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We all want a perfect quarter and seam when we are doing our P seam of our quilts. Now,
if you’re using a foot letter A, you will notice that it is wider than a quarter inch.
So this is not what you want to just use in the basic center needle position. Now, you
do have, look at the top on row two, stitch number ten. So I’m going to go ahead and
get to that, row two, stitch number ten, and it even says, one-quarter inch on it. Well,
what it does is it moves the needle position to the right side just a couple of notches
and then when you use the edge of the presser foot as you’re guide, see where it is.
Now, here’s the deal. Whenever you are working with a quarter-inch seam, the idea is that
you need to not be able to see the fabric slipping out underneath the foot. That’s
the key. So many people want to see that and it actually needs to be a hair’s breath
on the inside. That’s kind of what they call a skant quarter-inch. That means that
when you’re actually done stitching, there’s room for the folding over of this fabric to
accommodate that fold, and then you still get the same open area that you need for your
block to be the finished size.
Now if you like that stitch but you want a little bit extra help, what you want to do
is switch to a foot that is available to you. It’s called a quarter-inch edge stitch foot
that you can get at your local dealer. It’s the same exact foot but its got two things.
It’s got a guide on the right side and a line that’s going to be even with the needle
that’s moved to the right side. This is my favorite foot for P seam so then all I
have to do is put that underneath, lower the pressure foot two times, move the fabric to
where I need to be and then start stitching. What it does is it keeps the fabric from sneaking
out underneath that presser foot and I also have a little bit more of the foot on the
fabric. So, I really like doing that.
I do like using a little bit of a thinner thread I’ll let you pick which brands you
like, but the thinner the thread then the less bump you have when you have press open
your seams. Flat thread gives you more accurate quarter-inch seams. So this is one way to
do it.
Now another way to do it would be and a lot of people this is what you have been told
to purchase, is a regular quarter-inch foot with a guide. You can get this with a guide
or without. Most people get it with. You just have to remember that you go back to a center
needle position and row two stitch ten, and then when you lower this down that will help
you keep it nice and guided. It also has those extra lines on the side.
If you were going to use this foot another thing you can purchase would be a straight
stitch throat plate and the needle then is only going to go in that hole. That also helps
when you’re working on triangles and you’re going like corner to corner and when you go
to that very first stitch right here, you’re not going to lose that point into the big
opening of the throat plate that’s open for the zigzag because you don’t have that
extra width. It can’t get caught as easily down into that little extra hole. Of course
if you put this throat plate on, go into your set menu and set it for stitch width safety.
What it’ll do is then limit all your stitches to not go, not let you pick a zigzag or a
decorative stitch accidently and break a needle with this plate on.
So those are a couple of things I like to do and recommend to my students when trying
to get perfect stitches for your quilt especially when you’re working with triangles.