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Blocking Your Quilt

December 15, 2009

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For a quilt that lays flatter and hangs straighter, block it before putting the binding on. After you finish quilting, wet the quilt completely by either dunking it and removing the excess water, or thoroughly wetting with a spray bottle. Then lay the quilt on a clean sheet on the floor and gently pat into [...]

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Trimming the Quilt

December 14, 2009

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After you’ve completed the quilting, you’ll need to trim the excess batting and backing away from the quilt before applying the binding, but the outer border could be a bit wavy and uneven after the quilting process. To trim evenly, use a ruler to measure from the inside edge of the outer border all the [...]

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Binding Matters

December 13, 2009

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For the best looking binding on your quilt, be sure to leave enough backing and batting around the edges to just fill the binding after it is folded to the back of the quilt. The binding should feel smooth and even, not thick on the inside edge and thin on the outside edge.

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Distractions

December 12, 2009

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Though many quilters would rather quilt and play with fabric than clean house or deal with paperwork on any day of the week, sometimes you may find that you just can’t get down to work on your latest project no matter how hard you try. There may be other things that really need to get [...]

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Marking Bobbins

December 11, 2009

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With so many different weights and plies of thread in our sewing rooms these days, it’s easy to forget what type of thread is in all the bobbins that you’ve wound. Head to the office supply store and purchase self-adhesive page reinforcement labels. The labels are shaped like a ring, so you can write the [...]

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No More Keystone Quilt

December 10, 2009

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When you photograph a quilt or other flat, rectangular artwork, watch out for keystoning. Keystoning happens when the edges of the quilt are not parallel with the edges of the camera frame and the quilt looks crooked, with one edge shorter than the other. To prevent the keystone quilt look, photograph the quilt straight on, [...]

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Picture This

December 9, 2009

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For best results, and especially if you’re entering a quilt show, photograph your quilt hanging straight on a white or very light background without anything else in the picture. You can use the side of your house or a garage door on a nice day and have great lighting. Get as close to the quilt [...]

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