brush to clean the dogs is a mascara brush.  I purchase a tube of cheap mascara, throw away the mascara, and thoroughly wash the wand until all the black gunk is gone.  It’s just the right size for getting between the feed dogs.  There are vacuum attachments which are made for this type of cleaning, too, but I’ve heard too many mixed reviews to recommend them.
• Clean the bobbin area thoroughly, removing lint and thread bits.  I use the mascara brush, cotton swabs, and tweezers for this part.
• Wipe down the thread path with a lint-free cloth.
• Oil your machine as recommended by the manufacturer.  Be careful not to over-oil and oil only the areas indicated by the manual.  If you have a newer machine, many of those don’t require you to oil them at all.  A sewing machine tech must open the up the machine and oil the parts you can’t reach from the outside.  Which brings me to the final point…
• Every 12 to 18 months (depending on how frequently you use your machine) take it in for a spa day.  Let a sewing machine tech clean and oil the areas you can’t (or at least aren’t supposed to) get to.  This extends the life of your machine.

Finally, because I know I’ll get an email or message asking me about this, let me list some of my favorite thread.  Disclaimer:  I am not employed by any of these companies, nor do they finance my blog, or send me freebies for mentioning them.  The following is my unbiased opinion from over 40 years of sewing and quilting.

Top-Rated Cotton Piecing Thread

1. Aurifil 50 wt Cotton Thread.  This Italian-made thread is a quilter’s dream.  It’s lint-free, colorfast, and comes in a rainbow of hues.  It is a strong thread comprised of only two plies.
2. Superior Thread Masterpiece.  While this is not my first choice for piecing, it does work well when Aurifil is not available.  Masterpiece is a thicker 50wt thread, as it’s comprised of three plies.  And I think feels a little stiffer than Aurifil.

Top-Rated Cotton Quilting Thread

1. Aurifil 50, 40, or 30 wt, depending on the statement my quilting makes.
2. Gutermann Natural Cotton Thread.  Gutermann is actually a great crossover thread.  While it may be my second choice when I am quilting by machine, it’s my first choice when quilting by hand.  It is strong and has a smooth finish.
3. DMC Cotton Machine Embroidery Thread.  Yes, this is embroidery thread.  However, it’s vibrant colors and durability work great in quilting.

Top-Rated Polyester Threads for Quilting

1.  Superior Threads So Fine 50 – 100 wt.  I love this polyester thread so much.  It’s strong and quilts wonderfully.  The thin thread is perfect for detail quilting and blends in beautifully with the fabric.  And if I’m piecing a quilt and it’s comprised of small blocks with small pieces, I will piece with So Fine 60 wt.  It takes up less room in the seams and cuts down on bulk.
2. Coats and Clark Dual Duty XP. This is not the same Coats and Clark your momma used.  This Coats and Clark is a polyester-wrapped core thread that is strong enough for heavy-duty projects, but fine enough for delicate work.
3. Sulky Polylite Thread.  Lightweight and lint-free, this thread works well in a domestic machine as well as a longarm. 

Top-Rate Specialty Thread

1. YLI Silk Thread – I don’t like to hand applique with silk threads, but I have used silk thread in finished edge machine applique.  It melts into the fabric and leaves an elegant touch. It also works well in thread painting.
2. Superior Threads Metallic.  If I am going through the trouble of adding some bling to my quilt either in the quilting stitches or thread painting, I go with Super Threads Metallic every time.  I consistently have good results and fewer problems with their brand of metallics.
3. Wonderfil Invisafil.  Wonderfil is a brand of thread still fairly new to the United States, but it’s quickly gaining a foothold. Canadian by birth, it’s still a young thread, with manufacturing beginning in 1988.  I became aware of this thread during the Pandemic when I took an on-line applique class with an Australian quilter.  Out of curiosity I ordered a couple of spools from her website and was instantly smitten.  It’s an ultra-fine 100 wt polyester thread that’s perfect for micro quilting and nearly invisible stitching.  If you don’t like working with monofilament, Invisafil may work better for you. Currently you can order Wonderfil thread (all of it, not just the Invisafil) at Red Rock Threads.  A few local quilt shops have it in stock, but most of the time you’ll have to order it. 

These are my favorite specialty threads, but if you want to know more about all kinds, weights, and effects, go to the Superior Threads website and read through their information.

