Today’s Try It Tuesday is a fun one–I’m giving away a Craftsy quilting class!  [More about the Craftsy platform at the end of the post].

When the Precision Piecing Class by Norah McMeeking of Bella Bella Quilts was announced, I knew it was something I was interested in. I am *not* a particularly precise piecer, and I am sure my quilting would improve if my precision did.  Ms. McMeeking’s style is very different from mine, but I figured that anyone who could make a Venice Rose Quilt that looks like this could teach me a thing or two (or 100) about careful piecing.  As a bonus: she has a great idea for raising your cutting surface in the first five minutes, which I need to try.

I have watched most of Precision Piecing (thanks for the class, Craftsy), and I’ve learned a lot! Ms. McMeeking has suggestions for everything from what kind of pins to use, the best way to pin seams for diamonds (new to me), how to mark seams, suggestions for sewing  y seams, foundation piecing tips, etc.  [Note: I really like the secondary patterns in this project, entitled Amish Pinwheels. I think it would look great in varied neutrals and color + white prints].

I have learned that precision piecing = patience. Perhaps that is why it isn’t my forte. However, based on what I have seen, I would recommend the class; I think that if you follow her tips, your precision WILL improve, in some cases pretty dramatically.  Her advice on sewing diamonds from the Amish Pinwheels section (above) might convince me to finally tackle a long awaited second try at a Lone Star Quilt!

Giveaway Information:

Enter the giveaway for the Precision Piecing Class here. You can use your existing Craftsy login or sign up for a Craftsy account to enter! One entry per person please.  The giveaway will be open until Friday, May 17 at 10pm ET. If you have trouble seeing the giveaway page, use Firefox as your browser.

Please let me know if you have any questions!

More on Craftsy below:

Are you familiar with Craftsy? It’s an online platform for teaching and learning a variety of handmade arts and crafts, including knitting, sewing, cooking, cake decorating, and of course, quilting classes! Craftsy also has a pretty robust pattern shop–my Summer Sampler Series Anthology is available there–as well as a fabric shop, which has some pretty great deals. (Ask me how I know.)

I have spent a lot of time learning how to sew by trial and error, from friends, from my mom and mother-in-law, and of course from blogs.  I haven’t taken a lot of classes, mostly because there aren’t a lot of classes at a convenient time near my house that I’m interested in.

Enter Craftsy–you can sign up for a class at any time, the classes aren’t very expensive ($50 is the highest price), the instructors are excellent, the classes are technique and project based, you can access the online classes at your leisure (and forever), and the instructor is around to take questions for a year–what’s not to love.

A tip for anyone who has signed up for classes but has trouble finding the time: I watch them on my laptop while folding laundry. Not at all glamorous, but it works for me.

Unless you send all of your quilt tops to be professionally long armed (and if you do, I wish I was you!), at some point, you have to baste your quilts.  Most of the time, I pin-baste my quilts. This means that I use safety pins to secure and hold together my quilt sandwich (the quilt top, the batting, and the quilt back) to keep it from shifting while I quilt it on my machine.

Lots of quilters use baste almost exclusively with a spray adhesive.  I often spray baste baby quilts because it is fast, and I only use 505 Spray Baste. I’ve tried most of the other brands and I really prefer this one. I have also found that spray baste does NOT work with voile quilt backs (this quilt is backed in voile), and I haven’t had much success with spray baste and Art Gallery fabrics either.

Personally, I find that I get better results when I pin baste anything larger than a baby quilt. These are my favorite safety pins. They are sharp, they are thin, they are small, and they are easy to close. The sharp point really does “glide smoothly through layers of fabrics” as the packaging suggests. I try to place them in the same direction and about the same distance apart, it makes them easier to remove. When I take them out, I stick them in a small glass jar without closing them so they are easy to use on my next quilt. If I find that one is dull or doesn’t go into the fabric easily, I throw it out.

If you don’t like the safety pins you are currently using or would like to give pin basting a try, I highly recommend these. I have been using them for 3 + years, and I just bought another set this week.  Note: These pins are tiny! I use size 1, which is about 1.25” long. 

Try It Tuesday Stats:

Manufacturer: Wrights®/EZ Quilting 
Source: Amazon: Wrights(R)/EZ Quilting Basting Brights Safety Pins-50/Pkg

EZ Quilting 882670153 Basting Brights, 200-Piece