"Aha!" Sewing Tips from Quilt Designers
"When sewing quilts that have bulky seams intersecting, like pinwheels, press those seams open. This will help the quilt lay flatter and make it easier for the machine to glide over the quilt when it's being quilted." -Natalia Bonner of Piece N Quilt
"I resisted for a long time, but I really am finding that starching and ironing fabrics does make for more accurate piecing, especially with mini quilts and small piecing." -Sherri McConnell of A Quilting Life
"The product that changed my life was Steam-A-Seam 2. A local quilt shop gave me a package and asked me to play around with it. They had no idea what to do with it. I never read the directions, I just started to play. Once I fused it to the back of my fabrics I found when I removed the release paper, it was sticky! Ah! Paint is sticky also and sticks to my canvas. Light bulb moment! Could I paint a painting only using fusible fabrics? So I started cutting out shapes like they would be brush strokes. I used a flower photo for my inspiration and next thing you know I'm traveling the world, speaking to guilds, teaching and writing a book and patterns on this technique." -Melinda Bula
"I get that aha moment every single time I replace the blade in my favorite rotary cutter. It cuts like a hot knife through butter and I get so excited!" -Kimberly Einmo
"I always make my binding when I finish each project. I bundle them up and tie the bundles with leftover scraps. It helps me keep track of the quilt tops that I've sent to the quilter, and I don't forget and use the fabric in another project! Sometimes I even tuck little notes under the ties to help me remember what quilt it goes to. I'm ready to sew the binding on when the quilt is quilted without delay." -Barbara Groves of Me and My Sister Designs
"I love my new Oliso iron. I have some pretty bad scars from iron burns, but I'm hazard free with the new iron!" -Sherri McConnell of A Quilting Life
"My biggest aha moment came when I realized I don't have to feel guilty about not quilting the majority of my own quilts. So now I happily consider my quilt tops finished as soon as they are boxed up and sent out to one of my longarm quilting friends, and I move ahead to making the next quilt!" -Kimberly Einmo
"Mary had a very big aha moment a few years ago. She always used an inexpensive can spray starch. When she switched to a more expensive spray bottle version, we noticed that blocks were turning out wonky and nothing was matching up properly. Through trial and error we discovered that starching well before cutting her fabric and not starching in between took care of the problem." -Mary Jacobson of Me and My Sister Designs