I am not one for going to classes on how to use my sewing machine. I might spend years doing something the wrong way but I eventually work it out. I bought a new machine a few years ago. Nothing fancy. When I wanted to do some applique again I bought a satin stitch foot. It is not flat on the bottom. There is room for the zigzag stitch to flow smoothly underneath the foot.
It is also mainly see through so you can see where you are going on the applique. I have started doing some quilting and in particular I am quilting around stars with several rows of stitching 1/4 inch apart.
I started using my 1/4 inch foot cause I thought it would make it easy to space the rows but instead it was hard to see where I was going so I put on the satin stitch foot so I could see where I was going more easily. But how to measure 1/4 inch? I looked carefully at the foot and there is a little see through edge on each side. To sew 1/4 inch to the right of a previous row I only needed to keep the previous row visible in the little window.
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| My view in front of the machine. |
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| A view from more directly above. |
When I got to the end and needed to stop 1/4 inch from the previous row and turn the corner I needed to stop with the front edge of the foot just before the previous row.
I still have to guess where to stop on the points.
Just thought I would share what I worked out.
I am just getting into free motion quilting on small projects. Leah Day has hundreds of designs and you can watch how she does each one on video. Go to The Free Motion Quilting Project for a look.
Happy Quilting,
Val
