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Sharlene Jorgenson's Workroom
Shar's Designer Secrets
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SHARLENE JORGENSON'S DESIGNER SECRETS
Steam management
If you plan to press with steam as you're piecing a quilt, be sure to preshrink your fabrics first. If you skip the prewashing step, your cut pieces will shrink unevenly as you press them, and will become difficult to work with.
Stabilize with starch!
I've started to use spray starch on most fabrics that go into my quilts. Starch makes cutting and sewing much easier. It stabilizes the fabric and prevents small pieces from being pulled into the needle hole of the sewing machine. It also acts as a stain guard, making it easier to remove pencil lines.
I mix equal parts of Sta-Flo liquid starch and water and lightly mist the fabric before pressing it. A light misting is adequate for most quilting projects, but if pieces are small, I usually spray both sides of the fabric.
Get a grip on your templates!
To cut accurately with acrylic templates and a rotary cutter, first apply Quick Grips to your templates. These are small, adhesive-backed circles of felt that keep the templates from sliding on your fabric as you cut.
Place a circle at each corner of the template, as well as midway along each edge if the template is large. If you don't put Quick Grips on the far corners of the template, the fabric will move as you approach each corner with your rotary cutter.
Editor's note: Shar's Quick Grips are similar to the Fabric Grabbers, Fabric Grips, and SlipNots you'll find in the SewAndQuilt.com Shopping Center. Fabric Grabbers and SlipNots are rubber, while Fabric Grips are dots of fine sandpaper. SlipNots come as a square that you can cut or punch into whatever shapes and sizes you need.
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