Rag Quilt Instructions for Seam Allowances

A Quilter's Question

Q: I just recently purchased a sewing machine (3 days ago, and i have never owned one before). I have made a couple small (baby size) rag quilts by hand and I am working on a bigger one (started by hand) and I am hoping to finish it on the sewing machine.

I am just starting to sew the blocks into rows, and I have a question if someone could give me some advice.

When you have all of the rows sewn together and are ready to start sewing these together, how do you deal with the seam allowances on the machine. I tried on one of the smaller ones to just let the machine sew them however they lay (so to speak) and ended up bending two machine needles.

From what the person at the fabric store mentioned to me, I think I am trying to pull the fabric when it is sewing. Should i just let it go and and hope for the best, or is there a way to deal with it? (I have the right needles for what i am doing.) If someone could give me some advice. Thanks, Janine Fonk

A: Thank you for contacting us.

How exciting to get a new machine :-) And a fun project, too.

I generally find it better to sew the seam allowances open instead of folding them to one side, as you would if you were sewing a patchwork quilt. It may just be psychological, but somehow it seems to go through my machine easier. I also pin the seam allowances open, and remove the pins before then reach the sewing machine needle.

I feed the quilt through the machine - guiding in the front (kind of easing it into the needle) and gently pulling the quilt through behind the needle.

A walking foot for machine quilting. This little foot makes it easier to machine sew quilts with batting.

You may also want to try a walking foot. It is a special attachment for machine quilting that allows all of the fabric to feed through the machine at the same time. (With a regular presser foot, the feed dogs pull the bottom fabric through at a slightly different rate than the top fabric.)

Sounds like you're 5 steps ahead by using a sturdy needle - that would have been my first suggestion.

Please let me know if that helps.

Happy Quilting!

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Penny is a quilter of more than 24 years who seeks to interest new quilters and provide them with the resources necessary to create beautiful quilts.

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