The combination of all these things can make a wonky pattern. As far as cutting goes which is where slight mistakes start, I have one little tip that helps me. After I have my fabric laid out ready to cut into whatever width strips, lay the ruler on the fabric at your mark and do a small pre cut, about 1/2" long at the far end of your strip. Then do the whole cut. This little cut actually stops the fabric from shifting at the end of the cut where little shifts can mean big oops when sewing.
I do this for folded fabric as well as single pieces being trimed to size. It works!
peace
EDIT: I also use a stiletto to feed the fabric and hold the last bit right into the needle so it doesn't shift off the sewing line and SEW SLOWER.
Last edited by ube quilting; 07-16-2012 at 02:59 PM.