Cutting to size

It's probably not immediately clear what's happening here. The idea to do this just popped into my head, probably because the mat was lying next to the machine - The small cutting mat is holding the A4-sized piece of paper in place while I machine round it to mark out the size of the finished Little Gem on the quilted fabric underneath.

This does away with pinning, and with the paper slipping, and the line being wobbly. The pressure over a large area holds the paper template steady. (The machine has an extension table so the entire quiltlet is nice and flat.)

After doing the two visible edges, you then shift the mat to show the other two edges, and keep on sewing round.

Once the size of the quilt is known, I do another row of stitching just inside, and then trim on the first stitching line. My two favourite finishes are a narrow binding with self-mitring corners (as memorably demonstrated by Maxine at a Region 1 regional day last year) and a satin stitch finish with a cord enclosed in the satin stitch - that cord makes all the difference in getting a non-wavy edge.