audsgirl

My mother tried to teach me to sew, but I'm not very handy with machinery, so I felt overwhelmed and stayed with hand sewing (doll clothes, embroidery, etc.) I did take clothing construction in high school and learned to straighten fabric by pulling a thread. No one does that any more! My sister and brother gave me a sewing machine as a wedding present, so I did some clothing sewing, but not quilting. I started watching Simply Quilts, with no intention of ever making a quilt. But then the bug bit. I started a quilt before I took a class, but then I took a class that started with hand piecing with templates and went to hand quilting. I've taken a few classes, and I learn something new from each one. One thing I remember from Simply Quilts (I think) is that one should re-straighten fabric once it has been cut the width of the ruler being used. I started in 1998, and I still don't think of myself as an accomplished quilter.

Leslie

bearisgray

Actually - I will still sometimes pull a thread to straighten something. Especially if I have a limited amount of fabric.

I'm not a big fan of tearing - sometimes the fabric gets "traumatized" up to an inch on both sides of the tear.