Matty

Hello,
I'm new to this board and have made some quilts for family which are ok, but not great. I think my major mistake with those was not cutting absolutely perfectly, and of course then the piecing is off too. One of the quilts came apart in the wash. So now I am starting a new quilt, and want to make it better, Is there a reason why I can't use a 1/2" seam when sewing squares together? I realize that there is extra bulk, but my sewing machine can handle that fine when doing the "quilting" part.

Thanks for your input!
Matty

tessagin

Using a 1/4" seam creates less bulk. I've tried the 1/2 to see the difference on a sample piece and that is the difference I see and it's more noticeable. But see what others responses are. Also if the cutting is off a lot that will make a difference in the look of the quilt. Squaring the blocks as you go will help keep the quilts from being out of kilter or wonky as some say. I am not a perfectionist but I like to get as close as or neat as possible.

bearisgray

One of the first quilting books I bought - by Kaye Wood -used 1/2 inch seams.

The only time I use 1/2 inch seams is what I am sewing squares for a rag quilt.

If using closely woven fabric (that, for me, has been washed) - and using about 12 stitches to an inch - it will hold together just fine with 1/4 inch seams - especially if it has been quilted fairly closely together.

If I was using some fabric that was coarsely/loosely woven and/or I was planning to tie only about every six inches (horrors!), then I would also consider using a wider seam.

That narrow seam does take some getting used to. If you have been sewing garments - think about how many times the instructions say to trim!

ManiacQuilter2

It isn't hard to sew an accurate 1/4" seam. Just need to be consistence especially when sewing the squares together. I mark where the edge of my 1/4" seam guide on my Bernina using blue painter's tape. Sewing clothes uses a 5/8" seam allowance.

MadQuilter

If you cut correctly and sew correctly there is no reason for the seams to fall apart with a 1/4" seam. I suspect that your seams got off on one side (always check both sides of the seam before pressing) which didn't leave any hold. There is nothing saying you can't use 1/2" - I just wouldn't want all that extra in the blocks. Good luck.

Tartan

1/4 inch seams are used to cut down on bulky intersections. Doing a simple 4 or 9 patch with 1/2 inch seams would be fine but try doing a star where 8 seams meet in the center! If all you want to do is simple patterns with large pieces you should be fine with 1/2 inch seams BUT if you want to continue to grow in your quilting adventure and try more complex patterns, you need to use 1/4 consistent seams in my opinion.

justflyingin

You can do it, but like the others said, the BEST thing would be to work on your technique--both accuracy in cutting and piecing and get the 1/4" seam down well so you don't need to use 1/2" seams. 1/2" seams won't work well with many patterns.

AngeliaNR

I use 1/2" seams on flannel, but I'm finally more comfortable with 1/4" on everything else. It was a struggle, since I usually sewed garments in the past--going from 5/8" to 1/4" was so strange!

QuiltnLady1

I make a lot of charity quilts that are tied and we always use 1/2" seam but we keep the patterns simple -- strips or large blocks to minimize the bulk at intersections. We do this so the quilts won't fall apart and it works well. As Tartan mentioned, using 1/2" seams when doing blocks with a lot of pieces would create too much bulk. (When I was learning to quilt, I cut the pieces with 1/2" seams and then trimmed them to 1/4" (I was concerned about all the bias edges) -- I quit doing that because of how much time trimming seams added to the time it took to make a quilt.

Matty

I decided to go with 1/2" seams since it is just a block quilt. Here is a picture. My daughter wants a "plus sign" queen sized "70's funky" look. Well, 70's fabric is kind of hard to find, but I hope she likes this. I've got 8 rows done out of 28 total. I didn't have enough fabric to match the stripes. Oh well..[ATTACH=CONFIG]523969[/ATTACH]