Don't give up....I hand quilted years ago and got much better points than machine quilting, but machine quilting is so much faster, and I try every tut on this board. I have a hard time cutting. I actually sit on my table to help me keep the strips accurate. I thought I had a 1/4" foot, but don't, so I just ordered one. I wasn't really sure what they meant by a scant 1/4", so just recently at our quilt guild, we were making sample blocks to trade. On our sewing day, we were told to do a scant 1/4" which I did and my blocks came out fine. I came home, using the same machine, and made 16 more blocks. Forgot about the scant 1/4" so I ended up with 16 blocks that were to small. So they couldn't be used by the quilt club. But I ended up just making another quilt using the smaller blocks, and that will be a test quilt. The three things I've learned to try to get acuracy is. 1. accurate cutting. 2. accurate 1/4" (or scant) seams and 3. iron the seams in opposite directions so you can wiggle those seams up tight, and oh #4....I watch all the sewing shows on tv I can find, especially Eleanore Burns. I learn something on this board almost daily. And I've been quilting for 30 years, so don't give up, just keep learning. And more important.....have fun. I give you alot of credit for doing a swap. I just did my first one started in June. Before that I didn't think my work was good enough. Don't be so hard on yourself.