Show 710

[Eileen K.]

I have a question about teaching someone to quilt. A friend and I are helping another friend learn to quilt. Whenever I bring up the importance of the 1/4" seam, straight stitching and proper pressing techniques my "teacher" friend lets our "student" friend off the hook saying there's time for that later. My feeling is that if good habits are learned early, bad habits won't have to be unlearned later. :?
Am I right about this? Am I just being a b#$%h about it? :roll:
Thanks for any and all advice here. Your opinions mean a lot to me.

[Eileen K.]

Eileen, definitely it is important to start with the idea of the 1/4" importance. It makes it so much easier all the way around. (No unlearning later on).

[Margo C.]

It is absolutely important! Just like measuring accurately and cutting accurately and pressing accurately. If you want to finish with a 2" square patch, all of those things need to be considered and stressed! It will make the final assembly of a block or a quilt top ever so much less stressful!

[Margo C.]

It is so much easier to learn anything correctly in the beginning than it is to unlearn and then learn correctly later. If you indicate your "teacher" friend was or is a teacher, she should already know this. Marge, a teacher in retirement.

[Jill B.]

I have only been patchworking for about five years and at the beginning thought I was very clever by teaching myself......aaahhhh what a mistake that was I can tell you.......after joining TQS I have found out the easy but CORRECT and best way to do so many things....the 1/4 inch seam what was that back then, I had messy blocks by not knowing how important that is along with the others you mentioned.

It's a shame it is not working out for you.

[Jill B.]

I have a friend who sews clothing and now wants to learn to quilt. The first thing I thought of, that is different in quilting than in sewing clothing, is that in quilting we use a 1/4" seam allowance and in clothing we generally use a 5/8" seam. So, I think it is one of the most important things a novice quilter should learn.

[Eileen K.]

It is so much easier to learn anything correctly in the beginning than it is to unlearn and then learn correctly later. If you indicate your "teacher" friend was or is a teacher, she should already know this. Marge, a teacher in retirement.

Marge,
I just used the word teacher to differentiate between her and the friend who's learning. I shouldn't really have said it the way I did, it's mostly the girl who's learning. She can't be bothered to listen. I've stopped saying anything at all except when I'm asked a direct question.

[Karen M.]

It is so much easier to learn anything correctly in the beginning than it is to unlearn and then learn correctly later. If you indicate your "teacher" friend was or is a teacher, she should already know this. Marge, a teacher in retirement.

Marge,
I just used the word teacher to differentiate between her and the friend who's learning. I shouldn't really have said it the way I did, it's mostly the girl who's learning. She can't be bothered to listen. I've stopped saying anything at all except when I'm asked a direct question.

The saddest thing about keeping your council unless asked a direct question Eileen is your "student" is missing out on your knowledge as a quilter who has been there, done that and learned to do it the correct way already. I realize that some people have to learn the hard way, but it can be so irksome when you already know the way down the path to a great quilt instead of one that needs more correction than a newbie can fathom. Maybe your other "teacher" friend needs to have a listen to a show and tell lesson on the difference between a crooked not so quarter inch seam vs a carefully sewn perfect quarter seam...AND a look at a block that feature one of each. Just thinking that could maybe help since a picture is worth a thousand ignored words. :!:

[Karen M.]

Eileen, I think she was in my class as a teen--or someone just like her perhaps. Kake's idea of showing the difference between a well-sewn block and a "good-enough" block is a good one. Failing that, she's an adult and not much you can do if she doesn't want to learn. Marge

[Margo C.]

Pick the kind of work you want to produce, and then do what it takes to get there!

[Norma H.]

Wow, Mago, you are genious. Your photo made me laugh. I have never seen a block like that and it would be very difficult to figure out how to do the one to the right .

[Jo H.]

Margo, that picture is priceless. But you know, the frumpy block is kind of cool looking too in a primitive kind of way!

[Hannelore N.]

Hey, Margo, how did you manage to get hold of my block??? ........................ Can I, please, have it back! ............. It's the one on the left!!

Seriously: I'm quite relaxed and can live with 'flawed perfection', but I'm very glad that my first quilting teacher gently, but with steely determination, insisted on accuracy. Having had such a solid start means that I can get it right (if I want to). I even own a large can of spray starch!

[Margo C.]

Hey, Margo, how did you manage to get hold of my block??? ........................ Can I, please, have it back! ............. It's the one on the left!!

Seriously: I'm quite relaxed and can live with 'flawed perfection', but I'm very glad that my first quilting teacher gently, but with steely determination, insisted on accuracy. Having had such a solid start means that I can get it right (if I want to). I even own a large can of spray starch!

[Susan D.]

The first quilting classes I took, back in the 80's, were based on Mary Ellen Hopkins' "It's OK..." book. If I recall, the exact 1/4" seam wasn't emphasized. You worked with the "approximate" 1/4 inch seam that your machine produced, and you adjusted block sizes accordingly. Your machine created your "PPM"--Personal Private Measurement. As a beginner, it worked for me--I had success with nine patches, Irish chains, rail fences, and log cabins. I went on to more classes, and more complicated blocks and learned the importance of that accurate 1/4" seam. Since I had already mastered the beginner basics of piecing, it wasn't hard to adjust to more accuracy.
Hope your friend comes to enjoy the whole process!
Sue