HouseDragon

feline fanatic has given you the best possible advice.

Please give prewashing a try. Also make sure the rotary cutter blade is new enough to cut without pressing down so hard that you move the ruler.

tessagin

I prewash then iron and sometime lightly starch the fabric. After ironing the fabric I let it rest on a curtain rod or shower rod. Before I cut, I "true it up". Making sure it hangs true not at a twist. Then I square it up. If I have a large piece, I cut about a yard then. I use non skid shelving to help prevent fabric slippage. I just place a 1/2" strip at an angle between the ruler and fabric. You also want to make sure the cutting table is level and solid under your mat. I agree with the others also you may want fresh eyes to see what you are/not doing. Good luck.

ube quilting

IMHO, I think the problem is in the ironing/ pressing part of your work.

Not washing fabric before using and wetting it with the starch, if not evenly sprayed, causes the fabric to want swell up and to pull itself together in the wetter spots , The fibers are reacting to the amount of moisture. Less wet areas don't react as much as wetter areas. The result is uneven or wavy finish after pressing it.

Try washing a sample piece of fabric, then starch and press it. See if you get the same results.

When you starch leave it there for a minute to really soak into the fibers before you press. Take your time with it and try not to slide the iron over the fabric as suggested. Use an up and down action to press.

When I starch fabric, I do it twice. First on the back, and press, then flip to the front and do a lighter spray and press.
I have found this really helps to keep distortion at a minimum. I got this tip from Sharon Shambers web site.
peace

cjsews

I agree with the other response that starching and ironing after you cut may be the culprit. Just wanted to add that I once had a teacher that said she did not iron any seams until she was finished with a block to avoid distortion. I don't remember who it was. It made sense at the time. This does not work for me but It may be the way to go for you

maminstl

Absolutely agree - recently was working with a layer cake, making lots of diagonal cuts, so I starched the you know what out of those first - huge mistake. Probably a half dozen pieces were shrunk up and distorted so much as to make then unusable. Working with the 10 inch pieces made the problem very evident.

Grammahunt

Kathy, I agree with the others. There is a HUGE difference between ironing and pressing. Ironing can ruin fabric for the best of quilters. I never iron anything--every (except clothes every so often). Even when I use starch I press fabrics and seams. It just keeps things in place. I hope you get this figured out soon.

Grammahunt

garysgal

Kathy, I have the same problem. No matter what I buy to help me, it doesn't work. I have finally learned to just sew and like you said "make things work". I too get compliments but I know the truth about my seams. One thing I learned at a class I took when I first learned to quilt was to make your seams consistent. If you can't get a 1/4'' then get as close as you can but make sure that all your seams are the same. Don't stress out about it. Then it becomes a chore not a fun hobby. I am sure there are a lot of us out there that have the same problem.

MadQuilter

Make sure you spray and press the fabric Before cutting the strips. Precuts are best handled with care.

Is your mat still in good condition? Sometimes when the mat gets grooves, it distorts the fabric cut.
Is your ruler still nice and flat? Sometimes they get dinged and nicked and don't product straight cuts.

Have you noticed how your machine moves the fabric under the foot? Sometimes (depending on the machine) the foot doesn't line up well with the feed dogs (particularly the 1/4 inch foot) and it allows the fabric to get pulled to one side or the other. If your machine allows to move the needle, maybe you could try the regular foot for best feed dog contact and move the needle until you get the 1/4" measurement.

Don't cry. It all works out in the end.

Onebyone

If some of you seams are 1/4 in spots and different size in other spots then that will cause waves and curves when pressed. If your seam has to be constant width all the way from start to finish. The fabric should be starched and iron before cutting if you want to use starch. The Stripology ruler is great so I doubt that is your problem unless you are using it wrong. Cut paper instead of fabric with the ruler to see if your problem is in your fold.

ChattyKathy

Thank you everyone for your kind generous assistance to my multitude of problem. I think I will definitely have to learn to "press" and not iron and I will have to do that before I cut my fabric. It has been a good few years since I have taken a quilt class. Maybe I am due for one!!! I will check out the suggested website tutorials and videos to refresh myself on these preliminary steps.
After I wrote my "cry for help" note, I went to my favorite LQS. I was talking to the owner/quilter (she is quite talented and has won some awards for her quilts) about my problems. She suggested similar ideas as proposed on this board. I purchased some fabric and noted that even she an experienced quilter, still did not have a perfectly straight cut on the edge of the fabric I purchased. This made me feel a little better... Thus, I guess we are all humans.