Originally Posted by stpatmom

The best tip I have found was from this site regarding home sewing machine quilting. It was to turn your machine 90 degrees while quilting for more control. I took this tip to my quilting buddies and they loved it! I told them I get all my best ideas here!

Originally Posted by athenagwis

I do a light starch before I cut the fabric when I am doing the first ironing, just to help get wrinkles out. I will spray a light mist of starch on the fabric, let it stand for about 15 seconds, then iron. Sometimes my iron will stick just a bit, but I just move it around and it is fine. You have to keep the iron on the fabric until the starch dries completely, that is the only way it will stiffen. If you have a particularly wet spot, just move the iron around over it a lot so you don't burn your fabric by keeping the iron in one spot too long.

Then I will cut all my pieces and start sewing them. I will sometimes do a light spray on the seams before I iron them open. Sometimes I don't because the starch from the pre-cutting is sometimes enough. Once the block is all put together I give it a final light mist of starch, iron it flat and then square it up.

If you are working on a project now, you can use starch at any stage, but at the very least you can starch your final blocks to get them nice and flat and be able to square them up nice.

Cheers!
Rachel

Originally Posted by sahm4605

does any starch work? like the one you get for cloths? I have a can and was thinking about getting it out and using it tonight.

Originally Posted by Rusty's Mama

I am FMQ a quilt for a friend's new baby. I starched the backing and the quilt top and omg, what a difference in quilting! I am also working on blocks for a quilt that I used starch on - again - they are sewing tog so nicely and with very little distortion! I agree - this board is the greatest!