1/4" seam verses scant 1/4" seam.
 

The quilt club I belong to makes a quilt to raffle every year (Helps to pay for supplies for donation quilts.) The woman that are in charge insist we use a scant 1/4" seam. To me it seems very small. What are your thoughts on scant 1/4" seams?

I think it is ridiculous to nitpick about one thread width. I only do 1/4 in. If they are so picky I would not belong to such a club.

I often wondered "what is a scant 1/4" anyway? I don't know what that means. I have my machine set for what I think is a good 1/4" so that's what I will be using. But I do understand about trying to match seams with someone else's sewing. That can be hard to do. But a thread or two should be "fudgeable." haha...made that up!

We talk about seam width, but you don't measure the seam, you measure the resultant patch:
http://www.quiltingboard.com/tutoria...ce-t89997.html
If you are making a top with squares all the same size, it doesn't matter. If you are making a pattern with multiple patches in your block, then it matters. If you are contributing a block to a group quilt, they are looking for accuracy so all the blocks fit together. Find out what size block they are looking for (unfinished) and make sure that yours measures this.

Good advice, Princess.

A scant, which I interpret to be sewing next to the drawn line of a corner square , say like on a snowball block. This takes into account the amount of fabric lost in the pressing fold as you press to the dark side or open. A scant is also interpreted as 1 thread away from the seam line for the same reason, but is harder to find without a drawn line as in a diagonal seam. When you sewing with a group, consistency is not good enough even though it works for you when you are making the whole project. The adding up of the one thread loss in every seam across a block will make your block too small to share.

I agree. Find out what size your blocks should finish to and make sure they do. That's what really matters when it comes to putting it together. I would check with whoever is organizing it. If she can't tell you what size to finish to, I would decline to participate. Otherwise, it will end up being hassle with someone blaming everyone else because things don't fit together properly.

I also think the scant 1/4 inch looks skinny, even though the 1/4 inch vs. the scan 1/4 inch is such a tiny difference. I get so paranoid about a seam ripping out on a quilt, so I tend to go with the whatever seam comes from using the 1/4 inch foot. My blocks are often a bit shy of the intended measurement. It works for my quilts, but probably not for a block exchange.

When I first started quilting I learned a test for accurate piecing that has helped me. All fabrics have a bit different thickness, so the scant 1/4 " or 1/4 inch could work depending on the fabric. It sort of drives me crazy, but I can come up short on a basic 8 inch block with not that many piecing because my seams were a bit fat.

The test is: cut three strips 1.5 inches by 3.5 inches, then sew the two seams to put them together. After you press the seams, you should have a piece 3.5 inches wide by 3.5 inches. Then you know your seam width is accurate for the fabrics you are sewing to together.

Hope that might helps, if they are picky at the block exchange.:)