New to machine piecing

[Rita C.]

Hi and welcome Mathew. I wish I had thought to post this question when I started here. Looks like you have got lots of great answers. You are already ahead of where I started because your seams on the nine-patch look like they are nesting perfectly. I wouldn't even dare show my first quilt! It is too late to suggest that you start small and work your way up to a bigger quilt, but I wonder if you would be interested in getting involved in the mug rug exchange? If you have a look at the mug rugs done already you can see that there are lots of different kinds of designs that people have done, and lots of different levels of quilting too. It's a great way to learn different techniques on a small scale without feeling that you have messed up a whole pile of fabric. Think about it. Here's a link to the Show and Tell page: see-quilts/show-and-tell-quilts/

If you click on View new posts at the top of the page here you will find the forum page for the mug rug exchange. Go to the very first page and you will find the rules for exchanging. It's very easy to get involved and there will always be somebody who is willing to exchange a mug rug with you.

Anyway, quilting is about the journey so ENJOY THE RIDE.

[Catherine S.]

Welcome Matthew. You have been given lots of great advice. Check out the classroom section. Laura Nownes has a great sampler quilt and the lessons are great. Go to quilt shows. You can learn a lot just by looking at all the quilts. Besides they are fun and addictive too. I heard that Ste. Gene has a great quilt guild. They would probably be very helpful too. If you haven't bought a machine yet, shop around. Pick a dealer with great customer service. Feel free to ask them any machine questions you have. They should be the experts and willing to help you as needed.
If the Ste. Gene guild doesn't work out time wise, we have one in Perryville too. Yes, I am from just down the highway!!

[Catherine S.]

Yep, I was think that mug rugs would be perfect for machine work. You could try any techniques you would like to see if you like them without investing too much. Check it out and welcome to the forum.

[Catherine S.]

thank you all for the great advice and the encouraging words about my first quilt. its been a lot of hard work for me. and have had a few great teachers.

[Catherine S.]

I cannot find the rules for the Mug Rug exchange, i would like to be involved

[Rita C.]

Here's the link Mathew.

http://forum/friendship-triangle-exc...yourself-style

[Lois B.]

thank you all for the great advice and the encouraging words about my first quilt. its been a lot of hard work for me. and have had a few great teachers.

Good to hear from you again. All of us have had a few great teachers and we've all found that as quilters we cannot ever have enough great teachers which is why we've joined TQS. I can't tell you how much I have learned since I joined TQS. That's not just from the shows themselves but also from the community you are meeting here in the Forum. Many of the quilters who have already responded to you have great expertise and amazing training. Many of us check in here daily to ask questions and answer questions. Often we get off topic and chatter and joke. I for one checkout all the links in my emails to the Forum and when I am done with that I check out "View new posts" just to see what else is being discussed in the Forum. You'll not only learn a lot here but you will also make friends.

[Susan B.]

I've been going back through the classrooms, and really hadn't realized how many great "new quilter" classes there are. I like them because they don't take a whole hour to watch, the segments are much shorter. I hope you find them useful, and they are all available to you as a new member.

[Susan B.]

Hi Mathew, and welcome to the forum.

Starting any new hobby can be fraught with fear that we might mess up. You won't be turning out beautiful prizing winning heirlooms immediately, but likewise don't let the fear of messing up stop you from trying either. Tell yourself, that you can do it and jump on in anyway. Heather/Learning-as-I-go is an excellent example of this. If you go to the Classrooms section and look up the classes by Margo Clabo you will find some excellent tutorials to help you along (she will probably be along shortly with a link for her seam test which is very useful information too). Also if you have any queries/questions just post them on the forum and one of us will be along to help fairly soon. (We also like to chat about all sorts of things, do join in :wink: )

Since you are new to sewing machines,
a) take it slowly at first (just like learning to drive a car)
b) try and keep your hands to either side of the needle instead of having your fingers right in front of the needle where you might accidently sew into them. (At least until you confident to do this)
c) Practice - little & often is best. An exercise to get used to the machine &sewing straight lines - unthread the machine, take a sheet of lined paper and 'sew' on the lines. When you get good at that, try it with a sheet of unlined paper taking your first guide as 1/4" from the edge and then put the next stitching lines parallel to that.

And just remember there are no 'design mistakes' just 'design variations' - but don't be afraid to take the seam ripper to anything you are not happy with either, lots of us are best friends with out seam rippers :wink:

PS I learnt to use a machine as a teen for clothing and tend to be of the type that if it involves needle, thread & fabric I can probably do it (whatever the technique) and jump right in without worrying too much, but that is just me....

