Beginner's Guide To Quilting - UK (2020-04)

All about...

PIECING

P

iecing your patchwork is

where the fun really begins.

You get to see smaller fabric

pieces slowly spring to life as they

become part of your finished project.

If you’re making a patchwork quilt,

you’ll often sew up smaller shapes into

larger units, or ‘blocks’ – which you then

piece together again to form a quilt top

(see our ‘Blocks’ chapter, starting on page

103). You can piece by hand or machine

• some quilters love hand stitching as it’s
  very therapeutic, while others opt for
  machine sewing as it’s faster and more
  durable. It’s entirely up to you!
  You’ll find all sorts of ways to sew fabric
  pieces together, depending on the shape
  of the pieces you’re working with, but here
  we’ll focus on the basics. We’ll start off
  with sewing straight seams (for example,
  piecing two strips of fabric together), then
  move on to sewing seams that join up
  with other seams. You’ll come across
  these when you rows of squares together.

GET TO GRIPS WITH SEAM ALLOWANCES

Getting the seam allowance right is an

essential for patchwork and quilting.

Once you get to grips with this, you’ll

understand one of the key building blocks

of making perfect patchwork. When

you’re sewing-up patchwork shapes, units

and blocks, a ¼in (6mm) seam allowance

is normally used. In fact, a scant ¼in

(slightly less than ¼in) is recommended,

because a small amount of fabric is taken

up when your press the seam.^1

Make sure you sew with a consistent

¼in seam allowance throughout your

projects, unless you’re working with

instructions that say otherwise. This will

help to make sure your fabric pieces fit

together once your final project is

assembled. You can check your seam

allowance by sewing two pieces of scrap

fabric together and measuring the sewn

seam with a ruler. If the seam is too wide

or too narrow, adjust the needle position

on your machine.

PIN IT TOGETHER

Tempting as it is to reach straight for

your needle or sewing machine, hold off a

moment! You’ll find it’s much easier if you

pin your pieces together first. This will

help you to line up your edges neatly,

ensure your pieces fit together well and

keep the fabric stable as you stitch.

Place your pins at right angles to the

seam you want to sew, so that they can be

sewn over by the machine without you

having to remove them. 2

If you prefer, you can place your pins in

line with the seam, but you’ll need to

remove them as the machine needle

reaches them.^3

If you’re sewing a very short seam –

for example when stitching two small

patchwork squares together – you

probably won’t need to use pins, but the

longer the seam, the more pins you

should use, especially those that intersect

with other seams. It may seem fiddly but

will ensure a far better finish.^4

So you’ve cut your fabric shapes, now it’s time to sew them

up! Before you jump in it’s worth taking a bit of time to find

out how to get the best results. We’ll show you how...

Patchwork Made Easy

40 Beginner’s Guide to Quilting

¼in seam

allowance

Wrong side

of fabric

Place your pins

at right angles

to the seam,

like this.

Or place them

in line with the

seam, like this.

HOW TO MEASURE THE SEAM ALLOWANCE HOW TO PIN SEAMS

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