Snowball help
 

I’m having a hard time with my blocks coming up short when I snowball corners. I draw a line right down the diagonal line and sew exactly on it, trim to 1/4 inch and then press open. For some reason my blocks keep coming up about 1/8th too small. What am I doing wrong?

Don't sew exactly on the line; sew just beside it, to the side that will be cut off. This will allow a bit of extra fabric, which is used in the fold.

Some people just use a square patch in the corner, sew, and then trim even.

Thank "sew a thread's width" over from the drawn line. Doesn't sound like much, but it does make quite a difference.

Thanks everyone! I’m excited to try again now that I know to go a smidge to the side that’s going to be cut off.

I used to cut my folded corners off but discovered if I leave the back square on and cut out the middle fold triangle out then if my corner is a little short I can use the edge of the back square as a guide. This way has saved me a lot of frustration.

Sew just about 2 threads toward the corner you are going to cut off and I think you will have better luck. No worries I have done this many times and this is a tip that I learned from a class I was taking.

What a great tip. I know when I cut off the corner it's hard to tell if the sewn on bit is exactly square. Leaving the corner of the original square solves that problem. Thanks!

I agree. Great tip! I'll be using that one next time.

This was exactly what I was going to say. It works....ask me how I know? :o

I agree, sew just a tad to the side of the line near the corner. Also the thicker the thread and bigger the needle the more space is taken up when folding so if you change needles to a different size or thread then you might have to make some other adjustments.
One way to check to see how much the fold is taking up is to press your triangle up to the corner before you trim the seam. The difference between the edge of the triangle and the original block is how much you're off and will give you an idea of how far to move the seam.

Once I know that my seam is correct, then I mark another line 1/2" from first one. Cut between 2 seams and you have a small HST to use in the border or something small.

I have always been told to sew on the inside of the railroad tires. So if you sew a little to the right of the line you should be good.