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Bias Seam Tips – Working with Angles

Last week’s post covered time saving tips. This week, I thought I would cover tips specifically for bias seams. Angles, created with bias seams, add interest to a quilt block and quilt so it’s a good idea to learn how to stitch them accurately. Accurate stitching is definitely a time saver! These types of seams require a little more care than just pinning and stitching straight seams. Especially because you want to avoid having to rip out bias seams. My post concentrates specifically on the stitch & flip type of bias seam, but you can use these tips on any type of bias seam. So let’s get started.

Getting Started

Tip#1: Don’t rely on “eyeballing” the seam you are sewing. Either draw a pencil line to follow or use guides on your machine. I will show some examples of using a pencil line in my specific examples below.

But, if you would rather use a guide on your machine, here’s how you set it up:

I first place a tape measure (above left photo – I recommend a tape measure that is 1/2″ wide) under my needle and put the needle down at the “0” line. Place a piece of painter’s tape right at that point on your throat plate and sewing machine table. Then move the tape measure around (still under the needle), as in the center photo, if you are using a 1/2″ wide tape as recommended, the edge will be exactly aligned with the 1/4″ line on your throat plate and with the edge of your 1/4″ foot (last photo). Be sure it is exactly 1/4″ then draw a line on the painter’s tape. This acts to extend the 1/4″ mark from your throat plate. No more eyeballing a seam! You’ll see this in action later in this post.

Preparing and Sewing

Here’s the stitch and flip corners I mentioned in the opening. Stitch & flip usually entails placing a smaller square on a larger square or block, stitching a bias seam and then pressing it open. 

Tip#2: Pin! Pin! Pin! Take the square with the line drawn and lay it face down on the face up unit that you want to add the corner to (first two photos above). Make sure the raw edges of the pieces are lined up exactly, this is important to make sure your unit measures accurately when done. Then pin to make sure the pieces do not shift while stitching.

Tip#3: Measure! Measure! Measure! First (left photo below), stitch along the drawn line. You can go a hair to the right (or left if your square in on the left) of the line to allow for different thread thickness, but no more. I even recommend to cut some scrap squares and use that to test how this works.

In the center photo below, I show that after stitching, I press back the corner of the smaller square and measure the unit to make sure it still measures the same as the larger piece. For example, if the black square is 2 1/2 x 2 1/2″ before you started, it needs to still measure 2 1/2 x 2 1/2″ with the flipped up smaller square.

After you have determined the unit measures correctly, then you can cut the excess fabric from the seam allowance on the back.

If you do the tape method I showed above and you feel confident without a drawn line on your smaller square, here’s how that would work:

The photo above shows the point of the smaller square lined up with the left edge of the painter’s tape. Keep that lined up as you stitch the seam. Then follow the same steps above for those units with the drawn line.

Tip #4: Because these seams are bias seams, do not pull the unit through your machine as you are stitching. This is a good rule for any seam, but especially bias seams because the fabric can be stretched severely out of shape by doing this and then your unit will not measure correctly. And be extra careful if you have to “un-sew” a seam for the same reason. The fabric can stretch out of shape with too much pulling.

Other Stitch & Flip Type Blocks

Stitch & flip method is used to make some common units like flying geese and common blocks like the snowball.

For the flying geese on the left, you would stitch & flip one side from lining it up, pinning, stitching, measuring and cutting off the excess fabric in the seam allowance prior to working on the next side. For the snowball block on the right, you can sew all four corners at the same time before moving on to the next steps.

So that’s it for this week.

Happy Quilting!
Deanne

Working with Angles

There will be a time when you are no longer just sewing straight seams in your blocks, whether you are adding half-square triangle squares or stitch and flip corners. Angles add interest to a quilt block and quilt so it’s a good idea to learn how to stitch them accurately. I am going to concentrate on units where you use 45 degree angles because they are more common. Once you master these, you can translate what you’ve learned to other types of angles. Hopefully these tips help you whether you are a beginner or an experienced quilter.

Getting Started

It’s important to sew these seams accurately so your unit measures correctly so here are some tips that will help you when sewing these seams.

Tip#1: Don’t rely on “eyeballing” the seam you are sewing. Either draw a pencil line to follow or use guides on your machine. I will show some examples of using a pencil line in my specific examples below.

If you would rather use a guide on your machine, here’s how you set it up:

In the photo on the left, I first place a tape measure (I recommend a tape that is 1/2″ wide) under my needle and put the needle down at the “0” line. Place a piece of painter’s tape right at that point on your throat plate and sewing machine table. Then move the tape measure around (still under the needle), as in the center photo, if you are using a 1/2″ wide tape as recommended, the edge will be exactly aligned with the 1/4″ line on your throat plate and with the edge of your 1/4″ foot (last photo). Be sure it is exactly 1/4″ then draw a line on the painter’s tape. This acts to extend the 1/4″ mark from your throat plate. No more eyeballing a seam! You’ll see this in action later in this post.

Tip #2: Do not cut away any excess in the seam allowance until you press open the seam you have stitched and measure the unit to make sure it’s the size it’s supposed to be. These 45 degree seams are on the bias so you do not want to have to rip them out, which can distort your fabric. You also do not want to cut away fabric and then find out your unit doesn’t measure correctly. Then you really have to start over!

Tip #3: Because these seams are bias seams, do not pull the unit through your machine as you are stitching. This is a good rule for any seam, but especially bias seams because the fabric can be stretched severely out of shape by doing this and then your unit will not measure correctly.

