I would like to know how to make my seams to lay flat on a block when I press them.

Also, why is it that when I sew my blocks together that the ends are always shorter than a 1/4".

Steam or starch
You're probably making the seams a little bit to wide. A thread or two adds up.

are the stitches even front and back? maybe a tension thing too.

Set the seam.. heat it first then open to make it flat.

two tips.

good luck

ell

First, press the piece just the way you sewed it to set the seam, then press to one side. You can use a bit of steam, but be careful not to move the iron and distort the block.
Not 100 % sure by what you mean the ends of your block. Do you mean one block is shorter than the next? If that is the case then you need to verify that you are consistently using a 1/4" seam allowance. If you mean that a single block is shorter on one side than the other, watch carefully as the beginning and end of your seam maintains the seam allowance. I have found that I sometimes have to use tweezers to hold the end of the block together to guide that last little bit through, especially on weird shaped pieces.

accurate cutting and accurate seams and measure after each seam to make sure the pieces are the correct size.

Yes, my seams seem to be wider at the top and bottom.

If your seams are wider/narrower at the end you are not keeping the seam straight as you sew off the end. Try using something to hold that last little bit, like the tip on your seam ripper, as the fabric goes under the needle.

Starch and set your seam before you iron it open.

If I understood your question/issue correctly - when you sew two layers together, and you think they are the same length to start with - you end up with one piece "shorter" than the other?

On many older machines the bottom layer feeds a bit faster/more than the top layer. The feed dogs grab the bottom layer and the top layer just goes along for the ride.

I think I used to compensate for that by holding the bottom layer back just a bit.

So one has to make sure that each join/intersection meets where it is supposed to.

I used to mark my strips to make sure that they were ending up where they were supposed to.