rismstress

I measure every seam after I sew it to make sure it's 1/4 inch. And I measure every piece after it's sewn to make sure it's the size it's supposed to be. If your one little seam is off by 1/16th of an inch and you repeat that several times, by the time you get to the end, you'll have a whole inch or so that is too small or too big. I have the ripper right next to the scissors and the little ruler at my machine. I rip immediately if it's not right. It's awful to get the blocks done and they don't fit right. And the puckers and stretching don't come out with the quilting-- the whole quilt just wags off crooked. My grandma- who taught me to sew- said do it right or don't do it. She also taught me with the ripper- I know it might be compulsive, but I'm more happy with the results if I do it this way.
Cheryl

Mousie

well, I agree with Pams and rismtress, measure, measure, measure and match as you go...here's why I agree. I must be a perfectionist also, but I am also still learning,...lol, as if we could ever learn everything about quilting, whew!...I am doing a princess quilt for my granddaughter and about to take out a whole bunch of seams. I spent a while last night measuring parts of each block to see why each one looked so good but did not come out the same. I am not about to sew these rows together and get a puckered mess. I could never give that to her and be proud of it. It will be a lot of work but she is worth it. I am going with the template, ruler and PRESS, do not IRON methods from now on. I may not be a fast learner, but eventually hope to get it right. C

Prism99

I square up blocks for easy patterns where there are no points and seams don't have to line up exactly. Rail fence would be a good example, and 9-patches are pretty forgiving too. In this case, I square them all up to the smallest block (assuming the smallest block isn't too far off. If it is way off, I discard that and look for something closer to reasonable.)

It really helps to make sure all of your blocks are the same size before you start putting them together. Squaring them up is one method. However, there are other methods that can be used when points are critical or where you just don't have any excess fabric to lose. If you go to http://www.youtube.com and search on "Sharon Schamber", you will find several video examples of different methods. One video shows how she cuts off excess fabric to true up a block. Another shows how to block with spray starch to shrink in excess fabric on a block that is too large. I think another shows how to block a too-small block with spray starch, to stretch it to size. Blocking is a lot more time-intensive than just trueing up with a ruler and rotary cutter, but sometimes blocking is the only method that will keep points from getting cut off.

Mary