Conway Quilt Guild

Quick Tips


  • Rub lint roller over edges of precut to prevent flurry of lint snow in your room.
  • If a selvage is off white, you can generally match the fabric with another fabric whose selvage is off white. Same for white. Use colors in the selvage strip for inspiration to match fabrics.
  • After ironing your binding, roll it in an empty toilet paper roll to keep it from getting tangled and twisted.
  • You can cut a chopstick or dowel rod to place in the middle of a spool of thread and the bobbin on top.
  • Starch back of fabric, then turn it over and press from the front. This allows the starch to soak into the back and not onto the iron.
  • For consistency in your piecing, set machine at half speed, but use full pressure on the foot pedal.
  • When sewing one Dresden petal to the next, begin at the end where the point is, but start your needle about a half inch from the finished edge of the fabric and sew backwards and then forwards. This prevents the tails of your thread from showin at the top of the joint.
  • If thread is wound straight around the spool, it should be used standing straight up, or it is more difficult for the machine to pull the thread off the spool. Threads that are cross-wound may be used either way.
  • If you have a spool whose hole is slightly too large, line it with a straw.
  • Use rubber shelf liner to stop machine vibration.
  • Lick the EYE of the needle, no the thread, when trying to thread a hand needle. That glob of saliva acts like a magnet to the thread.
  • To prevent tangles and knotting when hand sewing, thread the needle with the portion of thread which comes off the spool first and knot the other end.
  • When using polyester stuffing, make sure you pull it apart SEVEN times lest you are using too much.
  • You can tell if you have a polyester cotton by cutting a slit parallel to the grain and trying to tear it. Poly will NOT tear. Check the grain in BOTH directions.
  • Photograph your block placement on your design wall to document block location for when you are sewing.
  • Get organized: 10 set a timer for 15 minutes and do what you can in that time; 2) give sewing machine TLC (preventative maintenance); 3) plan sewing space for efficiency; 4) purge and be ruthless; 5) organize workspace into stations.