This is the lesson in quilting that I wish I had known before starting. If you have been following along with this beginner quilting series you will know that one of the quilting tools you need to purchase is a 1/4” presser foot. Sadly, I didn’t know that existed when I made my first quilting project.
Sewing 1/4" Seam
There are many ways to find your quarter inch without the 1/4” presser foot. One of those ways is to put a ruler under your machine. Put your needle on the 1/4” line of your ruler and put tape off the edge of your ruler.
The next way you can do this is by buying the Diagonal Seam tape from Cluck Cluck Sew. I mostly use this to stitch and flip corners. However, this same tape has a line of 1/4” on either side of the center red line. This would be a consumable quilting item but also one that would be more useful than the method listed above.
The last way is to get a 1/4” presser foot for whatever machine you have. I highly recommend this as this is my preferred way of sewing an accurate 1/4”.
There are a couple of types of this presser feet. I have the 1/4” presser foot without a guide. If you want more certainty, then the 1/4” presser foot with a guide might be what you are looking for. The 1/4” foot with a guide has the benefit of a small guard rail that lets you sew without making your 1/4” bigger.
Put it to the Test
So no matter which method you choose to go with you will still need to do a 1/4” seam test. Take 2 – 2 1/2” squares and sew them together.
Easy!
I used a black thread to sew with so you could more easily see my sewing line. As you also may have noticed my 1/4″ is right next to the 1/4″ mark on my ruler which is exactly where I want it. This is NOT a scant 1/4″ which I can talk about in a different post.
After you have sewn these two squares together press them with your iron and check the size of your square with a ruler. The rectangle you made should measure 4 1/2” x 2 1/2”. If this is the case then your quarter inch is great.
Congratulations!
Just keep practicing getting that 1/4” and you will do great.
If you find your rectangle is too small then your 1/4” seam is too big. If your rectangle is larger then your 1/4” seam is too small.
Story Time
Now for my very first quilt project, I had decided on making a quilt-as-you-go strip quilt. My machine right out of the box had the 1/4” seam marked right on the presser plate of the machine. So I decided to follow that without checking anything.
HUGE mistake.
I sewed the project together and it turned out great…at first.
I decided to wash the quilt after my oldest son had played with it for a bit. This is where I found out I made a horrible mistake. When I looked in the dryer I saw that all my seams had busted open. Showing the batting of my quilt project. I was so hurt. My only consolation was my son wasn’t old enough to miss his first quilt.
That is when I went online and purchased the 1/4” presser foot that I didn’t know I needed.
If you are a beginner, let me know how your 1/4” seam test goes. If you have been sewing for a while what are some quilting mistakes you made in the beginning?
