gigigreen

I'm new to quilting and have only made a crib size quilt, pretty basic. I have been working on a log cabin scrappy quilt and Im ready to start piecing the squares together. Unfortunately, not all of the squares are lining up. Can someone advise on what to do from here. I don't mind ripping and doing what it takes to get it right, since some of these are scrapes from my mom's sewing stash.


Thanks!!

Iceblossom

Some of us have habits or issues where we aren't so precise with our seam allowances, whether from cutting or sewing or whatever, lots of ways to get a bit off, especially when you consider there are two sides to every seam so doubles (or halves) our mistakes... With a log cabin you get lots of seams so lots of chances to go off even if all very straight.

I spent my first 20 or so years of quilting trying to be very precise in every step. The last 20 years I've been doing techniques where I "sew large and cut down" so I am sizing up my subunits basically every step.

You may have to trim some of your squares a bit to fit, one of the advantages to block sized square rulers. Also a good time to make sure the blocks are straight. It is ok if you have to stretch or ease in a bit here and there, but if things are measured and trimmed to some sort of consistent size, at least you know you aren't trying to stretch a slightly small block to an over sized block.

Synnove

Am I correct in my understanding that you're saying the logs from one block don't align with the logs from the next block? If that's the case, depending on how far off they are I don't think I'd worry about it. Your quilt will still be lovely. If you're saying the blocks have turned out to be slightly different sizes from each other, you can just trim all down to the same size as the smallest one, and there ya go! If that makes your quilt smaller than you want it to be, just add a border. It would be helpful if we could see a picture of what you're dealing with, though I know posting a picture can be time consuming.

GingerK

If it is just a small amount of difference between two blocks that you want to sew together, put the larger one on the bottom and allow your feed dogs to ease in the excess fabric.

As a new quilter, my biggest mistake was 'ironing' my blocks instead of 'pressing' them. 'Ironing'-moving the iron around on the block-can distort and stretch the block. 'Pressing is putting the iron on the seam for a few seconds and then removing it.

We really like pictures and they are often more informative than a thousand words.

QuiltE

GiGiGreen ... First of all, don't dismay, as many of us have been down the same road as you are on now. You sound like you have a good sense and willingness, by suggesting ripping things apart, if need be! Sometimes too, we need to be a little forgiving of ourselves, and decide whether it is really all that bad? Or are we building too high of expectations, for the level/skill we are at? Only you can decide on that!

Without a little more detail ... better still photos ... it's hard to know exactly what your problem is.

I'm guessing that it's that all blocks are not the same size. Yes? No?
Consider this ... if with each seam you are just a hair wider then all those seams together can add to different block sizes. Worse if out two or three hairs, or more! IOW the challenge is, making that perfect 1/4" seam every time! As GingerK suggested, if the difference is minimal, you can put the two together, and solve the problem as she suggested, along with a good pressing.

But if it is not minimal ... it's back to achieving that perfect 1/4". One way is to measure after every seam.

Sounds horrible ... but the first log cabin quilt I made was in a Quilt In A Day class. We were using one of Eleanor Burns' early Quilt In A Day books, where she tackles that issue where after every seam you press and measure to make sure your block is on size. If not, correct it! It really wasn't all that tough, once I got onto what we were doing. Plus, I soon got a better handle on 1/4" seams and felt rewarded every time that my log cabin measured up!

Otherwise, waiting until the very end, with a fully assembled log cabin, you are in trouble.

Show/Tell us more, and you'll be sure to get lots of help!
Good Luck ... and enjoy your quilting journey!

quiltmouse

Gigi, here is Judy Martin's seam allowance check video

video here

Mkotch

I've been quilting for over 50 years and my blocks aren't always the same size. I have to fiddle to get them to fit together. With log cabin, it's a little easier. You can trim the blocks down, you can ease them together, or you can add another log here or there to get them all to fit. No one will notice when it's all together. "Finished is better than perfect"

gigigreen

Thank you everyone for all the good advice. I tried to add a picture, but I've been having trouble doing that. I have a picture on my phone, which I sent to my email. But, I can't seem to figure out how to get it to this thread.
I did find that my logs pretty much line up after 3 additions, but the 4th and especially the 5th were getting off. So, I think I'm going to rip them down to three; that way there is a lot less variation in the size of the logs, and I should be able to trim if necessary.
Also, I found that evidently when I was sewing them together on the machine, my tension must have changed. I could have used my other machine, and the tension was a lot tighter. Ugh! so that I'm sure didn't help!