When you are purchasing fabric for a quilt buy about 20 percent more Figure 20 per cent shrinkage and waste when buying fabric to be sure you have enough.

When planning color schemes for your quilts, remember that light, bright, and hot colors come forward visually, while dark, dull, and cool colors recede into the background.

When picking out fabric for small pattern pieces pick out a small pattern with no more than two colors. Multi-color fabric colors tend to look muddy at a distance. The very tinest pattern pieces look best in solid colors.

Is the fabric too bold or bright on the right side? Try turning it over on the wrong side to tone it down.

Here is a tip from Big Book of Small Quilts. When selecting fabric for small pattern pieces, choose a small print with no more than two colors. Multi-color fabrics will look muddy at a distance. Very small pieces work best in solid colors.

FABRIC PREPARATION

Do not use fabric softener sheets in dryer with fabric you are washing for sewing, it may spot the fabric.

To set colors in fabric, add 1 cup white vinegar to 1 gallon of water. Soak fabric in this solution until the fabric stops bleeding.

Want to know how to prevent raveling when you prewash your fabrics. Take the two cut ends and serger off the edge. If you don�t have a serger you can just use the zig zag stitch on your sewing machine. When you are finished prewashing your fabric use cut open the stitches. This hint really works. Another method is to clip the corners when prewashing fabrics.

Never wash your fabric with detergent with color guard in it if it is one of those fabrics with shimmering gold and silver. What will happen is the chemicals will take away the glimmer and turn the gold or silver into a dull gray.

If you have used "fusible web" to anchor an applique patch, NEVER use fabric softener in the washer or in the dryer. It seems to loosen the adhesive.

Always prewash your quilting fabrics and dry the fabrics in the same manner that the completed project will be done. After you prewash your and dry your fabrics spray your fabrics with a solution of half Sta-flo starch to half water. Having your quilt pieces aids in piecing. It keeps the pieces from slipping.

TOOLS

To clean your rotary cutting mat use a damp nylon scrubber. The nylon scrubber heals the lines that your rotary cutter made in the mat.

To make your washout fabric marking pens last longer, store them in a dark place in a zip lock bag.

Keep your nicked rotary blades for cutting freezer paper or fusible.

Always stand when rotary cutting. You will have better control of the rotary cutter and you will have better results.

For your own safety and others, always keep rotary closed when you are not using it.

Cut away from yourself, not toward yourself.

Put a drop of sewing machine oil in the middle of a rotary cutter to keep it rolling smoothly.

Here is a helpful hint from Threads magazine:

"Want to know how to prolong the life of your rotary cutter blades? It turns out that the blades don't actually dull, they just become nicked. If you install two used blades together on the cutter (loosening the screw to allow for a little flexibility), the dual blades work as well as if you'd inserted one brand-new blade. I tested this on both Olfa and Fiskars cutters, and it works every time."

To test the effectiveness of scissors, cut a single layer of fabric using only the tip, the weakest point. The cut should be clean, and the tips should not separate. --from Carol Doak

Check to be sure your scissors cut straight by cutting along a stripe or a plaid to see if the scissors follow the line in a smooth cut from base to point. If they don't, a professional scissors sharpener may be able to align the blades.

If you have problems with your large rotary cutter rulers slipping around as you try to cut with your rotary cutter - try this: Put a thick 1/2" circle of "clear" nail polish on the backside of your ruler. While the nail polish is still wet, sprinkle a liberal amount of table salt onto the polish. Do this in each corner of the ruler and anywhere else you may think it will help. Allow the nail polish to dry over night or several hours. Shake off any excess salt granules. Instant fabric gripper! This hint from Sue Green-Baker

CUTTING TIPS

When making repeat cuts of the same size place 4 post-it pages on width line of the ruler up to cut without having to search for the line. This makes it easier for those hard to find 3/8", 5/8" and 7/8" marks.

When cutting fabric into quilt pieces, spray starch it and iron it first. Then it holds its shape better and there is less distortion when sewing--especially if it's a soft fabric.

To avoid fabric waste: Cut borders and longest pieces first, cut smaller pieces out of leftovers. Cut borders and strips from one end of the fabric and pieces from the other end (cutting across the width).

ORGANIZATION TIPS

To help keep quilt pieces in order: Purchase a large pizza box, cover a piece of cardboard the size of the box with felt, place in bottom of pizza box, arrange cut quilt pieces in the order you are piecing.

To organize your threads go to the toy department of Walmart and purchase a toy garage. It's a clear plastic box with 64 compartments. These cost around $5.00 at Walmart but sell for much higher prices at the quilt shops.

PIECING

Chain Piecing saves time! Stack pieces to be sewn in pairs, with right sides facing. Sew the first pair but do not clip the threads or lift the presser foot at the end of the seam. Feed another pair and do the same until you have finished all your pairs. After you finish you can clip the threads between each pair.