Choosing the right thread for quilting and piecing is a crucial decision which can significantly impact the outcome of your project.  Remember, while cotton thread in the 40 – 50 weight range is often a safe choice for most quilting projects, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution.  The best thread for your quilt will depend on various factors, including your quilting technique, the fabric used, and the desired final appearance of your quilt.  Don’t be afraid to experiment with different types of threads to find what works best for you and your quilting style.  Whether you opt for the traditional route with 100 percent cotton thread or decide to add some sparkle with metallic threads, the key is to choose a high-quality product that will enhance your quilt’s beauty and ensure its longevity.  By considering the factors we’ve discussed – such as thread strength, color fastness, lint production, and tension issues – you’ll be well-equipped to create stunning, durable quilts that will be cherished for generations to come.

Love and Stitches,

Sherri and Felix

While the fabric choices for a quilt are seemingly endless, likewise, the thread choices aren’t any fewer.  Nope.  From any big box/craft store to your local quilt shop, one glance at the thread selection is enough to make you take a step back and wonder if you could ever really make the right thread selection for your quilt.  There’s polyester. Polyester thread wrapped in cotton.  Cotton thread.  Metallic.  Rayon.  Monofilament.  Then there’s weights – from 30 to 100 – which one is the right one?  So many choices…

Before you pull out your hair and start running for the hills, the quick answer is this: For most quilting projects, a high-quality, 100% cotton thread between 40 and 50 weight is ideal.  However, the best thread choice can vary depending on your project and quilting technique. 

For me, a self-professed thread snob, choosing my thread is a bit more difficult than picking out my fabrics.  That may sound counter intuitive, being that the fabric is a much more “in your face” choice – it’s the first thing most people notice about your quilt.  However, if fabric is truly the backbone of a quilt, then the thread is the tendons and muscles which hold that backbone in place.  So…

Thread is not a last-minute decision.

Thread is not a “whatever is cheapest will work” choice.

Thread is not a “whatever I have on hand is fine” preference.

The choice of thread determines how well your quilt stays together, whether the quilt lives its life hanging on a wall or on the floor as a play quilt for the kiddos.  The thread controls the appearance of the quilting – whether it sinks into the fabric and batting or co-stars with the fabric and quilt design.  The thread can add special effects to your top with sparkle and shine.  Or it can be completely transparent.

It all depends on which thread you use.

What I hope to do with this blog is discuss the pros and cons of different thread types (including specialty threads), the factors to consider when selecting thread, tension issues, lint production, and color fastness.  There is a lot of ground to cover with the topic, and I may need to split this blog into two parts to keep you from becoming overwhelmed.  But first, there are some general guidelines we need to discuss. 

• There is a difference between quilting thread and piecing thread.

Piecing thread is the thread used to sew the block units into blocks and the blocks into the quilt top.  Think of this as the “general sewing thread” of the quilt world.  Typically, this is a 40 or 50 weight thread (weight will be discussed a bit later), and most of the time quilters keep piecing thread in the neutral range – beiges, grays, dark grays, blacks, white – so we don’t have to keep changing spools of thread when we move to another section of the quilt block that’s a different color.  The neutrals will fit into whatever we’re piecing.  My exception to this is if I am moving from a bright color (such as a red) to a light neutral (such as gray or white).  White thread would stand out in the seam of a red, and a red thread would show up in the seam of a light fabric.  If the quilt top was comprised of two fabrics – such as a red and white – I would change color as I moved from one block unit to the next.  Or I would sew with white thread and where it stood out against the red fabric, I would use a red Pigma pen to color the white thread.  Using neutrals as your piecing thread also allows you to buy in bulk with full assurance every inch of the thread will be used. 

Quilting thread is the thread used to hold the top, center, and back of the quilt together.  Quilting thread is stronger, more durable, and crafted to withstand the stress of multiple layers of fabric, batting, and the constant friction of the quilting process – whether it’s on your domestic sewing machine or a long arm.  While most quilters use 100% cotton thread in a 40 or 50 weight for piecing, quilting thread can run the gamut from cotton to polyester to blends to monofilament in weights ranging from 30 to 100.  It all depends on the look you want and the color(s) you desire.

There is also a big, big difference between hand quilting thread and quilting thread meant for a machine.  Hand quilting thread is generally clearly labeled “For Hand Quilting.”  It feels stiffer than machine quilting thread.  This is because hand quilting thread has been coated with either several applications of beeswax or some other glaze (spools of hand quilting thread may be labeled “Glace Thread”).  It’s not a good idea to try to use hand quilting thread in a sewing machine or long arm.  Whatever the thread is glazed with can rub off between the tension disks and make quilting a nightmare, as well as damage your machine.   

