lindaschipper

I've read articles on this site before about women who dislike hand binding so they machine bind the quilts. Or women who dislike cutting the hundreds of pieces for a quilt. Does anyone besides me dislike having to square up each individual block before assembling rows? I cut all the pieces the same, sewed with the same 1/4 foot, and yet some have measured 5 l/4" and others 5 1/2" for the finished block. At this point I have 168 blocks that don't quite measure up the same. Wondering if I should re-cut them all down to 5 1/4 and hope they fit together. I should mention I'm making a Missouri Star Quilt Co. pattern named Jack and Jill. What would you do?

SusieQOH

I know exactly what you mean as it's happened to me as well. It's so frustrating! Unless you will cut off points I would just cut them all 5 1/4. You're only off by a quarter inch. If you would cut off points I would just try to ease the fabric in when joining.
Can't wait to see it!!!

Annie68

I would also keep them as is and ease them in as you go. Press the rows with steam as you go also, steam is helpful for getting things to come out right. : )

joe'smom

I usually have blocks that aren't exact, but the quilt still goes together well. I would hold off on trimming until you see how things are fitting together.

bearisgray

Did you wash your fabrics before cutting them?

Sometimes unwashed fabrics (and sometimes even washed ones) will shrink when they get steam pressed for the first time.

I had a 5 inch square shrink from being 5x5 to being 5 x 4.5 after it was washed in tepid water and dried gently.
That is an unusual amount of shrinkage - BUT - it can happen.

bearisgray

Did you press them all the same way? Maybe try to shrink the bigger ones to match the smaller ones?

Some people might suggest trying to block them all to the same size -

You could try a search for "blocking a quilt block" for suggestions on how to do this.

That might be the first thing I would do.

Are your templates "accurate"? Sometimes they are wrong.

Can you post a picture of your block?

Doggramma

I usually don't square up blocks, and I have the same problem where they're a bit off. I just ease them in as I put the rows together.

QuiltnNan

i've learned that my sewing is right, it's th ironing [instesd of prssing] that gets me in trouble

maminstl

I would trim only those that require it - a little off is no big deal, but 1/4 inch in a small block is too much for me to ease in very well.

Bluelady

Binding, that seems to be where I falter!