Boy is the the subject for me. Now I understand the lose of threads and such when you press, what I can't understand is when they make a 1/4" foot why don't they make a scant? I have had so many problems and even with the foot. Your try that scant and you are off. Yes I love the foot its easier but I can't sew a straight line to save life. Heck I can't even sew on a button. So if the foot is suppose to be a miracle for us that can't. Why don't they make it that scant? Doesn't make sense to me anyway. If I ever made the right sized block it would totally knock me off my chair. I have tried and tried and tried. I am like everyone else, sew it together and hope for the best when making a block. What is going on here.

Make me a foot the size I need not the size that I have to still take that scant off. Hear me manufactors. My pet peeve.

Rita

Just a quick bit of input from a very new quilter on how to keep seam allowances...I use the 1/4" foam sticky insulation strips that come in a roll. Measure from the needle hole in your sewing plate out to where you want your seam allowance and tape a strip from the back of your sewing machine to the front. The foam is just thick enought to help giude the fabric and it comes off easily if you need to change seam allowances for different projects! It's a pretty cheap solution and, after a while, I think I can get the hang of where I need to be without it. :D

When I first started making blocks, I know that my seam allowances were not 1/4" but I made sure that they were all the same, and that worked too. Sure, my blocks weren't the size the pattern specified - so what.
I recall drawing a sewing line with pencil on some of the seams where it really mattered.

Sorry to sound like a broken record, but practice, practice, practice.

You say you are cutting 3 7/8 strips for blocks. Are you making HST'S? If so cut them at 4" and trim down to 3.5 after sewing together.

I have a student that for the life of her can't not get the 1/4" seam. I've tried everything to help her. Now I just tell her to be consistant. It does make her quilts a little smaller. It also causes problem if there are a lot of pieces in the block. She is so eager to learn that I try to keep her projects simple. BUT that is not to say I don't challenge her with new ideas.

I use a 1/4" foot and think its great but I have also used tape built up thick to guide the fabric.

Are you "pressing" your seams or "ironing" them which can distort your block?