Can anyone else relate to this?
 

I'm not all that far into making my latest quilt and already I have the frustration that I get with every single quilt I make. It's a bear claw quilt (and I'm so frustrated I'm saying grrrrrrrr over and over). No matter how slow I go, how careful I am when cutting, how much I measure and remeasure at every step, how much I over-cut, etc. nothing ever comes out square as it should. I can take a pile of squares, 1.5" x 1.5", sew them together 2 at a time. If I've done my math right I should end up with a pile of rectangles that measure 1.5" x 2.5". But no, every single one will be off by a few threads to a sixteenth or even an eighth of an inch or more off. And the more parts of the square I put together the worse things will be.

In this latest quilt, I just finished making the 96 individual claws (which should be 3.5" squares). Looking at all of them I would say that pretty close to 100% of them need to be redone :(. I'm only pulling the absolute worst to redo and it's a full 25% of them. And of course every time I pull the seams apart a couple threads are lost at the cutting line which creates more problems especially if I have to redo 2 or 3 or 4 times.

Every time I make a quilt I say this one will be better, I will be careful, I will watch every step, but no matter what I can't cut or sew a straight line. I've made about 30 quilts so I'm not totally new to quilting. It seems I'm no better at this now than when I first started. Between the extra time it will take to undo the seams of the ones I am redoing and then put them back together and then still have them be off, and then putting the 4 claws together with sashing to make a larger square, I'm losing interest fast knowing that things will become even more wonky as I go along despite giving it my best try.

Does anyone else have this problem?

Here’s a picture of one of my squares that “passed inspection,” so this is one of my better ones, lol. But now that I’ve taken a picture, the flaws are even more obvious so I will be redoing this one. Blowing up the squares definitely makes things more visible; I think if I did this to all of them I would be redoing 100%.

I am sorry you are having such troubles, I think we have all been there!

1: I highly recommend starching fabrics before cutting. It provides oomph to the fabric and makes cutting more accurate, at least for me, YMMV.

2: When measuring and cutting, be sure the line is on the fabric. Bonnie Hunter has an excellent video on this.

3: I always make a practice block, and adjust accordingly if needed. I then make a notation of what is needed so I don't forget. Each quilt gets notations on a legal pad until I am done with it, in case I have to pause for a while.

4: Pinning! I am a firm believer in pinning, especially if there are smaller units involved. Yes, it takes more time, but IMHO it’s worth the effort. I am a methodical quilter, I set my machine to sewing speed to middle, not too fast not too slow and I guide my fabric, and let the feed dogs do the work.


5: This is what works for me, YMMV, and I am sure others will chime in with more tips and tricks.

You’ve got this!

yep, and I have decided to make a goal of "improvement" So, I no longer look at the points that aren't perfect. I chose to look at the ones that are. My goal is just to make a usable quilt so if the quilt will hold together and it is flat enough to quilt, and big enough for the intended purpose, it is good to go. Over the years, I find I actually have more "good points" to count and less strange points. I would not worry about something being 1/16 or even most of the time,1/8 of an inch off. Fabric is actually a fairly "fluid" media to work in and things will usually look just fine when together and quilted. Now, if you want to do a ribbon winning quilt, well, that will take a bit more perfection. I do this quilting stuff mainly for my own enjoyment and to have fun. If I get too into perfectionism, it is no longer fun. I think everyone has to decide how much perfection they will settle for in their quilting. I do not quilt for others. Again, my purpose is to have fun while creating a useable quilt for others that can thrown in the washer and dryer and end up wearing out from being used.

That’s usually how my blocks look. (Insert sad face). What I end up doing is sewing them together as if they’re square, then adding additional sewing in any seam area that’s skimpy. I don’t know what to say about making them turn out better. I think starching probably helps, even though I rarely use starch. (So that may be my problem too!). I actually think that block you show doesn’t look too bad!

I was resistant to squaring up units (trimming) for many years, as it seemed like a waste of time. The unit you've shown was typical for me in my non-trimming days. I think it was making a quilt with Edyta Sitar one time, where she said (in answer to a comment about her quilts looking so good), that her secret was that she sewed a scant 1/4" and trimmed up every unit (and if you've seen her quilts, that's a lot of units!). So I tried decreasing my seam allowance by a smidge with the aim of ending up with a unit that is just slightly larger than it should be, and then trimming. Once I experienced the ease and satisfaction of sewing accurate units together, I was hooked.

