I think I have already discovered some of the issues I need to deal with. LOL... as I said, I am a newbie. I don't even know what size needle is in my machine. It's whatever was in there since I used it at the last sewing get-together I had with my SILs. I have 3 different rulers I use to cut my pieces, and I use them interchangably. And yes, they are each a different brand, so that could be a lot of my problem right there. Sometimes I use all 3 when cutting the pieces for one quilt block. I was just reading about that on this forum yesterday. Who knew an inch wasn't always the same on each ruler? There aught to be a law about that!!! Sheesh. LOL. I am getting much better at my cutting, and at making sure my pieces are the right size as I go.
I didn't get any of the blocks in a swap, I made the messes all by myself. LOL.
I am learning so much from all of you. I will make sure that I am more careful about how much slack I am trying to take up with the seam, and I will do the long strip test before I sew any more pieces.
I think that I have been somewhat inaccurate, and relied on my seaming to cover up a lot of things that they are not equipped to hide. There may just be days when I have to say no to doing things that require accuracy and escape to the garden instead. Smilesss and hugggggs