Here are your Diva tips of the day, all in one place. Thanks Jess, these are great tips!
Tip of the day: Some folks like to put their ironing board next to their sewing table, low enough to iron while sitting, so they can sew and iron without ever standing up. However, I like to get up and walk to my ironing board and give my muscles a good stretch every now and then. Ultimately I can sew longer and get more done if I keep myself moving. Where is your ironing board?
You know that sliver of bar soap that's always left at the end? You can use the edge of it to mark your quilts for quilting.
What do you generally use to mark your quilts?
When cutting out pieces of fabric for a quilt, use the lines on your ruler, rather than the lines on your cutting mat, to measure. The lines on your cutting mat can become distorted over time and sometimes they aren't accurate to begin with.
Don't have wall space for a design wall? Tape batting and/or flannel to the back of a door for a makeshift small design wall. You'll be surprised how handy even a small design wall can be!
To avoid the dreaded 'v' syndrome when cutting strips, make sure the fold on your fabric is straight and perpendicular (at a 90 degree angle) to the lines you are cutting.
Most of us know not to store our rotary mats in direct sunlight, since it will warp them. Also, store them flat (not on end), or you may warp them anyway. Same rules apply to rulers, since they will also warp and distort.
When cutting triangles, patterns may have you cut some squares once diagonally and some squares on both diagonals. Do you know why? It depends on where the triangle is going to land in the project; the designer is trying to make the straight of grain land on the outside of the block or quilt top.
When working with fusible appliqué, use parchment paper to protect your ironing board cover and other surfaces from the fusible product you choose to use. (I like Steam-a-seam and sometimes Misty Fuse, and I try to cut out the center of the fusible and only fuse the edges of the pieces for a softer end product.)
Quilters used to use cooking ingredients like cocoa powder, cinnamon, baking powder, and corn starch to pounce mark their quilts for quilting. In a pinch, out if chalk? You might have something in your pantry that will do! (Be sure to test it on a scrap of fabric first, as you would do with anything you put on a quilt to mark it.)
Diva Designer tip 8/8/11
Instead of marking the line to sew on the backs of tons of squares, try using wide sticky notes as a sewing guide. I used the same two sticky notes to sew over 300 seams and saved a chunk of time!
Always "set" your seam first, by pressing it the way it was sewn before pressing the seam one direction or the other. This sinks the thread into the fabric and reduces the bulk of the seam (which is really nice when quilting!).
