quiltstringz

Good question! I am really a little surpised at how many answered yes. For me it depends, a lot of blocks you really son't want to square up as you will lose your points. If my block is just a tad too big or too little (I measure when I do the first one) I just go with it and ease it in. However if it is more that just a tad, I take a look to see what the issue might be - a miscut piece, seam too big or too small. Fix that and my next block(s) should be good to go. Now if we are talking a block that doesn't have any points or something like half square triangles, yes I would square them up.

newbee3

I have read if you do accurate cutting and sewing there should be no need to square up blocks. I usually do not square up my blocks

Sheilz

I square blocks up but it took me a while to cotton onto the fact that this helped make the final product look much better. Like so many on her I'm entirely self taught so each day is a learning day. I'm just glad I had 'that' learning day a few quilts back!

carslo

Once I started to I was amazed at how nicely everything would go together at the end

Rodney

I'm new and just started my first quilt. I jumped in way over my head by picking a design with curved borders. I do anything I can to get things to line up as best as I can. I'm certain I'll be doing some trimming here and there to fix my many mistakes at the end.
Rodney

Pennyhal

For some reason, after all these years, I don't seem to be able to stitch a 1/4" seam. So, I gave up. Instead, when practical, I make my block, or the little units in the block too, a tad bigger. Then after I stitch the sub unit, cut it to size and square it up, and the same for the finished block.

ghostrider

And without squaring up the blocks, you may not know that your cutting and sewing was not accurate until you get to the point of trying to fit them all togethter...when it's a royal pain to fix anything.

I square up at every possible point in the process. In the long run, it saves way more time than it wastes.

QM

Not often, but any time I need to. Generally if something is off sized, I have a seam or two I need to correct.

dunster

I think we may have different definitions of squaring up. To me, it means checking the size of the block (frequently if necessary) as it is being built. If it doesn't measure as expected, I figure out what is going wrong and fix that problem. As a result, I very seldom need to shave any fabric from a block (except when I've purposely made the patch larger, so I can cut it down to its proper size after sewing, as with HST's). I think it's much more productive to strive for accuracy in cutting, sewing, and pressing. Then "squaring up" just means verifying that the block is the right size and shape.

Emma S

I'm with Pennyhal, make it a little bigger and you can square it up without loosing any points.