
Originally Posted by
Denis
Cathryn,
First I have to say that teacher is a bit tooooo much! Can I use the word "anal" safely on this forum? LOL I think a teacher like that would have deterred me from continuing on with quilting.
A 1/4" seam allowance is important, but that comes with practice and familiarity with your machine and experience.
The reason why it is important is that each piece you sew together has to match the length of the next piece and so forth. For example, if I'm sewing two 2.5" squares together then join those to a 4.5" strip, I need to make sure my seam allowance is correct. My 2 original squares once sewn together should measure 4.5". If my seam allowance is greater, the squares will be too small and i would have to stretch them to fit my 4.5" strip. If my seam allowance is smalller, I would have to stretch my 4.5" strip to make it all fit. Mind you fabric does have some play in it so it can be stretched, but if you repeat this with every seam in your quilt, you will run into many problems as each strip or round you sew, the problem worsens exponentially. I've seen this many times, even on my own earlier works.
To test if your foot is 1/4", take a piece of paper and draw 2 lines 1/4" away from each other; use a very sharp pencil to do this. Set your paper under your needle. Bring your needle down on the left line, lower your foot and take a look at where your foot lays in proportion to the line on the right side. If it is off, move your needle to the left or right if it has this function. Also check and see if the 1/4" on your needle plate is in line with the edge of your foot. Dont' depend solely on your presser foot. Use the needle plate mark as well. After 10 yrs of quilting, I just figured this out and it helps me out alot more.