Another Triple Irish Chain question

[quiltingmommy]

Hi. I am in the middle of making the Triple Irish Chain pattern from Quilt in a Day. For those who have made this quilt, did you do a lot of pinning to keep your seams matched up or were you able to do it without pinning as the pattern suggests (by butting the seams up against each other)? So far, I haven't had a lot of luck without pinning them as I piece the rows together. I am in a time crunch though and would love to be able to get by without pinning. Any tips??

Thanks in advance.
Beth

[ctherrie]

You have to be an accurate seam sewer, use starch on fabric before cutting and sewing and press accurately and make sure seams are pressed in opposite directions. Also as my mother used to say haste makes waste.


Carla

[quiltingmommy]

Thanks Carla. I have checked and rechecked my seams. They are all right on 1/4" and I used starch and I pressed exactly like the directions said to. I think your mother had some excellent advice. I probably just need to slow down and pin it to make sure it is right. Thanks a lot for your help.

Beth

[ctherrie]

I think the hardest thing for me to learn when piecing was not to fight the machine. Let the feed dogs do the work, stitching slowly and not pulling on the pieces. A slight tug here or there can stretch the fabric and get you out of wack. I like the suggestion someone on the forum had the other day about only do her accurate work for a short while when she first started her sewing for the day. Sometimes we get too excited to finish. It is better to walk a way until we have the patience to do it right! Good Luck!

[swakins]

I do all of my sewing with my even feed foot on my machine, made a big difference for me.
OHSue

[CaroleJ]

Do you have a stiletto? I have a little bamboo stiletto and use it to hold my nested seams together as they go under the presser foot.

I still pin, though, from time to time, if my joins come out crooked.

[sunsup]

I've tried both ways and now, mostly pin just because I hate haveing to take the seam apart and redo it. For me pinning saves time. LOL