Uncategorized

This post was originally posted at It’s Sew Kiki when we did a blog swap in August – I hope you will find it useful!

Hi! My name is Melissa and I blog at Sew BitterSweet Designs. I am so excited to be here today on It’s Sew Kiki! I just love Kiera’s blog.  I have been quilting for about 10 years now and have finally begun to understand the importance of a 1/4 in and scant 1/4 in seam in quilting and I thought I would share some of what I have learned with you today.

Me & my inspiration

When I started sewing I used my mom’s, then brand new, Janome quilting/embroidery machine. I am still sewing on a Janome machine but this time, I am the one with a brand new one.  Getting a brand new machine has its ups and downs; the only real downside is the really HUGE learning curve. I had to relearn how to sew a 1/4 in seam on my new machine.  Today I am going to share with you a few tips and some tricks on how to get a perfect 1/4 inch seam AND a scant 1/4 inch seam.

 

• Seamstress Ruler
• Clear plastic cutting square
• Moleskin
• Sticky Note Pad
• 1/4 Presser Foot
• Blue Painters Tape

There are multiple ways to ensure an exact 1/4 inch when sewing, here are a few of the methods I have used over the years – and I tried each of these on my new Janome Horizon before settling on the one that has given me the best and most consistent results. I have also used these on my older, very basic Janome machine.

Blue tape is an excellent option for sewing with an exact 1/4 inch. Just line up your fabric and keep it lined up.  The draw back is that there is no defined edge to butt your fabric to, so you may find that your fabric wanders from time to time.

I like the sticky pad because it provides a raised edge which will help prevent your fabric from wandering and keeps your stitching straight. The drawback is that they tend not to stick very well for very long.

I LOVE moleskin for sewing a 1/4 inch seam.  It is sticky all over on the bottom so when you put it on your machine it isn’t going anywhere. Sadly that is also the drawback, when you take it off to do other sewing it tends to leave a sticky residue that you will need to clean off before moving on to another project.

My absolute favorite method is also the most expensive method (sorry). The 1/4 inch presser foot. Almost all sewing machine manufacturers make a foot similar to this one and they can be purchased online at a decent price.  This foot is great because you don’t have to worry about sticky residue and it was designed to work with the idiosyncrasies of YOUR machine.

Note: this foot will not necessarily give you a perfect 1/4 in or a scant 1/4 in seam right out of the gate, you will most likely need to adjust your needle position to get the seam allowance that you want. The foot is intended more as a guide.

You may be asking yourselves “why does she keep talking about a scant 1/4 in seam? What is the difference?”

It is the difference between have a block that measures exactly 12.5 inches and one that measures 12.375 inches.  If you cut accurately and sew an exact 1/4 seam every time odds are your block looks something like this:

However, if you are sewing with a scant 1/4 in seam (meaning just UNDER 1/4 in) your block should look something like this:

This block required NO trimming and measures exactly 12.5 inches square.  Good luck figuring out the best method for you and your machine on getting a 1/4 in seam and a scant 1/4 in seam.

 

If you’ve stopped by from Love Affair – thank you so much for coming over! I’m so happy you’re here!

Make sure you stop by my welcome post and enter to win my giveaway!

Today I am wrapping up my vacation in Idaho. I have had such a wonderful time. I got to meet my bestie’s baby girl, play with her son, and take my daughter on a boat ride for the first time.

We did so much with the time we had here. I helped Mrs. L learn how to use her new walking foot, bought the backing for the quilt she is making her son (my birthday gift to him), showed her the quilt I made for her daughter’s first birthday (check out this post to see it), and relaxed and recharged my batteries.  We decided that we need to start getting together like this at least 2 times per year. Once at her house and once at mine.  That way we are both doing the same amount of driving AND we get to see each other more often.

Some “quilting” did actually get accomplished while I was here – we pin basted Mrs. L’s first quilt! We ended up trying 2 different backings – the first one was a few inches too short, and the second one was too, luckily we had a brand new seam ripper sitting nearby and we were able to “make it work” as Tim Gunn would say.

 

When I get back home I have to get my block for Block Swap Adventures into the mail – it has been done for awhile but for some reason it hasn’t made it to the post office yet.  I also have to write up a Christmas block tutorial for the Christmas Quilt-Along going on over at Quilting Gallery.

I have a lot of fun ideas up my sleeve, the two that are topping my list are both paper pieced. One is my “Old Snowflake” block. I really love how it turned out and I think it is a beautiful seasonal block.

What do you think? Would you like to learn how to make this block? Is there another Christmas block you are dieing to figure out that you think I should do instead?

