Your tips are great, one main key for me is PATIENCE, don't rush it and take your time! I've had to learn this that all those little steps make a Huge difference!! ❤ 😊
Tip #4 has helped my blocks come out nearly perfect. #6 has kept me from ripping insanity. And I always make one test block as well. The funny thing is I have a ton of them in a box but didn’t know what to do with them. I decided this year I am going to make a “crazy test block picnic quilt”.
I think time and experience is really the best teacher. Until you get a few quilts under your belt you really don’t know what you are doing. Not quilting when you are tired and slowing down are also important things to remember ❤
Love all of your tips. The one thing I do is always read my pattern completely so that if there is something different I know ahead of time. I also press my fabric before I start. I know some people don't follow this rule sometimes. I also cut and label my fabric to help keep me organized. Thanks again for all of your tips.
Your tips are all great. I had a quarter inch foot that was never a quarter inch. I didn't know I could move the needle over two spaces, but when I found out I could, it changed my life. Perfect quarter inch!!!!!
I can not thank you enough for these fabulous tips.. once I started utilizing them in my piecing... My blocks have looked so much better. The one thing I would add is to take your time and enjoy the process. It's not a race. 😂
You two together are a delight to watch - I can’t wait to get to my machine and get sewing. My Lighthearted Jolly Bar and fabrics arrived today and they are even more beautiful in person! I recently finished a Swoon baby quilt and have started a wedding quilt for my cousin made with your patchwork swoon pattern and Sunnyside fabrics. I am saving my Nantucket stash for your sailboat pattern and can’t wait for your next line to come out. I’m a total fan - thanks so much for your beautiful designs and just love hearing the background of how you do them.
Always learning from you Kimberly. The most important thing I've learned is to Pin, Pin, Pin. I've always hated to pin, but using thin pins works for me. Thanks to you and your team for all you do.
My quilting has improved so much using your tips! Congratulations on 20 years! I can't thank you enough for sharing all you do with us. Your company is amazing!
Making the pieces bigger and then trimming down and squaring them to the proper size helps my accuracy. I’m still old school and prewash my fabric so pressing is a must but adding starch has been a game changer too. I love Lori’s boards to keep my blocks organized and need to make some more in various sizes.
Newer quilter and I watch and do what Kimberly tells me to do 😊. With lots of patience, I can tell I’m getting better with each project. Thanks for all the videos and tips ❤
I love all your tips. I learned with you to starch, and now I try to starch all the fabric and iron it before I start. You have taught me accuracy and I’m so grateful. I have really fallen in love with quilting. We love you ❤️
Thanks for putting all these tips in one video. I have learned so much from you and by implementing some of your techniques I have more accurate blocks and more enjoyment in my sewing because I am not struggling to make the piecing “fit”. Starching, pinning, and good pressing are key to good blocks.
Thank you for sharing! I’m. Fairly new quilter and have struggled with how blocks are supposed to look and accuracy. I’ve been looking for these tips! Thank you!! Cozette
One of the first things I do is check the pattern for corrections or updates before starting my project. Make sure I have a new needle in my machine, and then I follow all of your quick tips! Thank you so much.
I do every one of those now that I have been watching kimberly! They have all been a game changer! The only thing I didn’t realize is the consistency of “keeping the ruler throughout the project”. Good tip!
I don't use pins as they make the fabric a bit bumpy,, I love wonder clips, I feel they work great for me. Also if using precuts mixed with your own stash that you cut strips from, always measure the precuts as they rarely are super accurate in size and when you try to mix them with fabric you've cut it will be off
Great tips! Your blocks are always so crisp and beautiful. A clothes drying rack for starching is a great idea. I have been having a lot of success with the Acorn Easy Precision Piecing products you sell. Not for every project, but I like it for blocks with smaller pieces and lots of points that need to line up. Thanks for such useful and educational content!
Yes to the starching and pinning! Because I do these two things my piecing is always so much better! If I don’t do these two things I will always have trouble matching my points.
I so enjoy all your videos. They are so informative and helpful. I'm a beginner quilter so I need all the help I can get. These are great tips. I've used Mary Ellen's Best Press but since watching your videos, I started spray starching and I can tell the difference! The fabric doesn't fray as much either. Thank you for your willingness to share.
Im with you on starching I may over starch I buy big jugs of stay -flo starch I use full strength , the I let it dry ,oh and I starch before I cut ,then when I piece I always use Faultless to press seams open , I know some people say that it leaves open seams but mine never had because I stitch at 1,8 . and Thank you for all your Tips .
I do all the same tips as you except instead of starch, I use Ellen's Best Press on my fabric. Not sure how much different the two are, but, I don't always wash my finished quilts and I feel like it is safer for the long haul. On tip # 10 as long as my block is within a 1/8" of the needed size, I leave it. I pin the areas that are too short and trim like you do the fabric over the quarter inch of points. I like to trim all my thread on the quilt top after the quilt top is complete before quilting it. It keeps the stray threads from coming up in the seams and my LAQ loves me for it.
Great tips Kimberly. I recommend everyone test their 1/4 inch foot. After doing this I realized mine wasn't accurate! No wonder my blocks were always a bit too small. Now I know to move my needle 2 clicks right when using that foot.