• Some thread does have a shelf life.

Let me say that today’s thread – the type you purchase at either a big box store or a local quilt shop – lasts for years and years and years.  The manufacturing techniques have changed and improved so much that the thread you buy today can be used years from now quite successfully in a quilt.  However…if any of the thread you have in your stash are on gold, Styrofoam, or wooden spools, such as these

Toss them.  Or at least don’t use them in a quilt.  The thread is quite wonderful for basting or back basting applique, but not for any long-term existence in a quilt, either as quilting or piecing thread.  The thread on these spools was made before our improved manufacturing techniques and generally can’t be trusted for durability.  They do look pretty sitting in a basket or in a jar in your studio, though.

If there is any doubt about a thread’s shelf life, spool out about 8-to-10 inches of the thread.  Hold the spool in one hand and grasp the end of the thread with the other hand and try to snap the thread into two pieces.  If this is done fairly quickly and easily, I’d think twice about putting in a quilt.  If it doesn’t, it should be okay to use. 

• There are some key characteristics of good piecing and quilting thread.

These characteristics separate the merely “good” thread from the “great” thread.  And after you’ve gotten a few quilts finished, you may decide you prefer one brand over the other because that brand embraces the following characteristics.  I am an Aurifil Thread enthusiast when it comes to piecing, but for the actual quilting process – my choices are all over the map.

A good piecing and quilting thread:

1.  Is strong – It can handle tension without breaking.
2. Has low lint production – Usually this comes from using a long-staple thread or polyester thread.  Less lint means a cleaner machine and smoother quilting.
3. Remain colorfast – Will maintain a vibrant hue wash after wash.
4. Keeps a consistent finish – Thread comes in either a glossy or matte finish.  Each of these finishes has a place in quilting, depending on the results the quilter desires.  However, the thread should not move from a glossy to matte finish on the same spool.
5. It has some elasticity – You want the thread to be able to stretch just a bit, because it can help prevent puckering.

The ideal quilting and piecing thread strikes a balance between these characteristics, providing both strength and flexibility, and beauty without compromising performance. 

An Explanation of Thread Weight

We could spend literally pages and pages of this blog discussing thread weights, the methods used to develop these weights, and which method is the most accurate.  However, unless you’re planning a future in textile production, thread inspection, or any other really super-technical textile-related field, we can skip all those details and just get down the parts which really affect us quilters – what the weight means.

Typically, somewhere on a spool of thread – the top, bottom, or printed super-tiny on the side of the spool top – you will see the weight (40 wt, 50 wt, etc).  The “wt” which follows the number indicates the thickness of the thread.  However, here’s the kicker — higher the number, the thinner the thread.  So, a 50 wt thread is actually thinner than a 40 wt thread.  Completely counterintuitive, but that’s the way thread works.  If you can remember that the number (such as 50) represents how many kilometers of thread it takes to weigh 1 kilogram, perhaps that will help it make sense or not.  Just keep in mind it takes more kilometers of a finer thread to reach that 1-kilogram mark.  Generally speaking, the thread weights and their common uses are these:

60 wt and above – delicate quilting or applique

50 wt – all-purpose quilting and piecing

40 wt – decorative quilting and topstitching

30 wt – bold quilting designs or hand piecing.

Making sure you are using the correct weight of thread for the effect you want is crucial.  If you use a 30 wt thread for piecing, it will take up too much room in the ¼-inch seam allowance, making piecing and pressing infinitely difficult.  But if you want the quilting stitches to shine, the 30 wt thread is perfect. 

Types of Threads Used in Quilting

The following are the types of threads most commonly used by quilters.  This doesn’t mean you can’t branch out and try other threads for effect.  It also doesn’t mean you have to follow this chart strictly and use only 50 wt cotton thread for piecing.  There are a few tricks you can use to make a 40 wt work for piecing.  We will cover some of the techniques you can use for thready situations like this and just remember – relax, there are no quilt police.

Cotton Thread

Cotton threads are the most commonly used piecing and quilting threads.  These natural fibers are gentle on fabric and provide a beautiful, soft finish.  Cotton threads are especially popular for traditional quilting projects and heirloom pieces.  They come in a wide range of weights, with the 50 wt being the most common for piecing and quilting.  Egyptian cotton threads are the crème de la crème of cotton quilting threads.  Their long staples (fibers) result in a smoother, stronger thread which produces less lint (staples and why they’re important are discussed a bit later in this blog).

