The teating with 3 - 1 1/2" strips is a great testing method.
2 other things I have found:
(1) If you dont' prewash, sometimes when you press, the block shrinks up a smidge more leaving you short! annoying.
(2) Check the thickness of your fabric. If I have two cottons, one more silky slim, and one more bulky thick. the thick ones can make you short. so, on those your scant has to be scantier! Then with silky slimmer ones, that same scant can leave you with a bit too large of block, annoying too.
It is truly a project by project deal. I do obsess a bit and square as I go. The more pieces in a block, the more checking I do as it grows. But, in the end I get square quilts with blocks pretty even! So it is worth it to me.
Last edited by kerriy; 05-02-2012 at 07:14 AM.