Sew Accurately:
Prep-Tool with 8-page
booklet & 1 Seam Guide
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Sew Accurately:
Prep-Tool with 8-page
booklet & 1 Seam Guide
Square up the super easy way,
cut & sew accurately:
Perfect4Pattern Sets
that include 1, 2 or 3
Guidelines Ruler(s).
Square up the super easy way,
cut & sew accurately:
Perfect4Pattern Set
for regular acrylic rulers
you already have.
Square up the super easy way,
cut & sew accurately.
Plus: Make Blocks Any Size
No Math!
Finished-Size Quilting Sets
If you've worked with Triangles at all, you have definitely trimmed off a few Dog Ears, Bunny Ears or Triangle Points which all mean the same thing.
But most often you've probably trimmed them after you've pressed two Half Square Triangles open into a Triangle Square. When you do that, the Triangle Points are just poking out beyond the edge of the square and it's easy to see where to trim them off.
A good example is if you are sewing a triangle to a square.
The trick is to get the Triangle perfectly centered on the Square.
But because the edges don't match, you have to try to line it up by eye.
You can look at it this way. These Triangles are the same Finished Size as the Square and if you sew them together it will be the same seam line joining them.
If you look at the seam line on the Square, it is a Scant ¼" from each edge. So if you were to measure a Scant ¼" from the end of the seam line on the Triangle, that is where you would want to trim off the point.
The bottom line to all this is, the edges of Squares and Triangles that are the same Finished Size, should match exactly after you accurately trim the Triangle Points.
If you accurately trim the points on Half Square Triangles and Quarter Square Triangles, their edges will match with a Square that is the same finished size.
Line the Prep-Tool along the Long Side of the Triangle
Line the Prep-Tool along the Short Side of the Triangle
You can usually tell by lining up the triangle to the piece you are trying to sew it to.
You should be able to see which way will make the edges match before you trim the points.
If you cut a Square in half once diagonally, you'll make 2 Half Square Triangles. If you cut a Square in half twice diagonally, you'll make 4 Quarter square Triangles.
Color coded Purple
Color coded Green
Color coded Red
Use a Short Side Trim on the half square triangles & Long Side Trim on the quarter square triangles.
Line the Prep-Tool along the Long Side of the HSTs
Line the Prep-Tool along the Long Side of the QSTs
It's also make it easier to sew the triangles together when you don't have to start on the points of the triangles. The points can get caught in the feed dogs of your sewing machine making it hard to sew in a straight line.
1 Big Half Square Triangle
2 Small Half Square Triangles that are half the size of the big HST.
1 Square that is the same size as the small HSTs
Use a Short Side Trim on one HST
Line it up to the square and sew right sides together
Use a long Side Trim on the other HST
Now the square and two small HSTs are ready to be sewn to the big HST
You can then trim the points on the big HST and the unit you sewed together so their points won't get caught in your feed dogs.
Patterns often tell you to stop a ¼” from the edge of the fabric. What they really mean is stop right at the seam line, which is a scant ¼”. That’s the secret to sharp mitered binding corners and precise set in seams.
Quilts Made Using Prep-Tool by Guidelines4Quilting
Bonnie Beaty - CA Road to California Contest Entrant
"It was such a wonderful experience for me to take the leap and enter this quilt at Road. I am fairly new to quilting and to have my quilt accepted was quite an honor. This quilt truly stretched my quilting abilities and improved my confidence greatly.
I used a few of the tools offered by Guidelines4Quilting. I used the Guideline Rulers to cut the strips. I really like the ability of butting the ruler up to the fabric and knowing that it is straight and square.
I used the Prep-Tool to prepare the triangles. The Prep-Tool really does make for more accuracy when sewing triangles together and I needed accuracy on the triangle units of this quilt. Triangles have always been a bit of a challenge for me, so having tools that make it easier and actually work is great.
I tell everyone about Guidelines Rulers and at a recent quilt retreat I gave a demo on the Rulers, Prep-Tool and Grip Strips. I have the Grip Strips on almost all my rulers and just ordered another two packages for the rest of them. Thanks for the great products.”
This beautiful Lemoyne Star quilt was made by Sharon Vervoort of California and it was accepted into Road to California. It's the first quilt she had ever entered in a contest and it took third place.
She says one of her secrets to win this award was using the Prep-Tool to mark the seam intersections for the precise Set-in-Seams on the Lemoyne stars. Congrats, Sharon!