I hope the puckers in my last post made you smile. But, I must admit, puckers in my quilts never make me smile.
Even if you safety pin baste your quilt sandwich together well (every 3 or 4 inches) and use a walking foot, those pesky puckers still tend to sneak in. So what’s my favorite tip for avoiding this frustration? I call it my “3 Pin Technique” and it’s actually quite simple.
1. Put the needle down at the beginning of the line you wish to quilt (I plan to quilt between the light and dark purple areas on my fabric).
2. Place a straight quilting pin (mine have yellow heads in the picture) perpendicular to the quilting line and about 1 1/2″ from the needle. Place the second straight pin 1 1/2″ further down the line and repeat for the third pin.
3. Stitch along the line to the first pin, and then remove it. Continue this way to the second and third pins.
4. Repin ahead of the needle as in step 2 and continue along the entire line.
Although this may seem a bit tedious, you can really get into a rhythm and the “easing” action of the pins will make pucker problems a thing of the past. The feedback from my students has been great!