I think as long as you end up with usable units (that is, units that are 1/8" or less off), don't worry about how they look before being sewn into the quilt.

I have experienced your frustration.

I think there are some fabrics that are more ornery than others.

First, my quilts/stitching are far from perfect. I’m ok with that. However there are tricks to help.
1) accurate cutting. Use good rulers, investment. Sharp blades, investment. And fabric with enough body so it’s not flimsy.
2) make sure the seams are 1/4 inch. ‘Power Cutting”, a book, has great teaching on achieving this for straight edge shapes. A barrier on the machine bed can help. This is an old credit card or stack of masking tape adheared at the 1/4” mark. On my 9mm wide machine, it sews more accurate seams with a standard foot and move the needle 2-3 clicks to the right.
3) Use a 50 or 60 wt thread
4) pressing (not ironing) with NO steam.
5) a note on machines, a straight stitch only machine does a more accurate straight stitch than a zig zag machine. It has to do with the motion of the hook, ascillating or rotating.

Relax. I think this is suppose to be fun?

#2)….cut 3 1.5inch x 4inch strips. Easily differentiated values will help this process. Sew them together on the long sides. Press with seams open. Measure. It should be 3.5 inches. If not, try again, adjusting width of seam or weight of thread. Keep trying until correct. Remember this isn’t rocket science and doesn’t need rocket science accuracy, it’s not going to hit the moon.

Again. Relax. Have fun.

Re-check your squaring up technique.

I see that the "diagonal line" of the ruler is not going through the first white square (upper right side) at the point.

Tilt the ruler so it on the diagonal throughout the block and then square up.

Another issue may be that you are putting the line "UP" to the fabric and cutting. You want the ruler line to cover the fabric and be "ON" the fabric. It's a few threads but will make a difference.

If you are starching and pressing after sewing the blocks, that can cause shrinkage too.

PS: If you are using two different rulers for cutting & squaring up they could be off on the measurements.

I'm not sure why you think this is so bad. If your block is to finish at 3 inches, then the unsewn block has to be 3 1/2 inches to allow for seams. What does it look like when you place the ruler where you have the 1/4 inch available for seams for all the edge and the part that will be left is centered in the ruler?

It looks to me like it's as much a stitching/seam allowance problem as a cutting problem. Starch, starch, starch. For some patterns, my fabrics are like little pieces of paper but it controls bias and helps with accurate seam allowances. Accurate stitching is hard for me so I use one of those barrier type seam guides. I mostly use my vintage machines for piecing so I use a magnetic guide.

I have also learned to square up as I go. Every block for sure and if it's a complex block with lots of units, I square up every unit. No one told me this and I struggled for a long time. Once I started squaring up as I go, my blocks got a lot easier and more accurate.

I would also suggest pressing your seams open. I've had pressing them to the side make my blocks off just a bit. Remember, if you have 4 seams and each is off 1/16" that means your finished block could be off a full quarter inch.

As long as my points are pointy, and your points are, I'm fine with the rest of the block. Don't overthink it so much. If you really want prefect then paper piece the block. I find paper piecing gives me perfect blocks every time. Takes longer but no frustration.

If you are looking for perfection and don't want to over cut your pieces to square up after, then starch the heck of of them before using, then place a tiny dab of Roxanne glue at all strategic places before sewing. There are videos on this. Also understand that many sewing machines don't pull the top and bottom fabric evenly, so you have distortion there. Starching helps this, and the dab of glue fortifies it.

Also, here is a video that might be helpful. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haxC...nnel=GEDesigns

I feel your pain as I am know by a couple of my quilting buddies as pretty imprecise. I own that. I'm not aiming for entries into competitive quilt shows, hope to get something into one of my guilds at least. And you've gotten great advice for lots of improvements--which I've incorporated and found improvement. But I quilt as a way to create and love to sew. I quilt for others and can tell you that there are many, many quilters that are still improving than there are those that have excellent seams, pressed the "right" way, etc. But each quilt has their own character, which is what I love about quilting.

