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Painter's tape and 1/4 inch seams

I put blue painter's tape on my cutting mat to help me trim the blocks for a small quilt straight. It worked like a charm. I thought I should add the tape to my sewing box in case I need it again, but wondered what else I could use it for. I know many quilters mark their quilting grids with tape. Two quilty uses would have been enough for me to store the blue tape in my sewing box.

Then I had one of those light bulb moments.

I have a 1/4 inch foot, but it is metal so I can't see if the fabric edge slips too far under it. I can plainly see the needle and it's path, but not the fabric edge. This causes some irritation when I have to rip out a seam that turned out less than straight, especially on long seams. I thought, why not use the tape as a seam line guide? So I lined up two large blocks right sides together. Then I took one of my rulers and lined up the 1/4 inch line with the edge of my block so the ruler only covered the seam allowance. (The main part of the ruler was not on the fabric.) I took the painter's tape and laid it alongside the ruler, over the fabric. Pressed firmly. Removed ruler, and presto, I can only see 1/4 inch of fabric poking out beyond the taped line. I sewed along the easy to see edge of the painter's tape, by lining up the edge of the tape with the easy to see needle, and ignored the edge of my 1/4 inch machine foot. Then looked at my 19 inch long seam. It was a marvel to behold. From start to finish it was ram rod straight!

I removed the tape from the sewn block, and pressed my seam. I quickly got the second pair of blocks taped and sewn. Also straight as an arrow, so I pressed it too. I was on a roll now and had to see the final result. I pinned the pairs of blocks together at the important points, then added my tape line. The seam was longer than my ruler so I had to move my ruler as I worked. No problem. Then I took a deep breath and sewed. Another great seam! Even the ends are perfectly lined up.

But wait, what if the points didn't all match? I left the tape on while I opened the fabric to check the points. Then breathed a sigh of relief. All the points matched perfectly! And all the edges were square. Wonders of wonders! I've made a little quilt top that doesn't need trimming to square it up! This thing lays flatter than a pancake too.

Now all I need is to cut a piece for the backing, some batting, and get it quilted. And yes, the roll of painter's tape will be stored in my sewing box. Debra in VA See my quilts at

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Reply to
Debra
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Cool, thanx for the idea! Joanna

Reply to
Joanna

great idea. Thanks much. I already use the tape for a number of things and now will put this method to use.

Thanks again, Sunny

Reply to
Sunny

Damn, this is a great idea! Thanks so much for the tip!!!!!!

Reply to
Carolyn McCarty

I use the blue painters tape on my ruler to identify a measurement that is used regularly in what ever quilt I am making....for instance I a m squareing up flying geese to 2 1/2" x 4 1/2" I tape at 2 1/2" and horizontally at 4 1/2"m a quick reference....especially for beginners in my classes.... Also a bit of tape on the backside of the ruler is often enough resistance so it won't slide around.... I also extend the seam allowance mark on to the bed of my machine so I have a bigger line to follow.....I use the blue tape for quilting straight lines in a grid.....

Reply to
Mauvice in central WI

I just started using the blue carpenters tape on my rulers for marking.

I realized my mild disyexia was likely the culpret behing my last flying geese attempt coming out all wrong! Getting the measurements correct is of course pretty important and with the visual marking I don't have to find the marking each time (lessening the liklihood of 'reading' the wrong marking). =20

Needless to say the geese are on well on their way to being an actual quilt this time! =20

-Irene

Reply to
IMS

Reply to
Taria

Taria, Was it you who posted a while back about making a godzillion blocks of flying geese?

....I had replied about problems I had before, which is what got me thinking about giving it another try....and that's when I figured out what I did wrong with the last batch and coming up with a work around.

-Irene

Reply to
IMS

Reply to
Taria

I put tape on my machine to mark the 1/4 inch because on both machines (a Kenmore and a Janome) the 1/4 inch foot is just enough off to make the blocks too small to square up correctly. I took the foot off and put a quilter's 12 inch long ruler along the 1/4 inch seam line from front to back; then I took the tape and put it along that line on the machine bed and the extension. It makes it much easier to see whether or not I'm sewing the 1/4 inch seam especially since older eyes don't see the fine print quite as well as they did when I was younger. For the gazillion flying geese...

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Trisha in MO

Reply to
trisha f

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