Have you ever noticed that when you are sewing a quarter seam the seam gets smaller as you are coming to the end? You can use a stiletto to guide the fabric or better yet use a wooden shish kabob stick.

When seaming fabric for the backing of a quilt use a 1/2-inch seam. This seam presses better and makes a more flatter and stronger seam than a smaller one.

The following hints were taken from Rodale's Successful Quilting Library: Perfect Piecing

Cut the first patch for crazy-pieced patchwork with three, five, or six sides to provide a nice flow in the piecing. Keep the patchwork interesting with unusual shapes avoid square or rectangular pieces.

Create string-pieced "yardage," cut shapes from it, then piece your blocks. Recycle unused strips from strip-pieced projects, irregular strips from straightening cuts, and trimmings from quilt backings.

Update your technique for English paper piecing by using freezer paper. Iron finished-size templates to the wrong side of the fabric before you cut your patches out. When you cut the shapes out, add a 1/2-inch seam allowance. Remove the paper after you sew all the sides of your patch to other patches.

When working with set-in pieces, use an awl or a 1/8-inch paper punch to make holes in each template where the seam lines intersect. Align the template on the wrong side of a fabric patch, poke a pencil through each hole, and mark the intersections. When you sew, the dots indicate exactly where each seam should end.

Make grid-method triangles even more accurate by drawing the grid on paper. Place two pieces of fabric right sides together, pin the paper grid on top, and stitch 1/4 inch to each side of every diagonal line, as usual. Cut apart on all lines and remove the papers. No more wasted time truing up squares!

Whenever four or more seams come together at one point, press the seams open, borrowing a tailor's trick. Dip one finger into a bowl of water and apply just a dab of moisture right into the area where multiple seam allowances come together and fan out. The water will compress the seams and make them lie flatter when you press them.

Try this for complex machine piecing with many points or long, thin shapes: Use freezer paper templates as foundations. Cut them without seam allowances so you know exactly where to sew for precise piecing right at the edge of the paper.

Concentrate on the edge of the fabrics, not the needle, as you sew seams.

Pin along any seam longer than 2 or 3 inches.

Stitch angled pieces beginning at the wide end to prevent your feed dogs from gobbling up your patch.

Pivot often--every few stitches--to make a smoothly flowing curve. Avoid clipping the seam allowances whenever possible.

To avoid stretching your patch out of shape, don't overwork the bias edge of the curve.

This tip from Sherry Bussey, Newfundland quilter, from her workshop, "Let's knit a quilt with accurate machine piecing"; When approaching the end of a seam, feed the seam under the presser foot with the tip of a pin so that the seam stays an accurate 1/4" all the way.

A timesaving hint -- when stacking units of fabric for speedy feeding through the sewing machine, stack squares like stars. The first unit goes like this = the next on the stack goes at an angle like // . It makes an 8 pointed star when all stacked up, and is easier to pick up only one unit at a time.

PRESSING MATTERS

When you are pressing half square triangles, press in the direction of the straight of the fabric, NOT in the direction across the bias seam. Then your squares don't get skewed.

You can make a portable ironing board by covering a cardboard core from an empty bolt of fabric. Most fabric shops are more than willing to give you these cores for free. You cover the core with batting and then wrap it in muslim or flannel.

Avoid pressing a patch with a bias edge until you have stitched it to another patch. Instead, open the seam from the right side and finger-press by running your thumbnail along the ditch.

If your finished block isn't quite square, try pressing it square. Cut freezer paper to the unfinished size your block should be, and press the waxy side onto your ironing board. Place your block on top of the paper, and align and pin the corners and edges with the paper. Spray the block lightly with sizing or starch, and press it square.

Here is a hint I gleaned from the Quiltholics Home Page: When pressing seams in your quilt block, always press the seams flat first, the way it was sewn. This sinks the thread into the fabric and reduces the bulk of the seam. This habit can eliminate the "hanging-up" on the walking foot while machine quilting.

Use a dry iron when pressing pieces. Press but do not iron. Ironing patches can distort your pieces.

Press your iron in the direction of the grain paying particular attention to the edges.

When pressing bias tape for celtic work you can use a curling iron.

To clean the surface of your iron: heat your iron, lay a brown paper bag on the ironing board, sprinkle with table salt and iron the salt. Also, I have heard that running the iron over waxed paper will take care of problems if you get sticky stabilizer stuck to it.

If you get a crease in your quilt block you can wet a pressing cloth with white vinegar. Press the crease with the pressing cloth and the crease is gone!

When pressing long strips of fabric, lay them going across the width of the ironing board - not across the length. There is less bowing of the strips.