Types of Units from Bias Seams

These are the types of seams and units I use the most in my creations, so these are the ones I am covering here. I think these tips will help you with other angle seams as well.

First up is the stitch and flip corners to add a design element. 

As you can see above, stitch & flip usually entails placing a smaller square on a larger square or block, stitching a bias seam and then pressing it open. The above example shows this using a drawn line on the wrong side of the smaller square, placing it face down on the larger square lining up the edges and pinning in place. Then stitch along the line.

The photos in the center and on the end show how I press back the corner with my fingers and measure the unit to make sure it still measures the size of the black square. Then the excess can be cut from the seam allowance.

You can also use the tape guide I described above:

The photo above shows the point of the smaller square lined up with the left edge of the painter’s tape. Keep that lined up as you stitch the seam. Then follow the steps below, the same those above with the drawn line, to measure the unit.

This stitch & flip method is used to make some common units like flying geese and common blocks like the snowball.

Next up is the type of unit most familiar to quilters: the half-square triangle square often known as an HST square. First you can make these using the drawn line method:

As you can see in the second photo from the left, I stitched a bias seam a scant 1/4″ from the drawn line.

If you want to skip drawing the line, that’s where the line we drew on the painter’s tape above comes in. Simply sew your seam on the one side with the point of the unit lined up with the drawn line (which will be 1/4″ from the center), then flip the piece and line the point up again with the line on the tape to sew the other seam. 

The last photo above shows the unit ready to be cut in half between the seams for 2 half-square triangles! If you want a scant 1/4″ just shift the point of the unit you are stitching slightly to the left of the line. Your seam lines will be closer together. Then you can trim your half-square triangle squares down to size after you press them.

So that’s it for this week. I hope you learned something or had your skills refreshed with this post!

Happy Quilting!
Deanne

Useful Piecing Techniques – Stitch & Flip Corners

In this week’s blog post lets talk about the stitch & flip technique, sometimes known as the folded corners. This is a technique that is very useful because it adds a design element to a unit or block that is not achieved by straight seams only. I will share tips on how to perform this technique so your units and blocks turn out perfectly… or at least as close as possible. You may hear this technique referred to as “folded corners” because after stitching, the fabric is folded over (by pressing). Don’t let the different name throw you off. Let’s get started!

Flying Geese Units

If you make flying geese units the old fashioned way, 2 squares and a rectangle, you are using the stitch & flip method already. The key to making these units successfully is careful stitching and measuring as you go. Here are the traditional geese first steps:

I start in my demo above with 2 squares that are each 2 1/2″ and a rectangle that is 2 1/2 x 4 1/2″. Draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of the two squares. When you lay one of the squares face down on the rectangle, pin to keep the square from shifting. Once you sew along the line, the next steps are very important:

In the photo above on the left, I am folding over the square to make sure it matches up with the edge of the rectangle. The center photo shows that when I measure, the rectangle still measures 4 1/2″ in length. I can then trim off the excess fabric on the back (last photo). Always fold over and measure the unit after stitching before trimming off the excess fabric.

I repeat these steps on the other side of the rectangle and here is my finished geese unit still measuring    2 1/2 x 4 1/2″:

Here’s a bonus way to save fabric if you don’t like cutting off the excess and tossing it. Once you have the square placed face down on the rectangle and sew along the drawn line, sew another seam 1/2″ away from the first seam. If you want to mark that line too, feel free.

Cut between the two sewn lines and you end up with the geese unit you are working on and an half-square triangle square you can use in another project. That way, you are not wasting any fabric. 

There are no-waste geese methods that I will cover in a later post that will allow you to make multiple geese, but if you like making geese this traditional way, this is a way you save waste too. A geese unit that measures 2 1/2 x 4 1/2″ yields two HST squares that can be trimmed to measure 1 1/2″ square.

Other Uses for Stitch & Flip

Stitch & flip is also used to make corners on squares that add a unique look to the design of a block. The block shown below from my Star Wheels quilt has flying geese in it, but also other stitch & flip parts:

You can do stitch and flip on anything that has a 90 degree angle like a square or a rectangle. I’m going to demo using the black pointed units in this block (that I call the “spokes” of the Star Wheel block), but the same step can be used for the orange corners of the star block. These steps are similar to the geese steps above. I started with a 2 1/2″ black square and a tan 1 1/2″ square. Draw a line on the wrong side of the tan square as a guide for stitching:

Next, lay the small square face down and line up its edges with the edges of the bigger black square as shown. I like to pin it in place for stitching so the small square does not shift. Then stitch on the line.

Once the seam is sewn, I fold over the square like I did in the geese steps above and measure the unit to make sure it still measures 2 1/2 x 2 1/2″ and the small square folds in half evenly. Then I can cut off the excess in the seam allowance.

I then repeat those steps on the other side of the black square to get the finished “spoke” unit.

I have an older tutorial video I made on this method that may be helpful to you demonstrating this technique.

Here are some other blocks where I have used this method:

These are only a few of the many I have made. Can you pick out all the stitch & flip units in each block?

So, that’s it for this week. Comment below on this technique or ask any questions you may have. The drawing for my pattern, Star Wheels is still ongoing. 

The drawing will be on Monday, March 14th. ***We have a winner. Congrats, Pat!***

Happy Quilting!
Deanne