Sewing on the "Straight and Narrow"

After having appliqued the polka dots onto the placemats, I feel that just a touch of "pizazz" is needed to bring a little more spark to them . To accomplish this, I will add a narrow line of mixed, 1/4 inch stripped colour.

Having recently seen Sally Collins teaching a lesson on precision piecing on "The Quilt Show" website (www.thequiltshow.com). I was inspired to try her method. At times, those of us who have been quilting and sewing for many years, will use certain short cuts and speed sewing techniques to get a project done a little faster. Although the goal is always to make the best product we can, sometimes precision is sacrificed for speed. Watching Sally was a reminder that this should never be an option. Striving for the best quality is never a waste of time, and accuracy is always worth the extra effort and time.

Using Sally's method, I was able to make a very accurate and consistent 1/4 inch strips. It takes precision cutting, precision stitching and precision pressing, all of which Sally addresses in the program that I watched.

From the above block, I cut perpendicular strips of 1", which will give me a finished strip of 1/2" (leaving a 1/4" seam on either side), set into the top of the placemat. [Measurements get a little crazy for me here in France. I am still most comfortable using imperial measurements (inches) in my quilting (even though Canada has been metric for many years), yet all of my sewing tools in France are metric. Yikes!]

Sally Collins' book "Mastering Precision Piecing" will soon find it's way to my library, as well as her DVD on precision piecing. Both are available on her website. www.sallycollins.org

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