Super Easy
Seam Guide Setter

Gray refills
for Bohin Pencil

Using the Prep-Tool makes it easy:

The Prep-Tool is a Scant ¼” wide and it has raised Lip Edges that catch the edge of your fabric.

Butt the Lip Edges up to the edge of your fabric and you can easily mark the exact point where your seam lines will cross every time.

You can mark the whole seam line

Or, mark just where they cross in the corners.

Start and stop sewing right where
your seam lines cross

Be sure to back stitch or lock stitch
each time you start and stop

A Tumbling blocks is made of 3 diamonds.

After sewing the first two diamonds together, the third diamond has to be set-in between and sewn to both the first and second diamond.

If you look at the seams from the back when finished, you’ll see that the three seams form a Y.

That’s why set-in seams are also sometime called Y-Seams.

Sometimes you need to line up pieces with odd angles, and the edges won't match. If you mark the seam lines with the Prep-Tool, off-set pieces always line up where the seam lines cross.

Sarah Sheckells Lenoir, NC

"Just wanted to tell you I love this thing - Super Easy Seam Guide Setter! I put it on right away and have had great success with keeping my 1/4” seams accurate.”

Butt the gold lip edges of the Prep-Tool up to the edge of the fabric, and you should see the line of stitching right along its edge like the image shown here.

• • If it's inside the edge, you need to adjust the Seam Guide farther away from the needle.
  • If it's outside the edge, you need to adjust the Seam Guide closer to the needle.

The lip edges on the Prep-Tool catch the fabric's edge, making it easy to accurately line up & pre-trim points.

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.

But there are times when
pre-trimming the points is the way to go.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Example: Trimming Triangles for Square-in-a-Square Units:

Use Short Side Trim for the HSTs

Use Long Side Trim for the QSTs

When you are sewing just two pieces together, which is the most common thing when piecing, you can sew all the way from one edge to the other.

But many blocks with diamonds and hexagons require a different technique because you'll often be sewing a third piece, set-in, between two others.

For example, each block in a Tumbling blocks quilt is made of three diamonds.

After sewing the first two diamonds together, the third diamond has to be set-in between and sewn to both the first and second diamond.

If you look at the seams from the back when finished, you’ll see that the three seams form a Y.

That’s why set-in seams are also sometime called Y-Seams.

For a Y-Seam or Set-in-Seam, you have to start and stop right at the seam line. If you sew too far, you’ll be reaching for your seam ripper because that will create a pucker that will never press flat.

If you don’t sew far enough, you’ll have a hole where the three seams come together.

Using the Prep-Tool makes it easy:

The Prep-Tool is a Scant ¼” wide and it has raised Lip Edges that catch the edge of your fabric.

Butt the Lip Edges up to the edge of your fabric and you can easily mark the exact point where your seam lines will cross every time.

You can mark the whole seam line

Or, mark just where they cross in the corners.

Start and stop sewing right where your seam lines cross.

Be sure to back stitch or lock stitch each time you start and stop.

Sometimes you need to line up pieces with odd angles, and the edges won't match. If you mark the seam lines with the Prep-Tool, off-set pieces always line up where the seam lines cross.

Sarah Sheckells Lenoir, NC

"Just wanted to tell you I love this thing - Super Easy Seam Guide Setter! I put it on right away and have had great success with keeping my 1/4” seams accurate.”

Butt the gold lip edges of the Prep-Tool up to the edge of the fabric, and you should see the line of stitching right along its edge.

• If it's inside the edge, you need to adjust the Seam Guide farther away from the needle.
• If it's outside the edge, you need to adjust the Seam Guide closer to the needle.

The lip edges on the Prep-Tool catch the fabric's edge, making it easy to accurately line up & pre-trim points.

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.

But there are times when pre-trimming the points is the way to go.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Long Side Trim:

Line the Prep-Tool along the Long Side of the Triangle.

Short Side Trim:

Line the Prep-Tool along the Short Side of the Triangle.

So which trim should you use?

• 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.

Example: Square-in-a-Square Units:

Use Short Side Trim for the HSTs

Use Long Side Trim for the QSTs

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!

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!