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Originally Posted by Neesie
(Post 5479123)
Until recently, all of my piecing was done with C&C thread and 1/4" seams. Different weights of fabrics. No problems (other than human carelessness) with blocks matching (and being the right size) or points being where they should be. Consistency & proper cutting and pressing, is what really matters.
I have some very old hand-pieced blocks - those seam allowances are less than 1/4 inch. Perhaps one reason for narrow seam allowances on those - I think fabric was an expensive commodity for many people - and people used the absolute minimum seam width that would not pull apart. Perhaps approximately 1/4 inch was around that width. |
Originally Posted by sewmary
(Post 5474107)
Bah! Any pattern that mentions a scant 1/4 is banished from my life. Since that measurement can't be defined it is worthless.
I also don't fret if I can't exactly meet the given dimensions of a pattern. For the most part (I said MOST not all) it just doesn't matter. I can't imagine my grandmother sitting at her treadle worrying if she is sewing a scant 1/4" - or a precise 1/4" either and she produced some amazing quilts! This is a hobby to be enjoyed, not to get tangled up in stuff that gives people stress. |
Yes! Yes! Yes! Wish I'd figured this out when I started. I don't really care if a quilt top is a little smaller than the pattern predicts -- that's what borders are for, in my opinion. Consistency is way more important.
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I usually draft my patterns on 1/4 inch graph paper. When you do this and have half square or quarter square triangles, the finished product hardly ever fits the beginning design. Sooo. I set my needle to a little less that 1/4 inch and that gives some room for trimming if necessary. If you have a design with 4 squares across and only lose 1/32 of an inch, that amounts ot 1/8 inch which isn't noticable, but if you lose 1/16 on each, that is 1/4 inch which will mean that things won't fit.
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