Cutting pieces bigger to allow for squaring up
 

Hi all. I was watching a video about squaring up pieces in a block. The lady said she cuts her pieces bigger than called for to allow for squaring up any sets that are wonky. Thinking about it made me wonder what if only a few squares in the block need trimming, wouldn't it necessarily make some sets in the block larger than others? Thanks!

Agree..... cutting pieces larger can be going down a slippery slope.
It could end up more wonkier than ever!
Or make your head spin as you try to figure out what to trim. Or not!
Or risk cutting off too much, and then ....... disaster! :(

That being said, making a larger 4-patch and trimming to the correct size, can work.
Or larger flying geese, to be trimmed down for precision.
Etc.

All that being said, it's probably better to work on a consistent 1/4" straight seam.
.... and wonky can be avoided! :)

Good Luck!!

No, it wouldn't.

The blocks are all squared to the correct block size which is also called unfinished size. If the other blocks "don't need trimming" that means they should be the correct size. If they are "under" size, I remake them.

All units should be made to the correct unit size. Then the finished block is checked and squared up.
Starting with the correct size will make borders easier too. Good luck!

It may be that the person in the video trims down all her blocks. By making them a bit on the large size she can correct a "wonky" aspect them such as a block being slightly diamond shaped, rather than a square with 90 degree corners. All the non-wonky blocks can also be trimmed down to the needed size. She may have simply neglected to mention that she trims all (or most) of her blocks.

I do this when I am making hst. Other than hst it would put the ratio of the pieces out of whack. Although you would still end up with the correct size block none of your pattern's seems would line up. Good news is that you would have a whole new design! Mystery quilt anyone? :)

Grammahunt

I can see that it would work on a quilt with only hst, but I'll be making churn dash blocks, so there are non-hst blocks as well. Would it work on a churn dash quilt to make the sets larger than called for?

With the churn dash block, there are points that come out to the finished edge, so if you just made your blocks larger and then trimmed them (more than a smidge), you would be cutting off your points when you sewed your block to the next one. It is possible to re-design the sub-units of the block so there is more than 1/4" of fabric from the tips of the points to the edge of the block, but this is a bit of work. (People refer to such blocks as "floating".)

Accurate cutting and piecing can give you good blocks without the need to trim blocks down.

I think she meant making the sub-units bigger then trimming.
That's what I do when I make HST's and Flying Geese.
But you don't have to if you are a perfect piecer.
We all do things differently.

I almost always cut my block slightly bigger and then square them up. I know that my 1/4 in seam is not always accurate, fabrics stretch and on and on. So, I cut just a little large1/4 to 1/2 inch and after pressing, I square them up to perfection. Yes, all of the blocks are squared up not just the wonky ones. I see similar directions in many patterns and tutorials. Made a quilt of nearly 500 HSTs and after taking the time to square them up, the fit together perfectly and the end result pleased me to no end.

My HST's come out so much better when I make them slightly larger and square them up. It's well worth it to me.

I do what works for me. Depending on the block, I put the middle part of the block together and then cut the outside pieces of the block bigger so the whole block can be cut down to correct size. This has saved me so much time and aggravation.

I always make my HST's a bit larger so I can trim them down. This provides me the ability to make sure they are right on the diagonal and perfect size. To me squaring up my pieces is one of the most important steps in making any block successfully.

Eleanor Burns of Quilt In A Day always makes her cuts larger and trims to size. but all blocks that fit together must fit. ,meaning you can't trim them smaller than those they must match. Good luck.

I always cut bigger when I am making flying geese blocks. No matter what method I used I just couldn't get a consistent block. I trim up with the bloc-loc flying geese ruler and now get perfect flying geese blocks.

When I was really new at piecing, I tried the overcutting one time for all the parts of a block. Egads!!!! That was a nightmare. Nothing matched up. All my points were gone. I couldn't figure out where the 1/4" seam should be. Never again will I do that for every piece within a block. Now, having said that. Yes, I overcut HST's and get them square before sewing them into a block. If each of the components of your blocks are the correct size after sewing the first seams, then you will not need to square up the block. It will be the right size. When I start a block, I make sure I know how big each component of the block should be before sewing it into the block. I write these measurements down and measure all the components in the first block to make sure I am accurately sewing all my seams.

Most of my seams are scant 1/4" seams, meaning 1 thread less than a full 1/4". That helps a lot with accuracy. The Churn Dash is a great block to learn how to accurately sew a quilt block. The stratas are only 2 fabrics and you can really practice your accuracy. And you get to have fun with HST's. These are fun blocks to make.

ummm....I am with the just learn that 1/4 inch seam...you will get more accurate with that as time goes by....I used to cut all my pieces just a tad bigger....gotta tell you, that did not work...nothing fit right together unless it was all the same sized pieces...like a 10 inch square only quilt...so over time...my quilts are going together pretty good for the most part....If I have a lot of blocks with several pieces in them, will will check sizes after making them...anything within about an 1/8 inch stays....anything smaller doesn't get used.....I also when making say...flying geese with check the measurements after I make a few to see if I am getting the right size...if not...I adjust my 1/4 seam to be more or less than 1/4 depending on the size I got...and them remake and measure. Just the way I like to do it. I don't like trimming all my blocks after making them...that just seems to double the work...but some folks don't mind....I just have too many projects in the pipeline ...have fun...do what works for you. Oh...and don't overlook the shrinkage factor...I like to use prewashed and pressed fabric when working with smaller pieces and triangles...cuz the heat of pressing can shrink unwashed fabric even if you have properly cut it and mess up your blocks...been there done that....when one fabric consistently shrunk enough when being pressed even without steam to mess up the whole thing.

This never made sense to me
 

In my early days of quilting I had an incredible teacher that taught very simple rules with beautiful out comes. She taught ...
•exact cutting
•perfect 1/4” seams
•learning pressing from ironing (huge difference)
•and retract your blade or you were out of her class!

In the beginning I couldn’t afford a 1/4” foot so I used mole skin tape, and used one machine for a specific quilt. Mole skin was a life changer!

It always seemed that the fabric companies came out with cutting everything oversized! The more ya trim the greater the waste. And I don’t like wasting fabric. I have never made a quilt with the intent of trimming anything. Accuracy is key, it just makes sense to me. But hey, what ever floats yer boat :)

I can see trimming down if you have a very simple block, without many seams, s/a HST or 4-sq. However, if you have a more complicated block, you don't want your inner squares to be out of proportion to the rest of squares in the block and you want all of your seams and points to match up when you go to sew your blocks together. I'd just rather go for accuracy instead.