I didn't know about the adjustable foot for the 301. I'll have to look for one. I have a Janome Gem but haven't seen the face plate with foot. I'll have to look for one of those too. I have the foot with guide.

The longer strip was sewn with the Singer 301. It is the exact size it is suppose to be. The 301 had Connecting Threads thread in top and bobbin and the seam is scant under 1/4" showing all the ruler line. The Brother1500 was used for the shorter strip. Bottom Line thread was used in the bobbin and Connecting Threads thread in the top. The seam measures 1/4" but covers the ruler line.

Each strip has 37 sewn seams.

WOW!!! that is a real eye opener... Thank you for posting about this and for the picture too :D:D:D

I wonder about the difference in needle position between my 3 machines using the same exact 1/4" foot... 2 are adjustable, but they may still not be "exactly" the same when repositioned slightly for scant 1/4" seams :roll:

Off to check this out :wink:

Hi - I have a friend that gave us instructions to test your 1/4" stitch before sewing. I'll see if she can email it to me to share. You wouldn't think a 1/4" varies but your example shows differently. Thanks for sharing. Tracy

This is how i was taught:
http://quilting.about.com/od/machine..._allowance.htm

Also remember that these things will affect your seam allowance:
1.thinkness of your thread ,especially is you have alot of seams. i use a scant 1/4,if i remember!
2. cutting precise
3. Pressing the seams

all three will affect your seam allowance.

here is a bit on scant 1/4"
http://www.sewaquilt.com/machine-piecing.html

someone once told me that index cards,the ones that have lines on one side, are in 1/4" increments. if you sew on the blanck side, and flip it over, it should be on the line.
i have not tried this myself..but worth a shot,if i had an index card!

Oh so true,as my sister and i found out wokin with 2 machines on same quilt.Can't be done...
Pinner

I have the foot with the side bar and still have to adjust my needle one click over to get the right seam width. I have the QC1000 Brother. I am however setting up an old Kenmore,need to find 1 more screw to hold it in the cabinet, and I am thinking about maybe piecing on that . Don't know yet.

I discovered this 2 years ago working on placemats. Bought a new light weight Baby Lock Maria and took it to class and completed one placemat. Finished up the other 3 at home on my Pfaff and my Pfaff mats are noticeably larger. A friend told me I needed to buy a 1/4 inch foot so I did and evidently it matches the 1/4 inch Pfaff foot as I can now go between the two machines without a problem but what I did was sew a seam on each machine and measured before I started our mystery quilt at class. This time I was able to go between the two machines with ease. I agee, the tiniest bit difference can make a pretty big difference in the outcome so when going between machines, measure, compare and know what you're working with. If you can't go between the two, you can still use the travel machine and complete the top or project at home with it. Not ideal since many of us have much better machines at home than what we travel with. Glad you caught it when you did.

I have to move the needle position to 4.5 on both my janome and brother. That is when I use cotton 50wt thread. However using something like bottom line, or a thinner piecing thread there is less lost in the seam. Alot depends on the thickness of the material, the thread, and how well pressed the seam is, not just the 1/4 inch foot.

I agree. It isn't just the machines...it can be the difference between the 1/4 feet that you use.
In fact, I stopped using a 1/4 foot because it never gave me a true scant 1/4 seam. I now use a vintage sewing machine that will move the needle both to the right and the left and the first thing I do before sewing is to use my little metal ruler to line the needle up up on the scant 1/4 inch line. (It only takes a couple of minutes.)

Another problem with getting a good scant 1/4 seam could be the thread. If (because of using different machines) you use different threads, one thread could be just a bit thicker than another thread. Some of my projects get put on hold where I pull the thread off of the machine to do some repair work with a different thread. After awhile, I forget what thread I was using on my quilting project. When I put thread back on the machine, I run a sample seam on some scraps to check out my 1/4 seam just to make sure I'm doing the same width as I did in my earlier blocks.