I learned from watching Lessa Siegele's episode on The Quilt Show to make units a bit oversized and then trim them down (yes, trim each unit - it really doesn't take a huge amount of time when you do it as an assembly line). Trying to cut precise patches and sew precise seams has NEVER worked for me in 25 years of quilting. Lessa's technique works!

For those interested, it's episode 1801 on The Quilt Show. (It's a monthly subscription but has been worth every penny to me)

https://thequiltshow.com/watch/2016-...-lessa-siegele

I feel your pain. but it takes a big error for me to rip, so I just keep the small errors and put them together. sometimes you can fudge it a little in the seam alloances and noone will know the difference. I'm wondering about your ironing technique, esp as you say all your 1.5" sewn-together blocks turn out diffeerently. if you feel like you are sewing them the same, are you ironing them the same? I hate pressing my seams open, but it does provide more accuracy, since you may get an overexaggerated bump or a skew in the fabric when you press to the side. If you are frustrated with the block swooping down on the far side, then maybe this will help

Make larger then cut down. This is the only way that I can get "perfect everytime." Unless I am sewing for a Quilt Show, mine are never perfect.

I agree with everything that's been said so far. I will highly recommend the use of starch! I don't think it can be over emphasized enough. I use Sta-Flo brand liquid starch and I use a 50/50 starch/water mix. You may want to be heavier on the starch if you're cutting small units.

I also think using the same ruler throughout your quilt is critical. Granted, we usually need different sizes/configurations of rulers throughout a quilt so make sure they are all of the same brand at least.

It may also help you to use a small piece of painters tape on your ruler when cutting. This will help ensure that you are cutting each unit the same size vs on strip 'on' the line; one 'before'; one 'after' the line.

Lastly, relax. As everyone else has said, unless your goal is competition quilting, continue with what you are doing and enjoy the process.

Good luck.

So you have already gotten lots of great tips so far so I will not duplicate what others have said BUT remember this is a hobby and is supposed to be fun so try not to stress.

That being said I am a bit ocd when quilting and piecing. If I were to do a Bear Claw that small, I would paper piece it. If you are interested in trying that, I would happily do a foundation in EQ for you.

edit - by the way - your block is cute and has all it's points - which is what people will be looking at.

Thank you for your comments and encouragement!!

I am already doing many of the things suggested - overcutting, starching, pressing (not ironing), though I do admit to using steam.

There are two problems I notice I have - 1) my machine does not pull the fabric evenly. If I seam two pieces of fabric the exact same size, they often end up being off by a few threads. The top fabric is pushed "downwards further" than the bottom. I don't know if this is a quirk that is particular to my personal machine or all machines in general or somewhere in the middle. and 2) I use a quarter inch foot but because it is metal and not clear I can't see the last 3/8" as it is being sewn so often this part of my seam will be off, either too wide or too narrow by a couple threads. (And there was a third thing I thought of while writing this but it's gone from my brain, can't remember what it was.)

I know when I'm finished with a quilt I look at it and say that those little "offs" really aren't noticeable at all. It's just that when I'm trying so hard to have everything match up it's discouraging when I'm off by so much on every square.

I thank the dear Lord every time a make a quilt that fabric is just so forgiving!

As long as you have enough in the seam allowance, don't fret the small stuff. Just make adjustments when you sew the blocks together, remembering when you need to fudge on not completely matching edge to edge on the seams.

PS. Really like your fabric!

Sounds like maybe your presser foot pressure is too high. Adjust it to less pressure and see if it sews any better. ;)

1. have you tried changing to a fresh needle that will pierce the fabric cleaner all the way through?
2. Using a stiletto (or similar object) may help guide your fabric all the way through to the end.
3. You could try changing feet and remeasuring your 1/4 inch from a target point that is more visual for you. I prefer to use an open toe foot and move my needle to a position that gives me my 1/4 inch measured from the inside edge of the right toe. I find it difficult to see and control fabric when my needle placement and foot use requires the fabric to flow completely under the surface of the foot. ...hope that makes sense!