Polyester Thread

The polyester thread we use today is a far, far cry from the types your mother and grandmother used back in the 1970’s and early-to-mid eighties.  When I began quilting in the early eighties, quilters were warned not to use polyester thread with 100% cotton fabrics – the polyester thread was so rough it would cut through the cotton fibers.  This is no longer the case.  Today’s polyester thread has excellent strength and durability, making them ideal for quilts which will see frequent use and washings.  Polyester threads are less prone to breakage and can withstand high tensions, making them a great choice for machine quilting.

According to a survey conducted by the International Quilt Museum, approximately 35% of modern quilters prefer polyester threads for their projects because polyester threads are colorfast, resistant to mildew, and maintain their strength over time.  In addition, they come in a wide variety of colors.

Cotton-Polyester Blend Thread

These threads take the best of both cotton and polyester fibers by combining the softness of cotton and the strength of polyester.  These blends are excellent for both piecing and quilting, and provide a balance of durability and a natural feel. 

Specialty Thread (Metallic, Variegated, Etc)

These are what I call my Diva Threads.  They are special.  They are show-stoppers.  And if used correctly and appropriately, add pizzazz to your quilts by making them truly one-of-a-kind.  Here’s the rundown:

Metallic threads can add a touch of glamor and effect with shimmering gold, silver or copper accents.  My personal opinion – they absolutely rule Christmas quilts.

Variegated threads change color as you quilt, creating beautiful, subtle patterns as you go.  And for raw edge applique, they can save you tons of time.  Have a mass of leaves in a lot of different shades of green?  Find a wonderful variegated green and load it in your machine.  It takes care of changing out green threads every few minutes.

Glow-in-the-dark threads are perfect for adding a fun, unexpected element to children’s quilts or Halloween projects.

Silk threads are both luxurious and strong and are ideal for applique and delicate quilting.

Monofilament thread is great to use for outlining applique shapes or stitch in the ditch before quilting and to use in both raw-edge and finished-edge applique.  Since it’s see-through, there’s no fumbling for the correct color of thread to match the fabric.  Monofilament comes in two shades – clear and smokey.  Use the clear for bright colors and the smokey for dark ones.

These Diva Threads can add a lot to a quilt, but it’s important to remember they are specialty threads.  They may require some finagling with your tension and changing your machine needle out a few times to prevent frustration and achieve the best results.  In addition, I’ve discovered the following quirks about them:

Variegated Thread – I love variegated thread for raw-edge applique.  And you would assume if you had pieced a quilt and could find a variegated thread to match it, that the thread would be perfect to quilt with.  For instance, if you made a red, white and blue quilt and had a spool of red, white, and blue thread, the quilt would look great quilted with the variegated. 

Hm.  That depends.

There are a couple of issues to think about when using variegated.  The first issue concerns quilting.  Unless you have your thread tensions perfectly perfect, 100 percent of the time, the bobbin thread will occasionally “pop” to the top between stitches.  And if the bobbin thread is a different color than the variegated or even the variegated thread itself, the “pop” of bobbin thread will glaringly show up on the front of the quilt.   I’ll be honest, the only time I’m really picky about this is if my quilt is show bound.  Those bobbin “pops” of thread in different colors other than my quilting thread would get points knocked off my score.  However, if the quilt has no shows in its future, I love variegated thread for quilting. 

The second issue with variegated thread concerns the undyed parts of the thread:

Those white spaces seem to break more frequently and a lot more easily than the dyed parts.  If I plan to quilt with variegated, I look for a brand such as King Tut (Superior Thread) which has little to no white spaces.

Glow-in-the-Dark Thread – I made two small Halloween quilts last year and thought I would quilt both with glow-in-the-dark thread.  After the first block, I threw that idea out the window.  Despite the fact I was using a name-brand thread which garnered good reviews, I had a difficult time working with it.  I ended up using a jeans needle, a 50 wt white cotton thread in the bobbin (to match the back of the quilts), playing with the tension, and actually positioning the spool of glow-in-the-dark thread several feet from my machine in a coffee cup.  That extra space allowed it to unspool a bit more freely and relax longer before it ran through my sewing machine (domestic, not long arm).  I also would keep my quilting stitches confined to lazy loops and easy meanders, or better yet, straight line stitching.  I found the thread broke with any tiny stitches taken in small places.  While I absolutely would use this thread again, I would limit its use to highlighting special parts of the quilt, or outlining words or figures.

