I have had a terrible week! My friend and I decided to make the Day Night Pattern by Eleanor Burns. We are doing the 4 strip/2 fabric method. We took our time and cut everything out exactly. Measured twice, three times and then cut. Sew 1/4" seams exactly. Nothing matches up no matter what. So we ripped everything apart and today sewed up again.....this time, taking an even smaller seam. Now it works but I am worried about the seam being strong enough. Has anyone other than us experienced any problems with this pattern?

I haven't made this pattern, but this is one of the those circumstances when I would quilt quite close together to give the seams strength.

I don't know how small your seams ended up being, but I have made quilts that called for "scant" 1/4 inch seams and not had a problem. On occasion if I found an area that seemed very small to me, I would just double stitch that spot to give it more strength.

Sounds like you need to do a lot of quilting to make it strong enough.

I suggest you contact Eleanor Burns to find out if there is a mistake somewhere in the pattern.

http://www.quiltinaday.com

Sounds so frustrating. I would quilt it heavily on the seams to strengthen it.

Doing many of El's patterns she always uses a 'scant' 1/4 inch on all of her seams. To accomplish this with a computerized machine click one notch to the right of center. For others you need to find the spot that is just shy of the 1/4 inch. She has beautiful patterns and most of the rulers she uses are hers and her blocks are usually cut down from the size you start with.

go to http://www.quiltinaday.com she has a video of how to make this. It will really help I have watched how she does it and it makes sense to me.

the seams will most likely hold up just fine.

still, i know how it feels to worry about a quilt's future if i don't have faith in the seam allowances. rather than toss the quilt, or hold onto the fear that i shouldn't pass it on to anybody else, i treat the suspect seams with a fray blocker. if i'm really worried about them, i glue the two layers of the allowance together with washable glue.

i wash every quilt i make before i send it on to test it for shape and durability. so far, none have fallen apart in the washer. :-)

if you also follow the suggestion to make sure the quilting goes over the seams for reinforcement, your quilt is sure to be a complete success. :-)

i tend to ALWAYS make a practice block when ever i am trying out a new block pattern so i can see just how it goes together and if i need scant seams or not...that way i can cut a little bigger if needed, or adjust my seams;
before jumping into a whole quilt. doing the practice block really answeres lots of questions, and lets you decide.
if you cut out your whole quilt in the beginning you are kind of commited...if you make a practice block you can change what ever you want to make it work for you. ;-)