I've been quilting for 10+ years and that 1/4" is one of my biggest problems. I always overcut - I have to, if I don't many of my blocks will be under size (and many will be oversize). I also dislike the "scant" 1/4". My feeling about that is that if they want us to stitch a seam a scant 1/4" they should make a presser foot that measures a scant 1/4". One thing that I recently discovered and that has helped is that my machine has an adjustable needle. I can move it a tiny bit to the left or right. If I adjust it to the right spot and use my 1/4" foot I end up with seams that are a scant 1/4". So if you haven't yet, check to see if your machine has this feature. I've had my machine for 10 years and can't believe I never knew this existed until a couple of months ago.