Silk Threads – Silk thread is absolute ideal for delicate finished-edge machine applique or thread painting.  You can’t beat its sheen or the richness of color all while being a very fine thread.  There are a few words of caution I would give to anyone to make their quilting experience a good one with silk thread. First, use the recommended sewing machine needle — usually this is a 55/7.  Silk needles have an extra-light ball point and have an enlarged eye in relation to the thin, flexible shape of the needle. It is the smallest size needle available for home sewing machines and is meant to be used when sewing on thin fabrics with lightweight threads, such as 100 wt. silk threads. 

Next, be sure you’re using silk threads with lightweight fabric, such as fine cotton with a high thread count.  If you’re actually using the silk thread application as part of the quilting process, cotton fabrics and a thin bat (such as a cotton or silk batt) are your best choices. 

Finally, carefully consider the aftercare of the quilt.  While silk threads are beautiful, they are not the strongest thread and can break when the quilt gets wet.  The stress put on the fabric and thread as you’re trying to pick up a wet quilt can cause the thread to pop. 

Monofilament thread – This thread is usually pretty easy to work with.  For best results, choose a monofilament thread made from polyester, and avoid any made from nylon and use cotton thread in the bobbin.  If you have trouble with tension or the thread working its way through the machine to form stitches, put the spool in a cup or some other container and set it several feet away from the machine and then thread as normal.  The additional time this gives the thread before it runs through the machine allows it to relax a bit and become easier to work with.  While I don’t personally quilt my quilt entirely with monofilament thread, I know quilters who do if they want the quilting thread to literally fade into the background and only leave quilty texture behind (I prefer the 100 wt polyester thread for this).  Best advice I can give you – purchase a quality monofilament thread (such as YLI or Superior Threads), don’t use super-high heat near the thread, and be willing to play with your tension for a bit to get those stitches perfect.

Choosing the right thread is like picking the perfect dance partner for your fabric.  It should complement your project, enhance your design, and make the whole process more enjoyable.  With those thoughts in mind, next week, we’ll take a look at picking out the right threads for different quilting techniques.  Whether you’re piecing blocks, machine quilting, hand quilting, or doing applique work, the thread you select can impact the overall look, durability, and quality of your quilt.

Until Next Week,

Love and Stitches,

Sherri and Felix

“Allow yourself to go and do it wrong. Don’t expect to always get it right. It will prevent you from doing anything.”

–Darren Hardy, The Compound Effect. 

I realize, as you’re reading the above quote and then comparing it to the title of this blog, they may seem counterintuitive.  But not really. What I am sharing with you this week are the steps I take to make sure my quilt blocks are as perfect as possible.  However, please realize this knowledge comes from me making lots and lots of mistakes.

Lots.

Tons.

For the most part of the early years of my quilting journey, I was self-taught.  From 1986 until 2000, everything I learned about quilting I picked up from library books or casual conversation I overheard at my local Piece Goods or Hancock Fabrics. 

I had no idea there were quilt magazines.

I had never heard of Quilt Guilds.

And my local community college offered plenty of classes in crocheting, knitting, and garment construction, but none in quilting. 

I checked out every book my local library had on quilting and read them thoroughly.  This was the early eighties, so templates and scissors were used.  Fabric decisions were divided into yardage of lights, mediums, and darks.  There was no internet to Google search anything.  Honestly, I learned a lot, but a lot of what I learned was from my mistakes.  With this blog, I hope to help you avoid some of the blunders I went through as I tried to make my quilt blocks as perfect as possible.  The following are seven steps I go through with each and every pieced quilt block I make in order to get them as close as possible to perfect (I handle applique blocks a little differently). 

• Starch The Fabric Before Cutting

Whether you prewash or don’t prewash, starch your fabric.  Starch will stabilize the grains of the fabric.  This will help you cut accurately no matter if you’re cutting across the width of fabric, the length of the fabric, or (especially) if you must cut on the bias.  The bias can be really stretchy and easy to distort.  Starch keeps the fibers in place.  Starched fabric is also easier to control, and gives you better accuracy when cutting.  Seams stay pressed in the direction desired – either to the side or open.  And (bonus if you quilt your own quilts) starch makes the quilting process easier.

So how much starch should you use?  More than what is used when you iron clothes.  You want enough starch in the fabric that the fabric stops feeling like fabric and more like a piece of paper.  The starch should be pressed into the wrong side of the fabric and may take several applications.  Don’t saturate the fabric with starch and then try to press it until it’s dry.   This may distort the bias, and it leaves flakes of starch everywhere.  Spray several light applications of starch and press those into the fabric one at a time until the fabric feels like paper. 

