I'm totally in agreement with ghostrider. I've been quilting for years and have never used a scant quarter inch seam. Consistency is all I care about.

It has taken me long enough to get straight 1/4 inch seems let alone learn scant quarter inch. I don't follow patterns I just make what I want and as long as my block are cut correctly I don't have a problem.

A scant quarter inch is just a thread less than the quarter inch. If you were to use a template with a line drawn at the quarter inch from your presser foot. It you sew your fabric being able to see the line you have drawn will give you a scant quarter inch so i have been told. I have a d1 and the 1/4 inch foot is made to sew a scant quarter inch. Comes out perfect everytime.

what in the world is the scant quarter inch I have been making quilts for years and when I started it was 1/4 inch everything worked fine Mary Ellen Hopkins was big in the quilting scene in the 1970's and her classes were really fun and she used PPM measurements{personal private[ if consistant it works from there I went to the 1/4 inch still use it with no problems but I do not do any swaps as some people are to fussy quilting should be fun not stressful oh by the way after all of these years Mary Ellens book "It's OK if you sit on my quilt" is still one of my favorites

I waI was just going to say that! After 7 blocks of fustration and ripping, I discovered that was the way I had to do it. My seams were all perfect 1/4 but blocks were always coming up too small even though the block was perfect otherwise. Someone should have warned us. Glad to hear I'm not alone. :|

You said it better than I could have......consistent 1/4" is a god thing!

In theory I agree with you and when you work on your own stuff from start to finish, you will be just fine. However, when you participate in a swap, then the blocks need to be 12.5" and some patterns do not end up as 12.5" when sewn with a regular seam. So in my experience, the scant seam sometimes comes in handy.

According to Judy Martin's book, "Stellar Quilting," a scant quarter is half way between 1/4 and 1/8 inches

I used to think the same way; as long as they are all the same size why does it matter. Until I did a civil war quilt w/6 1/2 blocks. I couldn't get them to come out to the right size. I spoke to my teacher and she suggested using Aurofil thread; it's only 2 ply. I couldn't see how this would make such a difference; boy does it ever. Of course the more seams in the block the bigger difference 2 ply verses 3ply or full 1/4 verses scant makes. It was nice to finally get my blocks to be the right size.

FYI: We have an expert quilter/instructor in one of our LQS and she said that the Farmer's Wife Sampler blocks don't come out the correct size. She was also doing our Civil War quilt w/the same size blocks and had no problems with it; so I'd say the patterns are off.