Press pieces with right sides together before opening the piece and pressing the seams to the side. This helps to lock the stitches.

PAPER PIECING

Here is a tip Carol Doak posted to rctq newsgroup. "The paper that I use for paper piecing is Hammermil Recycled Copy paper. It is de-inked newsprint and I purchase it by the box of 10 reams (very inexpensive) at Staples Office supply. I have no problem sending it through either the copy machine or the printer and it breaks down easily to remove later."

An alternate way to make multiple paper copies: Lay one traced pattern on top of a stack of papers cut slightly larger than the original pattern. So the stack doesn't shift while sewing, staple the stack together with the pointy ends of the staples up, so they don't catch on your sewing machine, *Unthread your sewing machine* and sew along the original pattern lines through the whole stack. The sewing order won't be numbered on the hole-punched patterns, but you use a guide pattern to figure it out.

I have just recently discovered paper piecing and it is quite addictive. I have found that the product called Stitch in the Ditch stabilizer makes an excellent medium to trace off your paper piecing patterns. It is lightweight and when you are finished piecing it tears off easily without disturbing the stitches. Although I have not tried it some people like to use the paper that doctors used on their examining table.

APPLIQUE

To make thread behave for applique or regular sewing - run your needle and thread through a fresh dryer sheet, folded, and magic - no tangles or those tiny little nasty knots.

I have found that silk thread by YLI is excellent thread to use when doing applique. It is almost invisible. Use tan or a neutral color like gray on most fabrics.

I like to use straw needles #10 by Jeanna Kimball. These needles are long and thin so you can pick up a few threads.

Press applique face down on a towel so you do not mash it. The grainline of applique should run in the same direction as grainline of under fabric.

Button Up Your Stitches. When doing machine buttonhole stitching or feather stitching around appliqu� shapes, thread two strands of regular sewing thread through one needle. This will produce a heavier decorative stitch.

Match the thread to the piece being appliqued instead of the background.

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BASTING & MARKING

Here is a tip I read in Nov/Dec 1997 issue of Sew Many Quilts. I have not had a chance to try out this tip but plan on using. This tip was sent in by Beth Anderson from Plano, Texas: "When making a quilt top with a chalk marker, I first spray the area to be marked with hair spray and immediately place the stencil on the quilt top. The hair spray helps lightly adhere the stencil to the fabric. I then mark the stencil on the quilt top using my favorite chalk marker. After removing the stencil, I spray the marked area again with hair spray to prevent the chalk from wiping off. When the quilting is completed, I launder the quilt as usual to remove the chalk lines and hair spray."

Here is a tip to help end the frustration of bracking tacks. The night before you plan on using the gun, take as many tacks as you feel you will need to baste the quilt (make sure you have enough), place them in a dish of hot tap water overnight. When ready to start basting add fresh warm water, drying off strips before placing in gun. This replaces the moisture in the plastic and prevents breakage by almost 100%.

When pin basting a quilt, place the pins in print patches rather than solid ones whenever possible. The pin holes will show less. This hint from Marie Shirer from The Quilters Ultimate Visual Guide.

To help prevent wobbly edges on your quilts, hand baste the quilt sandwich together, 1/4" away from the edge, just before sewing on the binding. You may be able to leave the basting in if the binding covers it, or take it out when finished.

When pin basting a good spacing tool is always at hand. The space between pins should be no wider than your fist.

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MACHINE QUILTING

Here is a machine quilting tip. Starch the top and backing before machine quilting. Keeps the fabric from moving and prevents tucks and gathers on the underside. It helps you make even stitches. This technique is recommended by Deb Wagner and also Harriet Hargrave.

It is sometimes helpful to press both sides of the quilt sandwich before quilting.

Here's a way to quick-cut threads neatly at the end of a line of machine quilting. After securing stitching with several very tiny stitches, gently pull the top thread, just enough to bring the bobbin thread to the surface. Carefully trim both threads close to the fabric. No more reaching around under the quilt to find and clip those tails.

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HAND QUILTING

S.H. from Stillwell, KS: "If you store your hand quilting thread in the freezer in a ziplock bag before using, it will help retain the proper moisture in the thread, this helps prevent knotting while quilting!"

Knot the end of the thread that you cut off the spool.

If you are having difficulty threading the needle, try turning it around to the other side.

An inexpensive pair of reading glasses does wonders for helping you see well enough to thread the needle.

If you are using a polyester thread and wet the end of the thread with your saliva you may be making the problem worse. The moisture will cause the threads to swell even more.