When I mention this in a class I teach, the next complaint questions asked concern time (That takes too long!  I just want to quilt!) and doubts about how much the starch really helps.  Well, it’s kind of like this: Which kind of paper is sturdier, tissue paper or construction paper?  The obvious answer is construction paper.  Fabric is sort of like this.  Unstarched fabric – even if it hasn’t been prewashed to remove the finishes – is like tissue paper.  It can wiggle and move out of place under your rotary cutter.  A starched fabric is sturdier and stabilized.  It won’t move as you use your rotary cutter, and the bias or other cut edge won’t stretch out of shape. 

As far as starch goes, there are a variety of starches and starch substitutes on the market.  Some of them cost more than others and some work better than others.  When I use starch, or mention starch in my blogs, this is the kind I mean:

Spray starch.  There are other kinds of starches out there – other sprays, kinds you can mix yourself, and even liquid starches you can dip your fabric in.  The kind you use is a personal choice, just be sure to read the label.  Starch is made from grain, such as wheat, rice, or corn.  I’ve always heard because starch is created from a grain, they can attract silverfish and other critters, but personally, I’ve never had this happen.  This kind of starch – the “real deal” starch – holds a crease better than anything else.

One last word about starches.  Spray starch is readily found in grocery stores and drug stores.  It is also found in dollar store establishments.  Allow me to offer a word of warning: Not all spray starch is created equal.  The kind at dollar stores usually has a higher water content than the kinds at grocery and drug stores and may not work as well.

Don’t get spray starch confused with sizing.  Both come in aerosol spray cans and are usually found sitting side by side on the grocery store shelf.  Sizing is different from starch.  Sizing is plastic based, so it works great with synthetic fabrics.  However, it doesn’t give fabric the same stiffness that starch does.  Sizing is more like the finish that’s sprayed on quilting fabric before it’s put on the bolt. 

There are also starch substitutes available, such as Best Press and Flatter.  These are more like sizing than anything and they’re a bit on the pricey side.  A bottle of Best Press is currently $12.87 on Amazon and Flatter is $14.41 (also on Amazon).  A can of Niagra Spray Starch at my local grocery store is $3.59.  Best Press does have something called Best Press 2, which does leave your fabric truly feeling like a sheet of paper, but it is also expensive, clocking in currently at $12.87.

Terial Magic is another choice for making your fabric stiff.  This liquid can be found in a regular bottle or spray bottle.  With either, you saturate your fabric and let it hang to dry until the fabric is damp.  Then press it completely dry with a hot iron.  This product does leave your fabric really stiff, but the process takes longer than treating your fabric with spray starch.  However, it is messy and currently costs $15.49 for a 16 oz spray bottle.  I do think this is a handy-dandy notion to have on hand for non-quilty crafts.

While regular spray starch is my obvious preference, I do realize it can leave your pressing surface a mess.  I have found covering my ironing board or pressing surface with freezer paper is a great way to avoid those brown stains.  Cover the area with the freezer paper, use a hot, dry iron to press it in place, and you’re good to go.  When it needs changing, simply pull the freezer paper off and repeat the process.

• That ¼-Inch Seam is Pretty Important

This – keeping a consistent ¼-inch seam allowance – was one of the hardest skills for me to master.  I came from a garment construction background and the seam allowances are a bit bigger for most of those patterns.  That ¼-inch seam just looked so tiny compared to what I was used to.

However, let me add this:  The ¼-inch seam is NOT the Holy Grail of Quilting.

It’s not.  The finished size of your quilt block is as close to the Holy Grail of Quilting as you will come.

While it is true that most quilt patterns, or quilt drafting programs such as EQ8, use ¼-inch seam allowances and learning to sew a consistent one is pretty important, quite a few other elements work their way into the correct finished size of a quilt block. 

This is why it’s so important to make a test block preferably out of the same fabric you’re using for the rest of the quilt and using the same thread.  Make the block, pressing it as directed in the pattern as you go, and then measure it.  If the final product matches the finished size given in the directions, plus ½-inch for seam allowances (for instance, if the finished block should be 8-inches and your test block measures 8 ½-inches, the extra ½-inch is your seam allowance for joining the blocks together), you’re golden.  Cut out the rest of the blocks and get busy.

