I am a "beginner" and let me just tell you how I have finally gotten my blocks to measure correctly. It is a trick my teacher's mother taught her for 1/4" seams and she has shared it with us, novices. First you need some mole skin, which can be found with the Dr.Scholls products. Then we measured from needle to scant 1/4" seam allowance and placed the mole skin along that edge. Now we used this fantastic ruler that has a hole in it - where you insert your needle make sure it is straigt and lay down the mole skin. The sticky side stays and does not gum up your machine surface. I finally am getting a 12 1/2" block instead of a 12 x 12 1/4. It is amazing how much a scant 1/4" can add up to in mistakes. Good luck.
Also, remember pressing is placing the iron on the seam, not moving it back and forth as in ironing.
Last edited by MartiMorga; 04-15-2012 at 06:21 AM.