Building Blocks Piecing Tips

We have a few days to go before we learn how to piece our first block from the Building Blocks Quilt Pattern.  I figure it’s a good time to share some piecing tips with you to explain the tools, materials, and settings I’m using on my machine. Here’s a quick video to get started:

Let’s review what I mentioned in the video and share a bit more details just in case you need more information:

Patchwork foot – I’ll be using an old Bernina 1230 to piece my blocks so I’m using the 1/4″ patchwork foot for piecing. This foot is wonderfully designed to help you stitch accurate 1/4″ seams both to the left and right of your needle.

What to look for – if you don’t have a patchwork foot, the best place to find one is with your dealer. Make sure to ask if you need to reposition your needle in order to use the foot. Some machines require a needle move, some don’t, and it’s good to know what is required to get the most accurate stitch.

What if you don’t have a dealer / no patchwork foot available?

In this case, you’ll need to do a bit more work, but you still can most definitely use your machine to piece accurately!

Option 1: Needle Adjustment – Place your normal zigzag foot on the machine and adjust the needle over to the right until you have exactly 1/4″ between the edge of the foot and the spot the needle is piercing the fabric.

You might even want to piece two scraps together and then measure the resulting seam allowance. You really can’t fudge this setting – you need a deadly accurate 1/4″ or your seam will end up either too big or too small.

Once you find the right placement and perfect location for your needle to go, make sure to write down this info so you don’t forget exactly how you need to adjust your machine in order to piece accurately.

Option 2: Generic foot – Run some Google searches for your machine name and the word “shank.” You’re looking for information on whether your machine fits a universal generic high or low shank foot.

If you can’t find this information anywhere online, chances are your foot isn’t compatible with these generic feet. In that case, go with Option 1.

Thread – For piecing, I’m going to be using Aurifil 100% cotton. This 50 weight thread is super thin, but super strong and virtually lint free. I matched my thread color to the Fabric A color (blue) used in my quilt because in block #10, some of this piecing thread will show on the outside edge of the basket handle.

We need a strong, thin thread for piecing so the pieces of cotton fabric are held securely together. The thinness of the thread is important because a thick thread can actually shrink your seam allowance, making it more difficult to match the seams in your block.

Lint is also a serious issue with cotton thread because a super linty thread will be spinning around both in the top and bobbin of your machine. Over time, this will create giant dust bunnies which could lock up your machine completely!

If you don’t have a choice about the thread you’re using, just make sure to brush out your bobbin area with every bobbin you change. Read your manual and learn how to pop off or unscrew the needle plate so you can get into the nitty gritty area all around the bobbin case.

Whatever you do DON’T use those cans of spray air to blow the lint out of your machine. This actually blows the lint further in, locking it against the moving parts of your machine, and it WILL break your machine!

My dealer once showed me a picture of a machine less than 1 year old that was 100% locked up – the needle could not move up or down a bit. The quilter had been blowing the lint further in, not brushing it out, and the machine was completely ruined.

So enough horror stories about lint, let’s move on to machine settings!

1.5mm stitch length – I always set a small stitch length on my machine because this locks the stitches tightly together and ensures the pieces will never come apart.

Locking the pieces so tightly together also allows us to press the seam allowances OPEN like this:

Pressing these seam allowances open will reduce their bulk and thickness when it comes time to quilt over the block. It is far easier to quilt over the block, and stitch in the ditch when the seam allowances are pressed open rather than to one side.

But won’t this DAMAGE my quilt???

Yes, I’ve heard this a hundred times too, and I regularly get chewed out via email about it (I’m not kidding! Lol. Some people really need to get a life!)

Apparently law #3 of the Quilt Police states pressing seams open is wrong, wrong, wrong. The theory here is if you press seams open, then quilt right in the ditch, then your needle MIGHT pierce one of the piecing stitches and break it, creating a HOLE in your quilt.

All I can tell, show, and teach is what I do myself. I’ve always pressed my seams open and I’ve always stitched right in the ditch and not one of my quilts has gotten a hole, fallen apart, or suffered in any other serious way for working this way.

The flip side I’ve found is pressing to one side results in a noticeable lump in the quilt where the two seam allowances are layered on top of one another. It’s so noticeable, it’s very common to get thread breaks while quilting over theses sections.

But the choice is definitely yours – to press seams open or to one side. Just do understand that by using a narrow 1.5mm stitch length, your blocks will be solidly locked together, almost impossible to rip apart, and definitely okay with pressing seam allowances open!

Marking Pencil – We will be marking lines for both piecing and quilting through this project, so it’s time to invest in a marking pencil that produces a fine, bright line that you can see clearly, but also erase easily.

I personally prefer the Fons & Porter Ceramic marking pencil for medium to dark fabrics and the Fine Line Water Soluble Pen for light fabrics. Both devices create fine lines that are easy to follow while quilting, but also easy to remove after the project is complete.

No matter what you use – TEST IT! Mark some fabric, then try to remove the marks by following the instructions on the pen or pencil package.

Scrap charger – One last thing that I use while piecing that I forgot to mention in the video is a scrap charger, which is basically a 2 inch square of scrap fabric that is folded in half.

I stitch through this little scrap of fabric first, and stop stitching when my needle stitches off one end. This way my presser foot is ever so slightly lifted on the 2 layers of scrap fabric.

I can then slide the two pieces I’m stitching together under the foot, get it aligned with the right side perfectly and the next stitch the needle makes will be exactly where it needs to be.

This also ensures that any gagging and thread nesting the machine decides to do will be on the scrap fabric, NOT on the pieces I’m stitching together.

An alternative to this scrap charger idea is Bonnie Hunter’s Leaders and Enders, which basically achieves the exact same goal, but with the added benefit that you are piecing small scraps together to eventually piece an entire scrappy quilt.

So that’s it for this extra piecing tip post! If you have any questions make sure to post them here and I’ll be sure to respond and even update the post if something big is missing.

If you haven’t already, pick up a copy of the Building Blocks Quilt Pattern so you will be ready to piece block #1 with us this Monday!

Let’s go quilt!

Leah Day