However…there are some factors that may contribute to the block being just slightly less than the required measurements.  Sometimes it’s the thread.  Personally, I like a two-ply, fifty-weight thread such as Aurifil.  It’s a thin, yet strong thread, that doesn’t take up a lot of room in the seam allowance.  If you’re block is coming up just a bit smaller than needed, you may want to switch up your thread.  Another factor which may shrink up your block a bit is your pressing.  Sometimes we don’t press blocks completely flat, but have a bit of a tuck, like this:

Those tucks keep the block from being completely flat and the block will be a bit smaller than needed.

Finally, we may not have a perfect ¼-inch seam indicator on our sewing machines.  If you have a machine which is specifically made for quilters, chances are your quarter-inch foot or mark on the throat plate is pretty accurate.  But you need to be sure.  You can measure over from the edge of the fabric to the to the needle tip with a measuring tape.  If that’s a quarter-inch, things are fine.  However, you may see you need to move the needle over a little to the left or right. 

There is also this tool:

The Perkins Perfect Piecing Seam Guide.  Generally found for around $7.00, the guide is placed under the presser foot.  There is a tiny hole exactly ¼-inch away from the edge of the guide.  When your sewing machine needle is positioned to cleanly go through this hole, you’ve achieved the perfect ¼-inch seam allowance.  Again, you may have to move your needle over either to the left or right to get it to insert in the hole, but you’ll have the assurance of knowing you are at the exact ¼-inch spot on your throat plate. 

There is also a test you can do yourself without the Perkins Perfect Piecing Seam Guild.  Cut three strips of fabric, one dark and two light, 2 ½-inches wide by 6 ½-inches long.  Sew them together along the long side of the strips, with the dark strip in the middle.  Press the seams towards the dark and then measure your block.  If the block measures exactly 6 ½-inches square, your ¼-inch seam allowance is dead on.

There are also quarter-inch presser feet available for most machine models.  Overall, these are really great, but it’s a good idea to do the fabric strip test mentioned above to be sure.  Sewing machines made primarily for quilters (e.g. “Quilter’s Editions”) usually have the quarter-inch foot thrown in as part of the package.  If your machine doesn’t have one, a generic one can be purchased, just be sure to know if your sewing machine is a high or low shank. 

Two last tips: First, some quilters simply opt for sewing everything at a scant ¼-inch seam allowance. This seam allowance is simply a thread or two less than a full quarter inch.  This scant quarter inch will allow for any thick thread or tucks made when pressing. 

There are scant quarter inch presser feet, too.  Second, if you’ve constructed a quilt block and it measures just shy of the required size, go back and re-press the block with the seams open.  This will free up a bit of the fabric taken up by pressing seams to one side and may make up the difference, so your block is the perfect size.

Again, let me emphasize while the ¼-inch seam is important, it’s not the Holy Grail of Quilting.  The finished size of the block is.  As you make a test block, it could become evident that you need to take a significantly smaller seam allowance or a larger one in order for the block to come out the size needed. 

• Strip Piece as Much as Possible

I wrote an entire blog on strip piecing – it’s history, how to do it, and how it’s so effective: https://sherriquiltsalot.com/2024/11/20/when-and-when-not-to-strip/.  Strip piecing saves time and fabric and is more accurate than cutting each individual piece of the block unit.  While you can’t strip piece everything, there are times you can.  It pays to know when this technique can be used and use it as often as possible.

• Pin or Glue Baste Your Seams

When I first began quilting, I came from a garment construction background.  Between setting in sleeves and collars, making buttonholes or putting in zippers, nothing was done quickly, and you secured everything with pins before you began sewing.  Some of the quilters who befriended me early in my quilt journey, didn’t use pins at all.  They simply held the fabric with their fingers and sewed – fast!  I assumed, by watching them, that pins weren’t necessarily needed in quilting.  However, as I had some struggles with the seams, I soon figured out that pins were still my friends, and I needed to use pins with my quilting.

Of course, pins are used to hold two solid pieces of fabric together, such as seams.  Some quilters pin parallel to the edge of the fabric and some pin perpendicular to it.  This is kind of a personal choice and what works best for you.  If I am pinning large pieces of fabric together (such as borders to the quilt center), I tend to pin parallel to the edges of the fabric.  I find this method holds things together better and supports the weight of the material. 

However, quilts have lots of seams and sometimes those seams must join together nicely.  There are a couple of ways I go about this.  First, if the pieces I need to sew together have nested seams, I place a pin so it intersects both seams and they stay nested.

If the seams do not nest, there is a technique you can use or a special pin to employ.  For the technique, be sure to match the seams, right sides of fabric together, and place a pin in the seam at an angle.  Don’t try to insert the pin in the fabric, just leave it standing at an angle.  Then insert two pins perpendicular to the fabric on either side of the seam.  This pinning technique tends to hold the seams in place well.

