When I bought a 1/4 foot it made all the differnece. Also, Grammatjr is so rite. Going to fast can really cause problems. At least it does for me. So slow down, relax and enjoy and it will all come together.

When sewing longer strips, rotate what end you start sewing on too...other wise your strips will tend to bow.
Try starting out sewing on a scrap piece and but your actual piece up to it, you will find it easier to get started, too.
I find a clear foot is easier for me to work with than a metal foot.
Don't give up!!! It is a learned thing :D:D:D

One, everyone is right. Patience with yourself. I NEVER use a striped fabric for big long pieces like in the tube. I cant get the lines even cut straight (the fabric is straight but the design isnt). I used a permanent sharpy marker on my machine to keep myself from crossing past the 1/4 inch line ever and I still use that method 20 yrs later. Next.. your pressure foot if the needle is center is usually 1/4 inch on the right side. FOLLOW It. If your finding your block is a tiny bit smaller you need to work at getting your scant 1/4 inch meaning dont even go all the way to the edge of your pressure foot. Your being too hard on yourself. Go slow (no Mario Andretti foot pedal action) and most of all.. enjoy what your doing. If its not perfect its not perfect. It may still be ok however. Pick patterns that wont show that slightly off line. It makes you feel a whole lot better about your work!

I have trouble at the end of the line of stitching, so I use the point of a bamboo skewer to guide my stitching of the last inch of each set as I chain piece.

I figured out that the prongs of my 1/4" foot make a little bubble of fabric between them as the last inch or so of each pair of patches passes over the feed dogs. The skewer really helps keep that last bit flat and my stitching line straight.

I have the Fons and Porter 1/2 inch ruler that you draw on both side of and then stitch on the lines. Well even if you stitch exactly on the lines you can still come up crooked. It seems to be with the fabric itself since you are sewing on the bias. This is for half sq triangles.
Strips I no longer have a problem with since I am very gentle with them when sewing togather and pressing. It also helps if you have lines on the pressing mat to line up the strips on.

Thank you, everybody. I got a quarter inch foot and put it on - it's a new machine (Janome) so probably not a machine problem. I did wonder about the fabric strips. They are Kaufman roll ups and some have pinked edges and some have straight edges. The way I am doing the pattern, I am always sewing a pinked edge to a straight edge. I wondered if that might be part of the problem. I tried sewing with the pinked edge on top and on the bottom - didn't seem to make any difference.

Before I put the quarter inch foot on, I was using the needle over to the right side (#6) which seemed to give a 1/4" seam allowance if I put the edge of the fabric on the edge of the regular presser foot. Maybe that isn't as accurate as I thought?

I did a couple of seams last night with the new foot - will measure them today in the daylight - after I finish unsewing the worst of the old strip sets.


Thank you again, this site is brilliant.

IMHO, I use an old machine to sew on (centennial) which has markings of 3/8,5/8, etc on the plate next to the needle and the foot. I lowered the needle and measured over from where the needle enters to sew and found that the 3/8 mark is actually 1/4 inch for my seams. Maybe you could try this also?

Don't give up. It will come with practice. In the meantime, do it for the fun of it.

One more thing to check is the pressure control if you have one. Mine was set for less pressure and made my regular stitching veer out of line. It's usually a knob on top of the machine on the far left.

I have a difficult time sewing a straight line, too. After a lot of frustration and giving it a lot of thought, I have realized that we are sitting on a planet that is round. How am I supposed to sew a straight line if the earth I am on is round. Not only is the earth round, but it's hurtling through space and spinning around at the same time. The real question is, how can we maneuver at all with this environment? This is my bubble, and please don't burst it.