Cutting pieces bigger to allow for squaring up
 

Hi all. I was watching a video about squaring up pieces in a block. The lady said she cuts her pieces bigger than called for to allow for squaring up any sets that are wonky. Thinking about it made me wonder what if only a few squares in the block need trimming, wouldn't it necessarily make some sets in the block larger than others? Thanks!

Agree..... cutting pieces larger can be going down a slippery slope.
It could end up more wonkier than ever!
Or make your head spin as you try to figure out what to trim. Or not!
Or risk cutting off too much, and then ....... disaster! :(

That being said, making a larger 4-patch and trimming to the correct size, can work.
Or larger flying geese, to be trimmed down for precision.
Etc.

All that being said, it's probably better to work on a consistent 1/4" straight seam.
.... and wonky can be avoided! :)

Good Luck!!

No, it wouldn't.

The blocks are all squared to the correct block size which is also called unfinished size. If the other blocks "don't need trimming" that means they should be the correct size. If they are "under" size, I remake them.

All units should be made to the correct unit size. Then the finished block is checked and squared up.
Starting with the correct size will make borders easier too. Good luck!

It may be that the person in the video trims down all her blocks. By making them a bit on the large size she can correct a "wonky" aspect them such as a block being slightly diamond shaped, rather than a square with 90 degree corners. All the non-wonky blocks can also be trimmed down to the needed size. She may have simply neglected to mention that she trims all (or most) of her blocks.

I do this when I am making hst. Other than hst it would put the ratio of the pieces out of whack. Although you would still end up with the correct size block none of your pattern's seems would line up. Good news is that you would have a whole new design! Mystery quilt anyone? :)

Grammahunt

I can see that it would work on a quilt with only hst, but I'll be making churn dash blocks, so there are non-hst blocks as well. Would it work on a churn dash quilt to make the sets larger than called for?

With the churn dash block, there are points that come out to the finished edge, so if you just made your blocks larger and then trimmed them (more than a smidge), you would be cutting off your points when you sewed your block to the next one. It is possible to re-design the sub-units of the block so there is more than 1/4" of fabric from the tips of the points to the edge of the block, but this is a bit of work. (People refer to such blocks as "floating".)

Accurate cutting and piecing can give you good blocks without the need to trim blocks down.

I think she meant making the sub-units bigger then trimming.
That's what I do when I make HST's and Flying Geese.
But you don't have to if you are a perfect piecer.
We all do things differently.

I almost always cut my block slightly bigger and then square them up. I know that my 1/4 in seam is not always accurate, fabrics stretch and on and on. So, I cut just a little large1/4 to 1/2 inch and after pressing, I square them up to perfection. Yes, all of the blocks are squared up not just the wonky ones. I see similar directions in many patterns and tutorials. Made a quilt of nearly 500 HSTs and after taking the time to square them up, the fit together perfectly and the end result pleased me to no end.