If you don’t want to use this technique, you may want to purchase fork pins:

Fork pins aren’t expensive and work well to keep fabric from shifting out of place.  Simply match your seams and pin perpendicular to the edge of the fabric, on either side of the seam.  The seams won’t shift and will match up nicely when you sew the block units together.  Fork pins also hold fabric weight well.  I have used them to sew heavy borders to a large quilt.

When sewing a pieced block or block unit to a solid piece of fabric (such as a quilt block to sashing), be sure to have the pieced block on top of the solid piece of fabric and pin it in place either parallel to the to the edge of the fabric or perpendicular, depending on which way works best for you (unless matching seams is part of this equation).  The reason you want the pieced unit on top is the presser foot is pushing the top fabric into the bottom one and it’s easier to keep things lined up. 

Pinning (and the use of a leader and ender) helps keep your fabric edges lined up when you begin sewing.  If you don’t have those pinned into place, as the feed dogs engage to move your fabric over the throat plate, they will grab the bottom layer first and then engage the top layer.  This will cause your fabric pieces to look like this:

Sidenote:  Also check your sewing machine’s manual to see if your machine has dual feed – this means it has two separate sets of feed dogs.  One set is beneath the fabric and the other is on top.  If your machine does have dual feed, this also helps to feed the fabric through evenly. 

Earlier, I mentioned pinning or glue basting.  There are certain types of quilting fabric I would much rather glue baste than pin.  The first is wovens or homespun.  Neither of these fabric types are tightly woven, so the larger holes allow the pins to slip out pretty easily.  A quick swipe of a glue stick and then a moment of drying allows the fabric to hold together.  I also glue baste quilting flannels.  The slickness of the fabric (due to a rayon/synthetic blend) means pins can slide out of place or the fabric can stretch, but glue basing keeps everything which needs to be held together, held together, until the seam is sewn.

• Learn to Appreciate Your Seam Ripper

We all make mistakes.  Sometimes the only person who is bothered by a mistake is us. Other times, the error may throw off quilt construction, and then a seam ripper will come into play.  It can undo any sewing mistakes, and you can begin again.  No one will know but you. Don’t be afraid to use the ripper.

Remember, the blade on a seam ripper does dull overtime.  Be sure to replace your seam ripper as needed.

• Square Up as You Go

Sometimes a quilt pattern will give you each block unit’s measurements as you make them. For instance, a pattern may tell you to make 18 four-patch blocks, and they should measure 4 ½-inches.  This is great information to have.  You construct your four-patch blocks, and then you can take them to your cutting mat and measure them, trimming if necessary to get the exact, needed measurement. 

Other patterns may not include each block unit’s measurements.  This is another reason test blocks are important.  You can measure each unit as you construct it and make notes on the pattern’s directions.  Typically I tend to make the first unit or two, and measure see how close I am to the needed measurements.  Then I can trim it down to size.  If something has gone terribly wrong, I’ve only messed up a couple of units, instead of 20 or 30.  As long as the initial units are good, I can construct a dozen or more and then trim. 

Squaring up like this – each block unit, then each row in the block, then the block itself– really gets your quilt block as close to perfection as you can.  There are too many factors in play if you wait until the very end of the construction process.

• Press Carefully

Before we go any further with this point, let me remind you that pressing is an up and down motion, not a back and forth one.  As you press your quilt block or unit, you literally lift the iron up and down so the block and its seams aren’t stretched out of shape.

As you press, be sure to press to the dark side, so there will be no shadowing and the seams will nest.  If your quilt pattern gives pressing directions, be sure to follow them.  Press the block flat, so there are no tucks.  And if your block is just a bit too small, try pressing the seams open.  This pressing technique can free up as much as 1/8^th of an inch of fabric per seam.

Finally, there is that age-old argument of steam or no steam as you press.  Personally, I like steam, but I would rather lightly spray my block with water and then iron it than keep water in my iron.  I think misting and then pressing works better – at least for me.  Again, this is a person decision.  The main objective is to press the block flat

It’s so wonderful to be a quilter now.  There are so many references and sources to search if you have a question or want to learn a new technique – unlike when I was struggling to learn in the early eighties.  What hasn’t changed too much are the basics – from starch to pinning to pressing.  To make a quilt block as perfect as possible, it’s the attention to the basics that makes the difference.

Until Next Week,

Love and Stitches,

Sherri and Felix