1. Always check your stitch length before sewing. It seems elementary, doesn't it? Unfortunately, I didn't and some of my seams appear too tight for the amount of loft in the batting. I could and should have tried the stitch length before sewing the actual quilt.
2. I will not prewash my fabric again. In this case, it was a bad idea. I think my fabric was a lower quality and it might have been better not to prewash it. When pressing, I think I might have pulled it off grain but there is no accounting for the print being crooked on the fabric - that issue, I couldn't have done.
3. Wind a few bobbins before you start and keep ahead of the game. I can wind from the needle with my Viking Platinum Plus but it's just as easy to wind on top of the machine because I have a separate bobbin winding mechanism. When you're in your sewing groove though - it's nice to have prewound bobbins.
4. Number your lines when making continuous bias strips. It's easier to match them for sewing the seam.
5. Mark your seam when doing a whole cloth quilt. Even if you can sew a straight seam, when the fabric is rolled up on your machine, all points of reference disappear. Ask me how I know that! :)
6. When putting the sandwich together - do not ignore the suggestions to anchor the layers somehow before pinning it together. My quilt isn't as tight as I think it should be!
My personal preference is to make bias binding the old fashioned way - I tried the continuous and it didn't turn out that way. I thought I was following instructions perfectly - but when I tried to cut it apart, it was far from continuous. Perhaps I had too much on my plate with just getting back into sewing. I'm also convinced parts of the strip was not on the bias as I found out while I was pressing it. Lots of difference in stretch between bias and straight of grain strips.
I thought I could just wing it - doesn't appear to be the case! :)
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