David - How to Sew--Patchwork

Once cut to size, your fabric blocks can be pieced together either by hand piecing or using a sewing machine. It is important to bear seam allowances in mind. When you cut templates for machine piecing, you should include seam allowances, as the width of the sewing machine will automatically allow 0.5cm (in) between the cut edge and your sewing line. For hand piecing, the seam allowances should not be included.

Machine piecing is perfect for quilts that need to be durable or need to be made more quickly than normal.

Place your first two pieces right sides together, making sure the edges to be sewn line up. Set your sewing machine to a slightly shorter than average stitch length and make sure that the tension is even.

Use the quarter-inch foot and line up the fabric edge with the edge of the foot when you sew. Some quarter-inch feet have a guide plate on the right-hand side so the fabric can't be sewn with a wider seam.

Cut about 45cm (18in) of thread and tie a knot in the end. Hold your pinned pieces firmly in one hand and remove the first pin.

Bring the needle in from the back of the fabric, 3mm (1/8in) from the corner. Take a backstitch to the corner, making sure your stitches are on the marked line.

Sew along the line, inserting the odd backstitch and removing the pins as you go.

At the end, sew another backstitch, but insert the needle through the loop as you form the last stitch, to secure.

This technique can speed up piecing patchwork made from squares and rectangles. It must be machine sewn because the seams are cut across and hand sewing would come undone.

Cut rotary strips to the required width and sew them together, first as pairs, then sew the pairs together until the panel is complete this stops the strips creeping out of alignment. Press the seams to one side.

Rotary cut further units across the sewn seam, remembering the seam allowance, then rearrange and sew together.

For a 10cm (4in) four-patch block, you would cut strips and then the units 6.5cm (2in) wide.

The finished block would still have a 6mm (in) seam allowance all round, measuring 11.5cm (4in).

This speed piecing machine technique allows you to make triangle square elements in a block without sewing on a cut bias edge, which may distort and spoil your patchwork.