rryder

Hi Joan, I find that starching helps. I prefer to starch my fabric before I cut and piece. I also like to let the starch dry and then when I piece my block, the fabric is nice and crisp. To press I then use a little steam, this reactivates the starch and allows me to press the block nice and flat without distorting it. It's important to press straight down. If I need to nudge a seam over, then I just use the tip of my iron to do so and moving the tip in the direction of the grain of the fabric.

If you get a chance, sign up for the Craftsy.com 2013 block of the month taught by Laura Nownes,--it's one of their free classes. You don't have to make the quilt, if you're not into that, but Laura does a great job demonstrating pressing techniques and it is worth it to follow through the lessons, just to learn her technique for pressing half square triangles.

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Doggramma

My goodness, that's me too! I did 2 rows of a quilt, and one row was over 2 inches bigger than the 1st row. At first I thought I had the sashings different sizes on the 2nd row. But no - it was that one block was 1/2 inch bigger, one was 1/4 inch bigger, etc. And I thought I was being careful! Anyway, my problem was that I hadn't cut some pieces on the straight of grain and they stretched from me handling them. So I think cuttting on the straight of grain as well as starching would help. I was so tempted to put it all aside, but they're blocks we're all working on for one of my quilt clubs. I'm glad I fixed it.

Joan in AK

rryder thanks for the tips. I signed up for the class but never got around to watching it. Glad to know there are others who struggle with this. Hopefully some of the tips given will be helpful.

hobbykat1955

Yes starching fabrics before cutting to sew together makes a big difference...

QuiltnNan

great video... i'm guilty of some of her no no's

Onebyone

I've taken two workshops with Debbie Maddy. She is a great instructor, easy to listen to and super nice. She knows her stuff and has funny stories about traveling. Don't hesitate to take one of her classes.

What helps me to keep my blocks all the same size: I starch my fabric stiff as paper before cutting. I use a seam guide that is exactly 1/4" seam. I sew very slow. I use thin thread for piecing. It takes time and patience to be accurate.

quiltingshorttimer

I will sometimes have a devil of a time with a quilt and have come to realize that besides very accurate cutting keeping the ruler line like Maniac says above (or using my Accuquilt!), and making sure that I either use very fine thread or a scant 1/4" seam, that I MUST square up the parts of a block as I put the block together. This allows me to catch the problems as I'm putting the blocks together and either re-do or trim (if too big). When I'm lazy about this I always stuggle with block sizes being wacky. Also a beginning teacher pointed out that using steam (which I do a lot and am trying to break the habit) will cause the fabric to stretch if you are not pressing but ironing so there's distortion, or can also shrink fabric due to the moisture and heat--which makes sense since using it on a quilt with cupping problems before quilting helps tame the cupping by shrinking it. Has anyone else heard this?

bearisgray

If you are only 1/8 inch off on a block - that difference can be easily compensated for while sewing the blocks together or when adding sashing.

MadQuilter

Depending on the block, I only finger-press during construction and do a final press with an iron when the block is done. I recently bought a 1/4" foot for my machine and replaced the 1/4" foot with the guide. What a difference. Now my blocks actually resemble the block size they are supposed to be. Since I participate in block swaps, it is important that my blocks meet the requirements.

DOTTYMO

I starch fabric stiff sometimes, it depends on the block pattern. Rail fence I just use the 1/4" foot on my machine and a thin thread and press seams with starch mist.
Stiff starch like cardboard, starch mist is a quick press over.