I finger press too.And I never start from the center out when quilting. I go from the top right edge to the left and make rows.

Karlene, about the only rule I follow religiously is to prewash the all the fabric. It gets thrown into the machine as soon as I bring it in the house. I don't intend to enter my work into any shows or contests, if the thread doesn't show who cares what color it is, and if I feel like pressing a block I do, but I don't press after each seam like they do on the tv shows. That's why I don't like the Fons & Porter show, they are just a little too rigid. I know there are people who like them, and I know it's better to show the "right" way but they drive me nuts.

There are rules?! :)

I'm with Rita - everything gets presoaked, regardless of the "quality" of the fabric. I don't wash - just fill the washer with cold water, let the fabrics soak a good long time (throw in a color catcher if it's dark colors), then run the spin on the hand wash setting. Then shake the wrinkles out and throw them in the dryer.

Construction-wise, I do whatever seems best for the particular project.

Donna

I almost never pre-wash and I've never had a problem with colors bleeding. (I'm sure if I ever did have a problem I would start pre-washing!)

I religiously press almost every seam, towards the darker fabric, with a hot iron.

I clip threads as soon as the fabrics comes off the machine.

I clip the 'bunny ears' too, after sewing diagonals.

In a multi-block quilt, I always make one block first, before cutting everything out, to be sure the measurements are correct.

I rarely pin blocks or pieces unless I'm sewing a long strip of blocks to another long strip. But curves and tight fits always get pinned.

I don't think I even own white thread! I use grays and beiges, mostly, although I've been known to use whatever color is primarily used in the quilt. I just hate to notice the thread, except for the quilting of course.

For quilting thread: I don't know if there's a rule or not but I know that I can agonize over the color for a long time. I'm pretty certain there is a 'perfect' color for each quilt that will make the stitching beautiful and if I stare at the bin long enough I'll find it!

This is a personal rule and not something that bothers me in other people's quilts, but if a print fabric has an obvious direction, I MUST line them up in the quilt so that they are going in the same direction.

Rule #1: piecing seams are 1/4", unless I'm fixing something that's off. But if I stuck with 1/4" seams in the first place and pressed it flat, it's rarely off.

I didn't think I had very many quilting rules, but I guess I do!
Kate

I usually wash fabrics, but not always for a wallhanging. I always wash hand dyes a lot. I use Orvis soap. I always try to adhere to the quarter inch seam allowance so things fit as planned.

I have thrown the "rules" out the window these days and am getting more "arty". I love to play with fabric and see what I can do with it.

I always go to any show or event that shows others work. I get so inspired and design ideas pop in my head. I take lots of pictures.

I no longer feel a project has to go from start to finish in one span of time. I work on several as whim takes me.

I'm still trying to learn what I'm doing :-) I find that "rules" are a good basis, but adapting is more important.

I come from a strict sewing, tailoring construction background - so I follow rules....mostly.....old habits....

I always prewash.
I starch (Magic Sizing) and press before I cut.
I always press my seams.
I always clip the treads while I am sewing.
I believe the back / inside should be as neat as the outside.
I keep my sewing machine dust free (way less dust then the rest of my house :)
I oil the machines that require oil frequently.
I change my needles often.
I change my blades when they show any signs of nicks or getting dull.
I do not cut paper with my scissors and my family knows I will cut off their fingers if they touch my scissors ~just kidding~
I do pin some intersections with fine pins.
I like to cut accurately and sew accurately.
I am learning not to be concerned that the thread doesn't match.
I do strive for perfection in my eyes~just my nature and I still do have fun!

Overall, I have very good sewing habits, and I like it that way:)

Very fun question.

Always:
-Pre-wash (rinse) because the dye bothers my hands
-Cut and sew as accurately as possible
-Starch my fabric before cutting
-Press those seams
-Measure and pin borders
-Have fun

Usually:
-Use cream (natural) colored thread, except on black or white
-Press to the dark side (unless ease of construction requires otherwise.
-Pin long seams and curves

Never:
-Listen to someone who says "it can't be done" (is that a "dare you to try it"?)

beverly

I am not to religious about rules but do try and follow a few.
Always press
Cut the threads frequently, maybe not each time but often.
Measure blocks and distances between seams checking accuracy.
1/4 " seam (at least I try)
Use paper scissors for paper and sewing scissors for sewing!
Use a thimble
Usually use gray/beige thread. Sometimes black/white if those fabrics are predominate.
Do my best to match color of thread with applique.
Thoughtful of the st. of grain in fabric.
Pin prn
Seldom wash my fabric unless I am pretty sure there maybe a problem eg. shrinkage/bleeding.
I have had some problems with bleeding but such is life.
Don't use starch.
Try not to worry too much about perfection too little time too much to experience.
Jayne

I'm afraid that I'm a personal rule setter and keeper, mostly because I'm also ridiculously fussy about perfect seams and points. 8^)

Rules I Keep:

1) I ALWAYS pre-wash--I've had way too many "bleeders" try to ruin a quilt. I'd rather discover the culprit before it can do any damage. Fabric is not allowed to go into the stash until it's been brutally pre-washed.

