Gyleen Fitzgerald teaches an easy,perfect Y seam....she calls it a butterfly seam...check out her approach on her web site or FB.

Sally Collins was one of the precision classes I took too.

One trick I used with Y seams, until I got adept at them was to insert a pin straight across the seam allowance where I needed to stop. Another trick I used was to mark the seam allowance so I had a visual cue to know where to stop and back-stitch. Would love to see a picture of your block.

I started out sewing quilt seams by hand piecing. They teach you to begin your stitching a quarter inch in on the seam when you are going to have seams that will need pressing open to keep a sharp point and distribute the bulk on the back of the block. The use of a scant quarter inch seam is important too with busy designs. In some cases a eighth of a seam is used in those pinwheel type blocks to eliminate the bulk.

This information has served me well all these years being able to "read" how the back needs to be treated to have a balance after it is finished. I hope this helps a little. Think ahead and Remember, pressing is a straight down motion, not scrubbing around those bias edges that will stretch like a sweater very easily.

One more thing. Use a new sharp needle and your straight stitch plate one your machine.

In the case of a y seam, you are in essence just turning the fabric at the sharp point and sewing down the other side. Stop with your needle down at the Y point, turn your work, align the edges together, sew down the other seam. It is kind of like turning a street corner.

I piece all I can by machine stopping at the dot. Sometimes for the little tiny pieces, I sew the other seam that is joining it by hand. Saves a lot of ripping and a bit of muttering. So far so good.

Y seams not withstanding . . .i used to struggle getting 1/4" seams . . .tried various feet, etc. then, an experienced piecer pointed out, it could be my thread and machine needle. Sure enough, my needle was too large . . .it displaced the threads in the cotton weave . . .and my thread, too thick, was keeping the cotton weave displaced by filling the gap the needle made.

I switched to Schmetz Microtex 70 needles and 50wt Aurifil thread and my seams have been spot on since.

I usually avoid y-seams (I'd rather have my gallbladder removed without anesthesia that do a y-seam) but when they are unavoidable I've found that marking the 1/4" seam allowance and the dot (pivot point) helps rather than just marking the dot and visualizing the 1/4" seam allowance. On small pieces, I do them by hand but still mark the seam and dot.

I don't know why piecers use a universal needle and thick thread. CT Essential Cotton thread is too thick for me for piecing. If used in top and bottom it makes a very thick seam line. I do use the Essential poly for piecing. It's 70 wt.

Recently finished a quilt with a spiral mandala from a class by Ranae Merrill. I learned for critical matching to machine baste first. Easy to take out if you need to and holds perfectly for the final pass once it is right.

With Y seams - I NEVER backstitch. I do, however, take a stitch or two extra, unsew to the "exact" spot, and then tie the threads.

The reasons I do it this way - my machine backstitching is less than wonderful - it seems to pucker, and/or I get off the line, and I feel that the extra machine stitching adds bulk to the intersection and makes it harder to manage the next step. I tie the threads so that the rest of the stitching does not dome apart.

I also mark the seams near the intersections. It has saved me time in the long run.

Maybe I will be able to just look at it and know at some point - but I'm not there quite yet.