Thread: Question about alighnment.

Ok...quick question. When I sew, my seams are perfect and everything lines up when I lay things next to each other. Great...well as soon as I sew a sashing or another block to a piece, it goes all wonky after for the rest of the pieces, and I cant get them to line up again! How can I prevent this? Ill post an example.

Like this one had perfect seams all throughout but as soon as I cut it in threes and stitched the white sashing to one side, it went crooked.

Is it stretching you press it?

I press it before I sew, maybe I am not pressing right?

Originally Posted by xxmbbxx

I press it before I sew, maybe I am not pressing right?

First of all if you use starch it does help reduce stretching. When you press make sure you press instead of ironning back and forth like we are taught as kids doing clothes. The up and down of pressing makes a difference.

Not seeing what you're doing makes it hard to diagnose, but I would guess that the problem is when you are cutting the strips and sewing them together initially. You don't see the problem until you cut it into three's but it's there.

When you are cutting your strips you have to be sure to be precise, both when you measure them and then when you make the actual cut. It's very easy to veer off slightly and end up with a strip that's not even. Make sure before you cut that you've got the fabric folded perfectly.

When you are sewing a series of strips, sew the first two together in one direction, then add the next strip by sewing in the other direction. This will help with the wonkiness.

When you added the horizontal sashing, did you measure the piece of sashing or did you just take a long piece, sew it on and then trim it? You should measure the length of the sashing so they are exactly the same, pin at either end and then in the center, and add more pins if necessary.

I hope this helps!

Lynda

Some of the strips are not cut the same size. It is hard to make sure eveything is perfectly cut and sewn.

I think I see a slight bow in the upper middle of your block. If everything measured the same to that point, something has stretched, probably with a little too aggresive pressing. Try pinning your block to the ironing board {or another flat surface) in the correct measurement, spray with water, and let dry. I'll bet it will come out right.

The other thing to check is when you are cutting accross a lot of seams--like this one. Make sure that the weight of your hand is on the area you are cutting--even if it means that you have to stop a few times on the way down the cut and remeasure and reposition the ruler. The seams will throw off the cut if the pressure is not the same.

Honestly, don't worry about a small difference here and there. Such a small amount will work itself into the quilt quite easily.

I think it may be a combination of several of the things mentioned. After teaching beginning quilting for a couple of years, I will say that this is one of those patterns where any little error will be compounded as you go. There are no seams to match where you can ease things in, so they stand out.

One other thing you might watch. When you sew long strips, 'hold onto the end of the strip when it is sewn'. Sometimes it is easy to just let go and the end of the seam will not be 1/4".

Your problem may be this:
If your block strips are cut on the cross grain of the fabric - from selvage to selvage - then the cut ends, where you sectioned them for the sashing, are on the straight grain....with no stretch or give at all.

Then if you cut the sashing strips on the cross grain of the fabric - from selvage to selvage - which has a bit of stretch or give, you may find your pressure foot is pushing the sashing strip along ahead of the 'toe', causing this misalignment.

To solve this, always place the strips on top of the sashing as you are sewing them together.

Sometimes we just plain forget that grain in quilting really can affect the finished product, sometimes! I know I do!

Jan in VA