Originally Posted by callie

This issue was covered at our last sewing meeting here in Amarillo. First off our spokes person explained that all 1/4 inch feet are not created equally, meaning your 1/4 inch foot with metal guide may NOT be an exact 1/4 inch & if you have more than one machine, you should check each. She gave each of us an index card. The lines are exactly a 1/4 inch apart. She has us use that card and told us to put our metal piece on one line & sew. If your seam isn't exactly on the 1/4 inch line - u need to adjust your needle & sew again. Mark on the card "where" the needle is set to make a 1/4 inch seam. The same weekend at our LQS it was again explained that when we sew an exact 1/4" it may not come out to a 1/4 inch when pressed for a few reasons: 1) the thread used may be thicker. They recommended egyptian cotton 50 weight; 2) when you press (not iron) your seams on the back you set your seam, then turn over and press on the front to make sure you don't have just a tiny bit of a seam pressed on the top; and 3) Using a smaller needle (10). I too have found slowing down cutting my blocks and using a "strip" template helps - making sure I straigten fabric after each strip set cut (or if I think I may have slipped slightly), plus slowing my machine down when I sew. Don't know if this will help anyone or not, but definitley check out your 1/4" foot because they "do" vary.