amyjo

Never heard of cutting a scant 1/4” & I’ve been sewing n quilting for years Watched Jenny Doan’s videos Donna Jordan’s videos & a lot of others on internet Have never heard them talk about cutting a scant 1/4” only sewing a scant 1/4” So its no wonder if your blocks are off if you’re doing this

dunster

Are you sure you aren't remembering how to cut fat quarters (FQs) rather than scant quarters? A FQ measures 18" by half the width of the fabric (WOF), so you can cut 4 of them from one yard of fabric. A skinny quarter is 9" by the full WOF. You also get 4 skinny quarters per yard, but they are shaped differently from FQs. I'm thinking perhaps you got cutting fat quarters and sewing scant quarter inches mixed up. It's easy to do when a lot of new terminology is thrown your way.

Reader1

I understand stitching scant quarters if you have cut fabric too small. I have only been taught to cut a scant quarter and to do so on all fabric, not fat quarters, or jelly rolls etc. The person from the Extension office that teaches 4-H kids quilting had them cut scant quarters also. Is this a regional thing? Is it just a habit passed down here and it has always been done. I am going to ask a few quilters from the area about it. I do know a couple who say they never do it. I asked because trimming and matching is such an important part of putting blocks together, sometimes I have difficulty with it.

quiltingshorttimer

never heard of cutting scant 1/4" but do use for seam allowance. the idea is your seam is about 2 threads smaller than a 1/4" seam allowance which allows for the thread's bulk when you press the seam. I learned to cut my fabric so that the ruler marking is set so the fabric edge is barely on the "outside" of the ruler marking, which lets you cut just a couple of threads wider than the measurement--always better to trim a too big block unit than to have a too small one!
too check the width of your seam allowance, one thing I learned on this Board, was to cut two perfect 2.5" squares, sew together with your 1/4" seam allowance (or scant 1/4") and press open well and measure--it should be a 4.5 " rectangle

cashs_mom

What exactly do you mean by "cutting scant quarters"?

scrappingfaye58

I agree... the only "scant" should be your seam. To set the size of your seam, a 3x5 card *should* have 1/4 inch line spacing. I use this to be sure where the edge of my fabric should be and where my needle should be set. To determine your cutting and sewing, cut 3 pieces (short is ok.... 6 inches or so) of fabric 2 1/2 inches wide, sew all three together side by side, the middle section needs to be exactly 2 inches. If it is, everything else you sew should be perfect.
There was a quilt teacher a long time ago (wish I could remember who is was) who talked about *your* personal perfect measurement. Her theory was that as long as you cut and sewed everything the same, your points would match. I have found this to be true, however, if you were doing a project where your block (perhaps you are swapping with friends) needs to be a specific finished size, this won't work!

SusieQOH

Do you mean a scant quarter inch seam? If so I never use it. It's never made any sense to me. I use a quarter inch seam.

luvstoquilt

I agree with all the above. I tend to cut a bit larger and trim to size. I am much happier with the end result. Like Iceblossom, I am basically self taught but over the years I have learned a lot from books, friends and a class or two.

joe'smom

Can you explain what 'cutting a scant quarter' means? Are you possibly referring to sewing a scant quarter inch seam?

Gay

I too would like to know how to cut a scant quarter? I couldn't find anything on Mr Google about it,