Prepare and Cut Fabric for a Log Cabin Quilt - Learn to Quilt with Leah Day

[@rachel5288]

I've never starched my quilting fabric until about a month ago when I first watch one your videos. Now I can't imagine NOT using starch! Looking forward to everything you have to teach us. Thanks Leah!

[@LeahDay]

That's awesome Rachel! Starch is awesome!

[@sutela2060]

Thank you so much for your good video tips on preparation to fabric 😁

[@pattia2802]

I learned so much from this video. I have never starched my fabric but I am giving it a try on this quilt,

[@LeahDay]

That's wonderful Patti! I'm so glad you're going to give it a try!

[@daphnebrown3272]

I am building my firm pressing board this weekend! I purchased the Niagara starch and zip lock bags to get the job done! I am ready for fun!

[@robynwilson4849]

I would like to say thank you for showing us about where to cut on the ruler line. I have often had trouble with my blocks being off just a tad, (1/8"- 1/4"). I have already tried putting the ruler line on the edge of fabric and not off the fabric, Oh! Leah it works like a dream.THANKS again .

[@LeahDay]

That's great! Yes, always include the line you're cutting to because it's part of the measurement. And now every cut can be the same, every time!

[@bonnielee8935]

For those who don't have spray starch, I use concentrated liquid starch and dilute it, soak my fabrics and gently squeeze out. I put them in to the dryer and stop the cycle while they are still damp, and remove them. While they are still damp, I then iron the fabrics. I think separating them into individual plastic bags to keep them damp before ironing is a brilliant idea!

[@LeahDay]

Thank you for sharing Bonnie! I really need to try the concentrated starch method. It sounds much easier on your hands than hitting the sprayer over and over.

[@bonnielee8935]

Oh, I swear it was from you that I learned about the "blue jug of starch" from, but then again, my brain/memory may be as arthritic as my hands are! ;)

[@rachel5288]

I can remember my Mom doing the same thing - rolling things up to iron the next day. I don't know that she ever put it in the refrigerator though.

[@rachel5288]

I just used a dilution of concentrated starch to prepare my fabric for the Log Cabin quilt. It was much easier and the starch gets applied more evenly. The fabric ironed beautifully and has the correct amount of stiffness using the recommended ratio of starch solution to water. I tested putting the fabric through the delicate spin cycle, but I actually preferred the damp fabric that came out of the dryer. The other was still a little too wet for ironing. Thanks so much for the suggestion. And I will be putting the different colored fabrics in plastic bags until I can get to all of them.

[@helenfrontino8822]

I am old enough to remember my grandmother would starch and hang her shirts on the clothes line. She would then dampen her clothes, roll them and then place them in the fridge until she had time to iron them. You could do this and just press a couple pieces at a time.

[@gaymcgee1398]

Such great tips! Thank you Leah for all you teach us.

[@LeahDay]

Thank you for watching!

[@annehartley2327]

I've so been looking forward to doing this quilt! Feel like a kid in a candy store!

[@LeahDay]

Yay! I'm so happy to hear that!

[@kittyrobinson8923]

Hi Leah! I thoroughly enjoyed the video and learned lots of good tips on how to prepare the fabric. I've been quilting for quite a few years but am excited with the knowledge gained today. I have lots of batiks on hand that I've purchased over the years--if it spoke to me, I purchased 1/2 - 1 yard. Spending the first day of the year here in SUNNY Arizona prepping the fabric. I'm prepping the entire yard of fabric per video instructions, then I'll cut my fat quarters and proceed with cutting the strips. Looking forward to the next segment!

[@LeahDay]

That's excellent Kitty! I'm so happy to hear you're joining in the fun!

[@janiceprice7403]

Fantastic tips, I’ve had some of those issues and will try your techniques. Thank you.

[@LeahDay]

That's great to hear Janice! I'm so happy to help!

[@luckysinclair7327]

Hi Leah great starching tip I learn from those good old days ironing with homemade starch, so that is how I to prepare my uniform damp and fold so that the starch could penetrate all of it

[@LeahDay]

That's cool! Thank you for sharing!