I steam iron my backings to preshrink the fabric. I starch fabric for top when i know i hv enough fabric. I put washi tape at 1/4 " on my machine all the down. I follow your tips for sure!!!
On my last two projects I washed my fabrics. I took them out of the washer and to my sink filled with starch water and then line dried, then cut. It was less stringy and seemed to piece together more easily.
the best HSTs I make are used with triangles on a roll...that is a great tip and I do want to try the flying geese as I often avoid making a particular block if it has too many geese! And Kimberly, I've been sewing a lot longer than you LOL ... your tips here are outstanding
I started to starch heavier, to get my fabric really stiff and it’s such a 💡 moment in my quilting journey. I have a practice block I am making and am excited to get my points to align.
I have started pinning a lot more lately. Especially where I have seams coming together in the block that really matter. I like that I can push a pin thru and lift up the top fabric to see if it goes thru the seam on the other piece so I know they are going to line up once sewn.
I started quilting about a year ago and I so wish that I knew about the Fat Quarter Shop and all your videos back then!! I have learned so much and I really appreciate all you do! Congratulations on reaching this milestone and Best Wishes for the future 😊
I love your tips! I have gotten much more accurate because of your videos! Thank you! Something that helps me stay accurate that you didn’t mention is how you iron. Don’t rock your iron. Press with it. It can distort hst especially is you rock it. Thanks for your amazing company and products!
My blocks come out precise now because I follow what you suggest. I'm not perfect at it but they are much better and I'm not stressed because they won't lay even next to each other. Patiences has never been one of my qualites. Thank you
Thank you Kimberly for great tips! I really liked your last tip the most out of all on how to assess and trim a unfinished block at the end. I think I thought it had to be exactly on 12.5”. Then I was frustrated as to why mine didn’t come exactly 12.5” but just shy of less than 1/8th”. When I measured my blocks they all have nice 1/4” seam to sew with other blocks so I think I was being overly fussy thinking it must come to 12.5”. I feel better now I know it doesn’t have to be exactly but just make sure I have good 1/4” seam and I do! I also loved the tips on using papers you sell at the shop to help me create more accurate flying geese and hourglass blocks. I would definitely check out the paper piecing. I still think my skills can be improved because after ironing if I press the seam to one side it can be pretty thick. I don’t like it. So at the end of making a block I usually press seams open if I don’t have to sew them together for points meeting or anything. That way I can keep seams flatter. I also use steam once the seams are pressed so they’re flatter. Then use tailors clapper too which I learned how to use from Lori’s wonderful tutorials. I have two large tailors clappers now. I want to purchase dry iron also like Lori’s dry irons. I think Panasonic has nice dry iron so I am eyeing on that. Lol. This was a great tutorial thanks so much! 🙏🏻
Hi Kimberly, thanks for all your tips. I have been quilting for years but have just recently started starching. I have one question for you, when you saturate your fabric do you let it dry completely then press it then cut it? I'm usually in a hurry to get started so I don't wait but wondering how you do it? I will be ordering some of the pins you use as well! Thanks so much for your videos, I've learned so much from you!!
Starching is awesome! I don't like that it shrinks the fabric but I do enjoy how much easier it is to use the fabric. So thank you for teaching me that tip when I started quilting in February.
Love all your tips... Starching (depending on the pattern) and design boards what a game changer. It has helped me stay organized with my blocks and helps with my piecing.
I’ve incorporated all these tips from Kimberly and it has greatly improved my piecework! The only thing I could add is to sew what you like. P. S. Alphabitties are super helpful to organize your cutting!
I have learned so much from you through the years. Starching for me is a must as well as pinning. I used to hate to cut fabric until I learned starching and got a longer ruler. Now I love to cut. I also like to use alphabitties when I put everything on the design boards. That way I’m always organized and make sure I am using the right fabrics for each block. Congratulations on 20 years.
For starching large pieces, I put up a shower curtain pole such that it hangs over the tub. The fabric fits perfectly. Then I use the Sta-Flo liquid starch at 1/3 starch to 2/3 water. I put the mixture into one of those insecticide sprayers (a small half gallon one) and spray my fabric. It’s not like aerosol so you don’t breath in all the fumes. Works great!
Thank you for all your tips Kimberly! I think one thing that I haven't been doing is cutting my prices larger than necessary. I'm a bit on the hefty side of sewing my seams bigger than needed. It's not much but if I started with a bigger piece of fabric I'd probably end up much happier with my block.
Starching saved my sanity! I have a quilt completely cut out, but I never finished it. I couldn’t get my points right which made me so frustrated. I learned about starching from Kimberly during the Charming Baby SAL, and I haven’t turned back. Pinning is up there in my best tips as well. My other favorite is TOAR. This paper saves so much time and provides the accuracy that makes my blocks look their best. 💕
My tip is to make sure you start and stop your unit at the 1/4". Line your unit up at the start touching the needle and aligned against your seam guide. When you reach the end of your unit, continue to guide the fabric so that the stitching doesn't trail off away from the guide.
