I've been reading and learning from all your ideas. I want to improve the accuracy of my 1/4 in. seam. When I sew clothing, I "fudge" the seam allowance to get the fit I want. Eating too much? make the seams allowances smaller. So, I've starched some scraps (another new concept for me) and cut them into squares. I'm trying to get into the leader-ender habit. That will keep me remembering just where that 1/4 in. seam is. And in about 40 yrs, maybe I'll have an Irish chain quilt!

Wonderful!!! I love that we end up with a finished project at the end with very little effort :D:D:D

practice makes perfect - if there is such a thing

I use a 1/4" piecing foot. It has a metal finger that rides along the edge of the fabric. Hence, always 1/4". A cheaper and easy way to achieve the 1/4" is to use a short stack of post-it notes. Just measure from the needle to 1/4" away and stick the post-its down. Doesn't leave any residue either. I use this method when teaching my young students to seam anything.

leaders and enders are fun and when you get done will have lots of small blocks to make another quilt, have fun!

I only use 1/4" seams in quilting. For clothing I use 1/2", it seems to hold up better.

Leaders and enders are great. I have been doing this for over a year now, I have so many 2-1/2 inch squares piled up. I think I will start sewing them together this Fall, to see what I come up with.

What is a leader-ender please. Never heard that one before.

Thanks.

I also want to know about leaders and enders..It sounds good..
p38flygirl

The leaders - sew one pair of scraps together, chain-piece the fabrics you're working on, and at the end of the pieces you're putting together, use another pair of scraps chain-pieced to finish up.

I leave the 'ender' in my sewing machine - becomes my 'leader' for the next seam/chain.

I find this stops the beginning seam getting eaten by the feed dogs, stops the 'birds-nest' effect when threads wander and get caught up. It also stops me from wandering at the beginning or ending of my seams (I used to have terrible seams as I was getting to the end - veering off into a narrow seam). And the thread trimming is almost non-existent!

So, here's what I'm doing ...
- have a little container of scraps handy - 2" squares? strings or strips
- pick a light and dark, start a chain and piece these scraps
- the next pieces in the chain-piecing are the current project you're working on
- finish up with another pair of scraps - the ender- leave these ones under your machine foot (I leave it down, but the needle up). This one becomes my 'leader' for the next pieces I'm sewing.