[@karlabergwalker3332]

Excellent video on cutting fabric! Thank you, Leah!

[@LeahDay]

Thank you Karla!

[@sandyrichmond2570]

You’re such a good teacher. You’ve taught this old woman a few new tricks. It’s always a treat for me to learn new things. May I ask you who taught you to quilt?

[@LeahDay]

Thank you Sandra! Honestly a lot was trial and error. I learned how to sew from a family friend and then began sewing professionally after dropping out of college. Quilting became my outlet, which was really weird because I was sewing all day! I have learned a lot from many teachers - Sally Collins, Karen McTavish, Eleanor Burns, and Nancy Ziemann. I took as many classes as I could locally, but did a lot of learning online as well.

[@marycomeau9364]

When washing my fat quarters they fray so much do you stay stitch around them to lessen this or am I obsessing over threads better left for birds nests?

[@grandmav]

Great information! Started using starch a year ago and works much better. I am also going to start cutting strips on the lengthwise grain when possible because the quilts I used crosswise grain strips were ruined.

[@LeahDay]

I'm so happy you found this helpful. Was the crosswise grain just not straight? What was the issue?

[@grandmav]

When I sew sashing for example, one side sews on perfectly. When I sew the other side it looks like its ruffled. I don't stretch it at all. I'm going to put borders on a quilt in the next few days. They are cut on crosswise grain because it's part of a quilt kit. I'm going to starch it very well and hope for the best. Thank you so much for your response.

[@UKS140]

Very informative video, my iron is incontinent, so I very rarely use steam!

[@LeahDay]

LOL! That is a really funny way of putting it!

[@cherylmurray9868]

Great info, even for seasoned quilters!! I know what my husband's next quilting project will be!! (Yes, he quilts)

[@LeahDay]

That's wonderful! I'm so happy to hear you found this helpful!

[@Limena50]

....just purchased my online book! so excited...I also signed for the FB group....waiting for confirmation.

[@LeahDay]

That's great! I'm so happy you're joining in the fun!

[@glennieshann4609]

Learned great tips. Thank you.

[@LeahDay]

That's great! Thank you!

[@maryjanegilmore5525]

Good points. Thanks for the review of quilting basics.

[@LeahDay]

You're super welcome!

[@juliesanders866]

Hopefully I will be able to follow this at a later time. I really want to make this quilt but circumstances are not right for it.

[@LeahDay]

The videos will remain online forever so you can always watch and follow along at your own pace.

[@nancypollard4531]

I haven't even bought my fabric yet. I plan to follow along at my own pace as well. That's the beautiful thing about learning this way. No class schedule to adhere to. Leah is an amazing teacher.

[@brendawallgren8354]

I learned that wavy strips can be avoided by cutting with the fold facing you and the salvedges and single fold of the fabric at the farther end of the cutting table. By starting your cuts where you have the most folds/your double-folded edge, you are avoiding the chance of the fabric getting pushed into that area as you push your rotary cutter toward it. I hope that makes sense. I believe it was maybe Bonnie Hunter who had a video on that. Although, I could be wrong, as it's been a while since I've watched it. Happy quilting and a happy new year to you all! God bless!

[@LeahDay]

That's interesting! I never heard of that being a reason to cut from the 2nd fold. I've always cut this way because it's the fold that is normally facing me when I set the fabrics down a second time and I don't like cutting on the end with selvages because they can confuse / block the vision of the line on the ruler. Thank you for sharing!

[@brendawallgren8354]

Leah Day you are very welcome!

[@llswink]

Thanks! No one has ever told me about the ruler line inclusion before. That explains a bit... :-O

[@LeahDay]

That's great! I'm so happy you learned something new in this video!

[@fabulousmarilyn3.088]

I learned a lot, thanks Leah

[@LeahDay]

Thank you for watching Marilyn!

[@FleurdeLinda.Stitches]

Thank you for the tips!

[@LeahDay]

You're super welcome!

