need opinion about corners on snowball blocks
 

What am I doing that causes the corners on my 6 1/2 inch snowball block to be less than desirable? I trace the diagonal line carefully but everytime my block is out of shape. Yes I press it carefully.
Any ideas WHY I am getting these results?
Cookie5

Can you show a picture? That might help us see something. Are you cutting away the under fabric before or after you press....are you pressing or ironing? You are sewing on the bias when you sew the corners - which naturally stretches easily.... so are you perhaps pulling on the fabric when you sew? Those are the only things that jump to mind.

Bonnie Hunter has the answer. She says to think of the diagonal line as the fold line. Sew just a hair to the right of the line and your corners will be perfect. I did 10 snowball blocks yesterday and for the first time ever they are perfect.

First, start with the larger uncut square. Draw a diagonal line on the small square from corner to corner Place the small square on the large one, but don't sew on the line, sew right next to it, like a few threads away towards the corner. fold the small square over to check. if it looks ok, cut the 3back layers. if it's just a tiny bit smaller than it should be, cut the 2 middle layers out and leave the large fabric square. The slightly smaller triangle will be caught between this fabric and the adjoining block. if it's really too small, take the seam out and make your next seam even farther away than the first one.
Another technique is mark the appropriate diagonal on the larger square, and cut the smaller square oversized. sew the seam, press, square the block up , then cut the excess layers.

This ruler is totally unnecessary, but I loved the results I got when I made my last snowball quilt. I am not affiliated with the company, just a happy customer.
http://blog.prairieskyquilting.com/2...ner-clipper-1/

For those of you who don't click on links, the ruler is called Folded Corner Clipper.

That is how I learn it years ago. Just a hair on the side that is going to cut which is usually the right side as you stitch.

Ok, thank you . I am going to try both methods and see which works best for me. The link demo makes it look so EASY.(:

this is how I do it but I press them in half first and sew just a hair past the fold line, no marking with a pen needed

I have a line drawn on my machine that I line up the diagonal and as long as the tip stays on that line I have no trouble,also I only cut away the middle section of fabric so that when you press your snowball in place it lines up with the original square
N

I did it ! Nice square blocks. Thank you.

I was lucky to have been able to see Jenny Doan demonstrate the way she does the corner blocks on snowballs. She a has a square of fabric, press it in half corner to corner, then sew on the crease. I would make the square slightly larger then required, sew, press and trim off the excess even with the side of the block, then trim off the back portion of the small square.

One other thing to consider is that you may be stretching the snowball block as you sew. If that block starts out as a square and doesn't end up as a square, you have stretched it on the bias while sewing. I used to have the same problem until I figured out that I needed to guide my blocks by putting my fingers onto the side corners of my small block that I was stitching diagonally.

I also like to press my corners out using the original block corners as my guide. If I've sewn properly, all of my corners should match up with my large block and the two corners of my snowball block.