My Favorite Tips
Making Non-skid Ruler With Clear Vinyl
This is a tip I learned a long time ago to make your quilting rulers not slide or slip around as easily when rotary cutting.
Go to a fabric store where you can purchase the clear vinyl table cloth by the yard. Purchase the amount you need for the rulers you would like to place this on.
Cut a piece just barely smaller than your ruler. Place this on the back of your ruler, smoothing it out as you go.
This will stay put and makes your ruler now a “non-sliding/slipping” ruler. It can easily be removed whenever you no longer want to have it on your ruler.
Glow-Line Tape For Marking Cutting Line
Here’s a good tip to help make sure that you are cutting the correct width of fabric each time when rotary cutting. It’s very easy to get distracted while rotary cutting and oops, you cut the wrong width.
Place a strip of the tape just past the measurement of how wide you need to cut your fabric. (I’m a lefty so the ruler is on the right of where I would make my cut) This will help you cut that width every time. You can use masking tape, painters tape or what I like to use is called Glow-Line Tape that is somewhat transparent.
It really works great and can easily be removed or moved for your next cut. You can even try using different colors of the tape for the different cuts you might be making for the project you are working on. So…you might give this a try and see how it works for you.
Starch Makes Pencil Lines Easier To Remove
When doing hand embroidery, before tracing a design onto my fabric I like to spray a little light starch on the fabric and then iron it.
Then I trace my design with a sharp #2 pencil or pencil made for drawing. By first using a little starch before tracing, it makes the pencil lines come off easier when you wash the item.
Several Stitches On Needle For A Straighter Line
Recently I tried my hand at Big Stitch Quilting by hand which was so much fun!
Whenever you need to do some long lines of hand stitches like the big stitch quilting, I found that putting as many stitches on the needle at one time really helps to keep your stitches in a much straighter line.
Give it a try the next time you are doing some hand stitching!
How To Bury Quilting Thread Ends
When doing machine quilting there will come times when your bobbin thread runs out and you need to change the bobbin.
It’s simple to hide the thread ends using a long doll needle. Run the long doll needle in-between the layers of the quilt, thread the needle and pull it through.
Clip the end of the thread close to the quilt about one to two inches from where the stitching stopped. Your thread is now buried inside the layers of your quilt.