I used to be a prolific reader. Every night I would take some time for myself, pick up a good book, snuggle under the covers and read for 20 – 30 minutes. The nice thing is that my husband would do the exact same thing. While we would read different types of books it was nice because it gave us one more thing to talk about. Some nights, instead of reading myself, I would lay there and listen to my husband read out loud to me – he has the kind of voice that can lull me into a nice peaceful sleep.

I have found since moving that we have gotten out of this habit. We have been so busy adjusting to my hubby’s new commute and crazy work schedule that when the end of the comes we literally just fall into bed and pass out. I miss our reading. It was a nice way to decompress after a long busy day of toddler chasing.

I have decided to set a new goal for myself (in the hopes that my hubby’s work schedule calms down some – maybe I am being a little too hopeful on that one!)…I want to spend at least 20 minutes every night reading. I’m not setting a goal as to what I will be reading – in fact I am starting out with baby steps – I am re-reading the Harry Potter series for probably the 12th time.

My mom left me several mystery novels the last time she came to visit and those will be next.  What about you? Do you take the time to decompress at the end of the day? How do you decompress?

This week I am on vacation.  I needed a little break from the daily grind so I packed my toddler into the car (along with everything a toddler needs – good thing my car is big!) and I headed out on a 6 hour car ride to Idaho.  My GPS said I should have arrived around 3pm, but what with stopping for food, diaper changes, and toddler running breaks it was a lot more like 5pm.

I am visiting my oldest friend in the world – we have been friends for almost 20 years now. The crazy part is that we met in middle school in California, and somehow we both ended up in the Pacific Northwest only a 6 hour drive apart. It is so wonderful having her so close – we usually get together once a year for a baby play date and recharging of mommy batteries.

The baby was sleeping in the stroller while the older ones got some energy out at the park.

Don’t think I have been doing any sewing while I have been here, I just haven’t been doing any for myself!  I spent last night helping my bestie learn how to use the brand new walking foot that we bought for her machine yesterday.  Let me tell you, she has made a handful of quilt blocks, one quilt top and now one completed wall hanging.  For only quilting for 4 months now…she’s got some mad skills!

Us mommies stayed up until after midnight visiting and quilting last night, and Mrs. L got the entire Pink Fairy wall hanging quilted!

She did such a great job!  I am so happy for her, she is a lot like me in that she has fallen in love with quilting because of the instant gratification factor. As soon as you sew a few seams you know if you are going to like it, you have instant results!!!

That’s my week in review – taking my first solo vaca with my baby, seeing my oldest friend in the world, lots of baby play and some quilting at night!  Don’t think that I just abandoned my hubby with no thought – he has been working crazy long hours this past month and he said that since he can’t spend time with us during the week he wanted us to go and have fun! My only worry is coming home to a completely empty fridge and an overload of unwashed laundry 🙂

What are you doing this week?

Hello fellow bloggers and blog stalkers! I am Melissa, I used to blog with Sunni from Love Affair With My Brother. If you are a follower of Love Affair, than you probably noticed this past summer that when I posted quilt tutorials that the pictures I posted said something along the lines of “BitterSweet Baby Quilt Designs”. Well….that is because I have been toying around with the idea of launching my own separate blog AND business. It took all summer to settle on a name and that name is Sew BitterSweet Designs – I guess you could say I have finally decided to take the plunge!

The BitterSweet is in honor of my daughter. Her name means Bitterly Gracious – and I choose to interpret that as BitterSweet. She is the light of my life and at the core of most everything that I do – so naturally she is at the heart of my blog and future business too.

You have seen some of the quilts I have been designing all summer, and I have more up my sleeve! I just purchased Electric Quilt 7 and I plan to put it to good use, designing new, innovative, and modern designs for quilters of all skill levels!

I hope you will take some time if you are new and check out some of my tutorials and see what I can do.

I have so much in store for this blog including: tutorials for new and experienced quilters alike, free patterns and tutorials, and my adventures in trying to break into the pattern designing world! I hope you will follow along with me via Google Friend Connect or Twitter (I’m still working on getting a Facebook Page)!

I also thought it might be fun to kick things off with a little giveaway!  I am giving away a fat quarter bundle of Robert Kaufman’s Pooches and Pickups by Laurie Wisbrun.  I am also giving away a charm pack of Retro Thirties Prints.

This Giveaway is now Closed

To enter you must be a follower! There will be 2 entries per person:

1. Tell me something sewing/quilting related that you really want to learn!
2. Tweet, Facebook, or Blog about this giveaway – giving me the link so I can check it out!

This giveaway will close on Sunday September 25th, 2011 at midnight – I will announce the winners on Monday – there will be TWO!