QUILTsocial | Issue 08

Now even with this feature, I still have
to be careful. I start the seam SLOWLY
to ensure the sewing machine starts
to stitch properly and I sometimes will
assist it with my quilter’s awl or stiletto
by giving it a bit of a push.
Starting the bulky seam with the assistance of a
quilter’s awl
Once I get over that bulky seam and
have stitched about one inch, then I
match up my next intersection. There’s
plenty of room in front of the needle on
the Designer EPIC to line up that seam
intersection. I use my finger to feel that
the seams are nested together and once
they’re aligned to my satisfaction, I use my
quilter’s awl to keep them from shifting.
Lining up the next intersection and holding it in
place with the quilter’s awl
I know that many people feel the need
to pin these intersections, however if
you’re using ONE pin at each intersection,
those pins will shift and cause the seams
to not match. If you think about it, we’ve
been taught to not stitch over pins
which is a good thing. So the moment
you take that pin out (close to the needle,
but not under it), guess what happens?
Yep – your fabric shifts and all that care of
pinning was for nothing!
When I use the quilter’s awl, I keep control
of the intersection right up to the needle
(I’ve only broken one needle in 20 years
of sewing with the quilter’s awl) and I get
pretty good matches on my intersections.
Keeping that intersection “pinned” until it’s stitched
Not only is it a good practice to pin
those intersections with the quilter’s
awl, but look what can happen with
the seam allowances. See how the
seam allowance of the diagonal seam is
caught on the edge of the presser foot
in the picture below? If we allow that to
happen, you won’t be able to get a nice
pressed end of that seam. That in turn
can cause issues with matching of the
seams on the next intersection.
Seam allowance is caught on the presser foot and
will turn over unless tamed with the quilter’s awl.
Once I get near the end of the seam, I
match the end as well and keep it in
check using the quilter’s awl. I like the
amount of room in front of the needle
on the Designer EPIC. There’s plenty of
room to match up seams. If my seam
happened to be longer than the space
in front of the needle, I would match the
seam up (more or less) and hold it with
my hand until the intersection comes in
contact with the sewing machine. Then
I would “pin” it with the quilter’s awl and
finish the seam as shown below.
Matching and “pinning” the end of the seam
Here’s another important aspect of that
seam. You want a consistent scant ¼” seam
allowance for the entire length of the seam,
including the start and the finish.
Q
52 .com | issue 8
UILTsocial