Even my tape is blue

I play a little game with myself. Whenever possible, I only buy blue things; specifically, cobalt blue things. That immediately limits the number of things I buy, especially over the last decade since cobalt blue hasn’t exactly been in vogue lately.

My own bias aside, I think every quilter should keep blue tape in their studio. I’m talking about the kind of tape that you get at the big box hardware stores to mask off areas when you are painting. It has a low-tack adhesive that doesn’t leave a residue when removed. It comes in real handy when you need to mark straight lines for hand or machine quilting. Nice straight lines with no erasing needed. It’s also great for mark the right line on your rotary ruler so you don’t get confused while cutting. Ask me how I know… Today, I want to show you how I use it on my sewing machine.

I touched on this use yesterday. I like to extend my seam line several inches forward so it is easier to feed my fabric in straight and keep my seam allowances even.

Now look closely at the next photo and you’ll see that my sewing machine has a little ridge where the presser plate meets the sewing machine bed. If I’m sewing something where the seam allowance on the bottom has to face the sewing machine, it sometimes gets caught on that little ridge.

If I’m not paying attention, it messes up the seam allowances and part of it flips backward making a yucky lump.

Being a problem solver, I decided I needed this remedied immediately. I sat there staring at the blue tape marking my seam line and the light bulb went off. In seconds, I covered my ridge with a few inches of blue tape and my problem was solved!

Every seam allowance afterwards cooperated wonderfully. Not a single one flipped.