I do a solid 1/4 inch for quilts I know will be washed often. sometimes in trimming or squaring up a block, the seam allowance gets kind of small, and i would'nt want it to come apart

Ditto

Ok this might seem dumb and I know I have been on here for awhile but I'm still a newbie. I try to use a 1/4" but what is a scant??

Cheryl, look back up about 4 or 5 posts, I explain it there.

I use a 1/4 inch foot and move my needle over a smidge to the right.

Sometimes I want to use a 3/8", just because it gives me more "wiggle room" if my cutting is off. I don't, tho. I use a scant 1/4", like most do.

Interesting thread.... I just made some "snowball" blocks and found that sewing just a scant away from the drawn diagonal line helped the corners come out nicer. Normally I just do the 1/4" and don't think about it. I guess it depends on what block you are doing.

I forgot to click reply with quote ....
from Foxxigranni:

I try to use scant and the blocks never come out the right size, they don't come out the right size when I use a bigger size seam either. Question, how would I who is sewing challenged make a block that is the size its suppose to be? Do I cut it a scant bigger and sew it from there, do I cut all the pieces bigger and then cut it down to size what works. I am really tired of trying to make this work and it doesn't. I have been struggling with this very problem for yrs. I sew, measure again and its never the right size, what am I doing wrong?Thanks for any help you can give a very challenged person here. I do sew very carefully and when I get done its never never the size it says its suppose to be. HELP....
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I think I'm in your club. I'm happy when I sew a straight line !!!

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Do you starch the material before you cut it? Sometimes the material stretches which makes your block size off.

I have recently started doing this as a result of learning from the experienced on this board and am seeing improvement in what I produce :lol:

It depends on the pattern. If there are HSTs that need to be matched, I adjust the seam so I don't cut off the points. If there are only rectangular pieces, I go with standard 1/4"

I use my 1/4 inch foot.

ok so i have a dumb question what is the difference

i use my 1/4 inch foot on my machine

I just use my 1/4 foot. So far haven't had any problems with the method.

I do 1/4

I use scant 1/4", but I have been known to sew just a 1/8" seam where the piecing came out a little short. Once you press seams to one side or the other (both going the same way) and then quilt over it, it's plenty strong.

Scant means just inside your quarter inch mark on the machine or foot. When you press the seam allowances to one side, their thickness takes up a bit of room out of the seam, and your finished block can come out a tad small because of this. When you sew a "scant 1/4" you are allowing the room the seam allowances take up when pressed to the side. Try it, it works!

After years of having everything just a little "off" on the block size I finally caught on to using a scant. Now I always use a scant.

IMHO, scant or 1/4" doesn't matter...you will never see the seams in the finished quilt! What DOES matter is that the size of the BLOCK turns out exactly right. Adjust your needle position to make the finished block the correct size. It's a pain to make a test block before diving in and piecing, but it can save you a lot of headaches later.

Just don't push the fabric so far to the right, just skim the edge of the foot.

Me, too!

First, check to make sure you are cutting as accurately as possible. Then sew using a scant 1/4". The next part is probably where the problem is: press very carefully! Make sure you "set" your seam by pressing a moment on the side you sewed on. Then open up and press on the right side. Make extra sure that there are no tiny little pleats. I use the edge of the iron to nudge the seam a bit without distorting. (I also don't use steam at this point because I tend to distort with steam.)

I teach Learn to Quilt classes and in July we were making a red, white and blue striped table runner. There were 12 narrow strips total. One of my students was quite upset because her project came out over an inch too narrow. There was actually nothing wrong with her project...she just hadn't "teased open" all those seams, and she lost more than a full inch! Once properly pressed, her table runner was exactly right! Good luck...accuracy takes time to develop. Hope this helps. (Sorry to be so long-winded!)

I used to do regular 1/4. And even though I would cut a tad wide, all my blocks would end being 1/4-1/2" short on a 8-12" block. Which wasn't bad, since they were uniform. I asked on here, and the gals suggested I try a scant (by moving my needle one click to the right. I didn't even need to change). Now I'm getting the right size! I just had a quilt top designed to finish at 48.5" x 60.5" and IT DID!

Scant. I don't think it would be weaker by one less thread width.

I use both, whether I mean to or not! LOL I am not the Queen of Accuracy unfortunately. I try, I try.

Scant for me too

I use the scant 1/4 in most of the time.

What dictates which you use it the fabric. If a lighter weight or less thread count fab you use the 1/4 in but if a heavier fabric like bitiques you use the scant 1/4 in.

Think you have how many thickness of fabric + tx's the thickness of your thread. If you have a lot of seams in a block it will be off. And a scant seam is just as strong ad the 1/4 in. There is only a thread difference.

You need to make a sample of the blks to decide which one to use before just jumping into the whole thing...

Just a little thing that can make a huge difference.

Happy Quilting

Hey I was always sewing over sized 1/4" seams. I've just gotten to the point where I have them at 1/4". Probably will never be scant. lol.