You beat me to it! I have to do it by PP'ing. If I don't, they come out wonky![/quote]

Mine come out wonky too.

No matter how careful I am cutting the logs and sewing, or using the strip method, I have found I just can't beat the accuracy of paper piecing them. So, that's what I do now.

I like cutting the strips to the proper length - no squaring up required as you're checking your dimensions with every seam. :)

I tried it Eleanor's way (and I'm a huge fan of hers, so I'm not knocking her at all) but it just works out faster for me to cut everything to the proper length before sewing. :)

I wondered that too. I have quite a lot of her books and videos and she's one I'd love to kidnap and never let go lol When I did her method they were never straight, so I will try both the cutting to length and a paperpieced block. I've never done a pp quilt but we'll see how it goes. Thanks so much for your help

I like Eleanor's best because I like to chain sew.

I like cutting the logs the length they should be and then fudging them to fit the block, if necessary. I found that the other way makes them get out of shape easier.

You can chain sew with either method. I use Judy Martin's method because I never have to square up. Having the strips pre-cut lets you know IMMEDIATELY if you are getting off-square. It also helps to starch the fabric before cutting and to cut with the grain rather than across the WOF, but since I do most of mine with scraps I can't always do that.

I'm with ya Hobby - PP is the only way I get straight lines. But I'm working on that 1/4" thingy every day - maybe, just maybe by the time 110, I'll master it

I was very impressed with dunster's method of precutting everything. I'm not as organized. I cut each group of logs to the correct size before each round.....then just chain sewed. It went really fast and then at the end..... the blocks were all the right size and I had very little trimming to do. It went really fast. No need for paper piecing to get a perfect block this way, that would be WAY too much work!

I was really impressed too, I will try this as soon as I finish my present quilt