2) I starch and press with a hot iron 99% of the time. I need to get up and move around for my back anyway, so I figure I might as well let the iron do the work.

3) I like pins. I don't necessarily pin everything, but I pin more than many quilters.

4) I am totally OCD when it comes to stitch length and tension. I want a short stitch for piecing and perfect tension.

5) I clean my sewing machine regularly and keep it well-oiled.

6) Points really do have to be perfect. I cannot abide a cut off point!

7) A consistent seam allowance is essential for effortless perfect piecing.

Rules I Break:

1) I don't necessarily press my seams to one side, I often press them open. Or to the light side (gasp!) --whatever will give me the flattest intersections.

2) I'll use any thread for machine quilting that will give me the color/effect I want no matter what its fiber content. I am definitely NOT the thread police!

3) I don't use an electric sewing machine and I manage just fine.

4) I don't rip apart and resew a block that doesn't measure exactly the right size. I believe that there's a place for judicious fudging and that, yes, I will be able to work out that bit of bulge when I quilt it. 8^)

Wow I thought a lot of my quilting was fly by the seat of my pants type but then Kate wrote my list of must follows, line for line!! Guess I have more rules then I thought!! :)

Marsha, we must have had the same tailoring professor. Miss French - "the inside of the garment should look as nice as the outside."

I always, always prewash - fabric doesn't even go into my sewing room until it is washed - usually in the kitchen sink, spun dry, then fluffed in the dryer.

I never spray with starch or sizing.

I press pieced blocks as I go, usually pressing to the darker fabric.

When I clip threads while piecing, I don't clip right at the fabric, but leave about 1/4" tails so seams don't start to open at the end of the sewing.

I sort of measure borders, always cut them a smidgen longer.

Use cream, taupe, or gray when piecing except for white when the background is white. I don't sew on black much.

A note: I remember an old sewing book that admonished the lady to tidy her hair, clean her hands, trim her nails and make herself look presentable before sitting down to her sewing machine.

WHAT!!!??? Does this mean we can't sew in our jammies with bedhead and a huge honkin' mug of coffee anymore?

I ALWAYS leave new fabric laying around for a couple of weeks to decorate my space and serve as inspiration.

I NEVER leave the LQS without buying something, if it's just a pack of needles or a fat quarter.

I always pre-wash; I use 1/4 inch foot to get my seams correct. I do pin quite a bit; I always press my seams as I sew to the dark side when possible -- sometimes I press them open all depending on how many seams I'm dealing with. And yes Theresa I sometimes sew in my jammies with bedhead and a huge honkin cup of coffee.

Teresa - mine was Miss Kester & she married my Algebra teacher across the hall, Mr Lyle. I was so much better at sewing than Algebra! LOL

Amazing how we all get to the same place with such differing methods! It amuses me, and occasionally makes me rethink.

I ALWAYS:

Check my seam allowance by sewing a test seam before I start piecing.

Check block units, like half-square triangles, before piecing them into a block.

Finger-press each block unit. Then a thorough press of the block.

Not always - but 90% of the time I press seams open, rather than to one side. I like a nice flat block, and I don't buy into the notion that pressed open seams are weaker.

I always calculate my border size - I don't like flappy, waving borders. And if I have pieced accurately, it's a matter of adding up the blocks and sashing, if there is any. I cut my borders to that size and make them fit. I quarter mark the top and the borders, and never have a problem.

I always brush out the bobbin area with each bobbin change. Lint is you enemy.

I FREQUENTLY:

Use starch. Not the canned stuff, but the Stay-Flo you mix with water. I often (like for the Tumbling Blocks quilt I'm working on now) will warm a fabric with the iron, spray it, layer another, warm and spray it, then layer another, warm, spray, then iron until dry with a press cloth. This makes for super-accurate speed cutting of diamond shapes.

I NEVER:

Prewash. I used too, but after the 24 Quilts of Valor, with bright reds, bright blues, and whites, all from different people, with no telling about the pretreatment, I haven't had a fabric bleed so much that a Shout color catcher couldn't take care of. If there was a bit of bleeding, I gave it a second wash. I also like the differential shrinkage (just a percentage point or 3) that washing the whole quilt gives.

Worry. Things work out in the end.

This is a great thread and I haven't got much to add. I never pre-wash, but am compulsive about pinning every intersection. I press, but usually in the direction the fabric wants to go and we all know it has a mind of its own. I would never sew with matching thread. It's too hard to see if you need to do the frog stitch.

I've gotten where I never pre-wash fabric. I use lots of spray starch, measure, measure, measure because I'm so unsure of myself and press, press, press. I'm the only one in my shoebox club that presses. My blocks are the only ones that are flat as a flitter (has anyone ever heard that term before?) Lynn

What an excellent question!

