I had a great day of sewing but sure did have some problems. I have discovered that I'm not very accurate with my cutting. I only got 5 blocks pieced of my butterfly quilt and the first 2 aren't very well done. I totally forgot about starching until I got to the 3rd block. Wow, what a difference it made. I starched my pieces and then retrimmed to the correct size and my blocks look much better.

now only 15 more to go! Phew...and it takes about 1/2 hour per block. So far this is the hardest quilt I've made.

Keep it up you'll get there. what pattern are you making love to see pics.

You are making progress and learning from your mistakes. That is great.

That's how we all become better at our craft. Good for you for recognizing where you were going wrong and changing your process.

Could someone please explain why you use starch. Do you press after starching? I'm so confused!

Starch makes the wrinkles easier to press out and the fabric gets a bit more body from it. So it's a little stiffer.

Starch stiffens the block a bit and helps keep it from getting distorted in the sewing process. Starching fabric can help the cutting - particularly if you are dealing with bias cuts.

Maybe I should start starching my material!

Me too!

It sure makes a difference in accuracy when your fabric has some body to it. If there is one thing that I have learned, it is not to rush through cutting cause it makes all the difference on how things go together.