Here is a hint from Sew Many Quilts magazine: "I was watching the Sew Many Quilts show when Liz and Marianne suggested keeping two needles threaded when hand quilting. I have found that it is much easier to thread a whole pack of needles at once. If you have a thread spool dispenser, you can thread all of your needles right on the spool. When you run of of thread on one needle, you can cut the next thread to the desired length by pulling the thread off of the spool for one needle while pushing the remaining needles back toward the spool. This really saves time on a large quilting project! Kathy Farra, Beaver Falls, Pennsylvannia (Note from Kay: This hint is really effective!)

If you cannot find matching quilt thread, you can take a regular spool of thread; strip the paper ends off and submerge in warm parrafin for 10 minutes, then drain on a paper towel. Makes the best thread...glides through like butter.

Use short threads when quilting long straight lines to avoid pressure which might cause breaks in thread.

Cut the fingers fingers off disposable rubber gloves and wear one on your index finger for ease in pulling the needle through.

Wrap black electrical tap around the fingers of the hand that will be underneath the quilt to protect from finger pricks. This tip really works!

Detangling the Eye of the Needle - Thread your needle with the end of the thread that comes off the spool first. It is less likely to fray or tangle.

Try pearl cotton #12 for hand quilting. It gives quilting stitches a heavier, stronger appearance, which is often a nice addition to a casual, rustic design. Experiment a bit to find a nice, small needle that has an eye large enough to hold this slightly larger thread.

A TV tray is handy to rest a quilting hoop on while you are sitting in a chair away from the table.

The Ott Lite is an excellent lamp for those of us over 40 who can't see as well as we used to. The light is white and does not produce heat like normal lights do. These lights sell for around to $65 to $80 in the sewing, quilting, and crafting catalogs, but did you know that you can go to Office Depot and get almost the same light for $40.00. The only difference between the version sold to sewers and the one Office Depot sells is the color and the more expensive one has a handle.

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STAIN AND MARK REMOVAL

I heard this hint on Sewing with Nancy on removing blue spots left by the washout blue pens. If the blue marks do not come out it may be because your water is too acidic. Try adding some baking soda to your spritzer and the marks should come out.

Ever get a drop of blood on your quilt from a pricked finger. You can dab a little hydrogen peroxide on the stain and it will come right out. Also, you can use your own saliva to get out the stain. Your saliva has enzymes which will get out the stain.

Here is a hint that I got off the internet to get the stains out of old quilts. It's the buttermilk recipe and you use 1 gallon water, 1 quart buttermilk and 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Soak quilt in solution and then put in washer and wash with a mild detergent. Removes discoloration and yellowing and revitalizes colors and is 100 percent safe to use.

To remove rust: Sponge spot with lemon juice, hold spot over steaming kettle.

To remove pencil marks, according to an article in Lady's Circle Patchwork Quilts, "Quilt Patch Queries" by Sue Nickels and Pat Holly, suggests the following: "Make a solution that is one part water, three parts rubbing alcohol, and one or two drops of Palmolive or Joy dishwashing liquid. Do not use Dawn -- it may bleach out the fabric. Use a cotton swab to apply and gently scrub with a soft toothbrush. Wipe dry with a cloth. Again, test this before applying to your whole quilt . . . We hope this helps and remember to TEST, TEST, TEST! We also want to let you know that many a priceless, beloved antique quilt still has pencil marks on it."

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SORE FINGERS AND ACHING BACKS

Some quilters like to soak their fingers in hydrogen peroxide before going to bed.

Bag Balm is sold in the little tiny tins in quilting stores but did you know that you can purchase the large size in Walmart for almost the same price?

For sore fingers try rubbing Preparation H on your fingers before retiring to bed.

Try Hoofmaker, made by Straight Arrow if your fingers are already sore. You can find it at your local feed store.

When quilting it is difficult to protect the under fingers. Wearing a thimble is often awkward. To protect the under fingers wrap them in electrical tape. Look for the thin, pliable type.

I have found a product made by Watkins to be very effective. It is called Petro-Carbo Salve. Watkins is not sold in stores so you need to find a dealer.

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MISC. TIPS

You can turn your dining room table into a light table. Take out the center leaf and don't close it up. Put a piece of glass over the hole. (Translucent works best) and put a lamp under and there you have an inexpensive light table.

Here is a non sewing tip. Those pretty bags that you get at quilting shops make excellent wrapping paper!

Recycle the thick plastic sheets that come under bacon. Be sure to wash the sheets thoroughly to remove residue of grease.

Here's a quick and easy way to gather a ruffle. Do a wide, long zigzag stitch over two strands of regular weight sewing thread or a heavier thread positioned 1/4-inch in from the raw edges of the ruffle. NOTE: You will need a length of thread at least two times the circumference of your pillow. Secure one end of the heavy thread by stitching across it. Then zigzag over the heavy thread all the way around the ruffle, taking care not to sew through it. Pull on the heavy thread to gather up the ruffle to fit the edges of your pillow top.

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