I ALWAYS:
- prewash my fabrics in cold water with a good amount of vinegar and a fistful of Kosher salt. This removes any excess dyes or sizing, or perhaps little buggies or their eggs/kin that could be lurking within the fibers to create havoc in my stash.
- clip the corners off my fabric before putting into the prewash. This helps with less raveling (notice I did not say "eliminates"?!) along that cut edge, and it is easy to tell if a fabric has been pre-washed.
- dry my pre-washed fabrics until nearly dry, then press flat with a hot iron and fold neatly to fit somewhere within my stash. Depending on the length, it may get folded into neat little packages that look like FQ's so I can line them up in an underbed bin, or folded flat for long borders.
- try to buy at least 3 yards of any fabric that I really love and consider I may want it for a border. Since I love single-fabric borders (easier to apply than a pieced one that may not fit after all those seams!), I prefer they not be pieced together. Plus, if the fabric is truly lovely, after cutting off border lengths, I can use the rest at will for piecing.
- strive for accuracy in cutting and sewing. That 1/4" thing? Well, that's kind of another story because what is 1/4" to a pattern designer (or printer!) may be different than the ruler/tape measure I am using at home. I feel if all my seams are accurately sewn with what I determine to be the 1/4" seam, they should fit together without a ton of fuss.
- try to press all seams with a hot iron as soon as I can, toward the dark side if possible.
- keep an open mind about color, composition, fabric ... anything that can stress me out. I find that what someone else might call a "mistake" is just an opportunity for a creative solution. So if my yellow is a little too sunny, perhaps there is a "fix" that will make the finished quilt even better than planned.
- strive for straight of grain in my cutting, especially where it counts most: sashings/borders/base blocks. Sometimes you can't worry about that (fussy-cut patches, 8-pointed [diamond] stars, curvy piecing/applique), but if I want a piece to lie flat and be "square", those straight grainlines are magical!

I USUALLY:
- use a neutral thread to sew seams. I keep a supply of several shades of "white" from snow-white to cream to ecru to tan to beige, into several shades of grey, charcoal, and finally, black. If my quilt has a planned color theme (blue/white, red/white, for instance), I will try to stay with a neutral that is in the quilt for piecing. If it's a scrappy quilt, there's no telling what color my piecing thread is!
- try to clip my threads as I go along, although I do sometimes miss one or two.
- use hand-applique instead of fusible, mostly because it's my preference and it gives me more control, both artistically and literally.
- chain-sew whenever possible. Helps to negate any "need" to clip threads, and there is less thread waste.

I RARELY:
- use a commercial pattern. I love to design all my own quilts and even if I begin with a pattern/design I like, you will frequently find me changing sashing widths, border sizes, etc., to make it my own.
- cut patches/pieces with a pair of scissors, but will do it on occasion. Same for hand-sewing block seams.
- clip off the "bunny ears" of triangle piecing. Life is too short ....

I NEVER:
- use starch. This is a new development in quilting and I had never heard of it until recently, but I can always tell when someone has heavily starched their fabrics when I get a block made by someone else. I love the softness and the "hand" of a really well-made fabric, and to hold fabrics that feel like paper because of heavy starching just makes me ask, "why???"
- get too far away from my seam ripper. Harold and I are good friends (yes, he has a name), and he is always there if I have a problem I need to pick out. I have found that if I treat him well, he will treat me and my piecing well, which makes for a better result all around.
- met a deadline I couldn't "fudge" more time out of (right, Kate???).
- worry about what other people think of the way I do things. This is my art, and if someone doesn't like it, they don't have to look at it. Not that it's hanging in some fancy gallery anywhere .....

Thanks for a great question!

Odessa

Jammies, bed-head, a honkin cup of coffee, Miss French & Miss Kester, flat as a flitter, judicious fudging, cut off fingers for touching scissors, and Harold! HA! You all are great!

LOL - I'm loving this thread! The answers have been great and really show that we all get to the same place using different paths, as MaryC said. It's so interesting!

I'm sorry I didn't think of the things that PetalPatsy listed because these are 'always' and 'nevers' for me too!

There is one thing here that upsets me though and I'm going to have to fix it: my seam ripper does not have a name. We do have a pretty close relationship and now I'm wondering if this lack of personalization has bothered him. Perhaps that's why he's not as sharp as he used to be...

Kate

I've heard talking to your cow results in more milk, perhaps naming your seam ripper results in easier frog-stitching!

Oh, I thought of another few
-I never cut off my selvages (except on individual strips that have writing/white edge)

-I also cut my corners at an angle before I wash a piece of fabric

Well You guys have covered so many dos and don'ts but here's what I always do:
-sew 1/4" seam unless told not to
-press seams
-clip threads
-use paper scissors for paper and sewing scissors for sewing
-use beige or gray thread unless sewing on dark fabric
-debate over how to quilt the quilt
-enjoy the piecing process
seldom:
-prewash fabric
-use starch
-use a thimble
Darlene