Awww! Just saw this, Rosemary; thank you! What a smile-putting-on thing to read this morning!! (well, almost lunch time, but whatever...).

Matthew, I started out piecing by hand as well, for about a year or so, maybe longer, before I got a machine. I had a relative give me an older Bernina, but I had *no clue* what I was doing and it would not work for me, no matter what. Very frustrating, and nearly turned me off machines all together. I completed my first quilt top by hand (and had a relative quilt it for me) and most of my 2nd top as well, though that one ended finished up by machine and is now with my dear friend/long arm quilter who's going to quilt it for me.

About a year ago, after nearly a year neglecting the gifted-to-me machine that I couldn't work, I bought a very base model machine from a dealer who offered a lesson on the machine. This was *key* in overcoming my fear. If you have access either to a shop or mentor who can show you the basics and make you do them over and over until you get them right --- threading the machine, threading & loading/inserting the bobbin, how to adjust tension and when, etc. --- this will go a long way. Or maybe you aren't as newbie to the machine as I was, in which case the forum ladies have given you great tips

That thread/stitch sampler suggestion --- brilliant. I'm constantly, still, playing with stitches on my machine. I don't have many, but whenever I want to try something new I get scrap fabric and scrap batting and do exactly that -- Stitch A, width 1, length 1. Now Stitch A, width 2, length 1. And so on, through the widths, lengths, and then the next stitch. It is amazing the different look you can get with very basic stitches, just tweaking the settings.

Also, yes, small projects to play around. Mug rugs, or place mats or table runners, or little wall hangings, or whatever. Or useful items like iPad/laptop/Kindle covers, for example. There are LOADS of great tutorials out there --- I've learned all by internet, as I have no one local to show me things, so I've mostly just dived (dove?) right in and give it a go.

Last biggest piece of advice --- don't let the fear stop you. My first quilt project, though not 1st finished, was a sampler/Diary Quilt. This was when I pieced by hand -- I had inset Y seams, curved piecing, embroidery, applique, etc. None of which I had ever done before. The Y seams ended up being appliqued, as I could NOT figure out that Y seam. Instead, I made the base of the block (the part that only needed straight lines) and then appliqued that onto the background instead of trying to inset the background pieces. Design change, not failure, as someone else said.

Ditto for the curved piecing. I did a moon-in-the-window setting of a drunkard's path (a circle inside a square). I had *NO CLUE* what I was doing. Pieced together the window (so then I had a whole big hole in the middle) and pieced the circle, and then realized I had no idea how to put the curves in. Hmmmm. I appliqued the circle over the empty hole. Problem solved

In other words.....you might have to change things, but don't let that stop you! Once you start with the machine you'll find out a fantastic thing ---- it is so much faster!!! Before the machine, I got one lap sized quilt pieced and blocks for another, as well as part of a baby quilt and part of a bed quilt. In *two years* time. Since the machine (only 12 months now) I've finished those 3 partials, including quilting 2 of them, started & finished 2 more bed quilts, started & finished a tree skirt, as well as small things --- place mats, Christmas stockings for my family, various costumes for my kids, etc. WOW!! Finally I have a chance of keeping up with my ideas (key word "chance of...")

Oh, one last note that surprised me --- you go through a LOT more thread with a machine. A LOT. I guess because of it being in the bobbin too, and the smaller stitches. Anyway, have fun, try anything you want, and just go for it!

[Diane M.]

Matthew,
Welcome. If you want to learn about needles and thread just go to Superior Threads website. I had to unlearn a lot after 40 years of sewing. Bob's DVD Thread Therapy is really good. They have a lot of education on their site and because of them I see the quilting as a fun place to play. I do use titanium needles now and they seem to last forever.
Diane in Wyoming
Janome 6600

[Jill B.]

Hey welcome Matthew, agree with what’s already been said, but I was also scared of my new computer sewing machine 7 years ago after not sewing for many many years and almost gave it away, but then after awhile I slowly stoped been intimidated by the machine........now I sew just about every day for hours, anyways take your time and start small by getting to know yourself using the machine

[Jill B.]

Hey Matthew, I just got an advert refering me to this class on Craftsy http://www.craftsy.com/class/sew-rea...paign=External which has the excellent price of free :wink: and would probably be of some interest to you.