[@sirfloyd1]

Great idea ruler on most of the fabric i will do that going forward thanks

[@LeahDay]

Great Donna! I'm so happy that tip helped you!

[@sheilawhitney7955]

How much extra fabric do you recommend to straighten it up? Do you rip the fabric before or after it is prewashed? Everytime I prewash fabric it comes out slightly twisted and does not line up, which is frustrating. I am prewashing it in the washing machine and drying in the dryer. Any suggestions?

[@LeahDay]

My fabric requirements always add a bit extra for ripping to length and trimming off a bit lost from washing. I try to rip before washing if the fabric is yardage so it doesn't fray badly in the wash. Yes, it's common for fabric to get a bit twisted in the wash. My best advice is to shake it out and clip all the stray threads off between washing and drying. That way it doesn't dry as wrinkled or badly creased.

[@jenniferfarsh675]

Here we go! Yay 😊

[@LeahDay]

Yay! It's so nice to finally get started!

[@aminafatah2001]

Thanks for sharing.

[@alathenasidericus]

Question: when squaring the fabric, after you have align the folds, shouldn’t the fabric fold align with the ruler too? It didn’t seem so in the video and that’s one thing I’ve always struggled with. Btw, this is one of the best video on preparing and cutting I’ve ever seen, so thanks.

[@LeahDay]

Yep! It's sometimes hard to see the lines in video due to reflection off my bright overhead lights. I always align a thin line on the ruler with the bottom (2nd) fold in the fabric so the squaring cut is nice and straight to the grainline.

[@deannerupp406]

I love you videos! Thank you for explaining how to and tips so well. I'm making my first ever quilt. Is there a way to starch minky without using an iron? I've heard ironing minky will remove the bumps. I purchased minky to use as the backing for my baby quilt and also for the binding. I don't mind ironing out the bumps on the binding but I would really like to keep them on the backing.

[@LeahDay]

Congratulations on your first quilt. No, you definitely can't starch minky or press it without a pressing cloth. When quilting on a home machine, I always press French Fuse to the back of minky to stop it from stretching. Always use a pressing cloth and test on a corner of the fabric to check your iron isn't too hot. One other note - minky is flammable so make sure this baby quilt is used for playing on the floor and not for sleeping every night.

[@deannerupp406]

Thank you!

[@jackiemaddox6933]

This may have already been asked, but do you recommend using pre-cuts for quilting?

[@LeahDay]

Personally I like cutting yardage better than precuts because I can wash the fabric and make sure it's 100% color safe. However, it does save a lot of time and it's fun to work with some precut fabrics so I do use them too. For a particularly special quilt, I always work with yardage.

[@lindakochis5476]

Hi Leah what do you do with precut batiks as far as per washing the fabric? I have a few different projects with batik fabric and it says not to pre wash? Thank you

[@LeahDay]

Cross your fingers and hope for the best. It does help to NOT put white fabric in that quilt because they will probably bleed. You can't prewash things like strips without them just falling apart so just mix them with black fabrics see what happens!

[@ksharpe8137]

I know this was an older post but I wanted to share my experience. I’ve never had a problem with my quilts bleeding that I made with precuts. The key is to always throw in a couple of color guard sheets in with the quilt and remove it from the washer as soon as it’s finished. If you let the quilt sit in the washer for an extended period of time it will definitely cause an issue. But, as long as I do these two things I don’t have any problems. I love Leah Day’s videos and I’ve learned so much from her. Happy quilting!

[@lindabridges445]

I preordered the book. How or Where do you link up

[@LeahDay]

We don't do a link up with this quilt along. Instead you can share your progress to our facebook group - facebook.com/groups/quiltingblockparty/?source_id=108034899216421

[@janetmcadamsbailey1874]

what type of iron do you use

[@LeahDay]

The cheapest iron from the grocery store! I don't believe in spending a lot because they never last more than a year whether I spend $20 or $200.

[@lucy7b]

Leah, please close the blade when you put that cutter down. 17:23

[@LeahDay]

Yep! Good catch!