Silver Needle

I am supposed to be making a Jinny Beyer Quilt for my grandson's graduation which was last year. It said for beginners. Ha Ha. It said use exact 1/4" seams so i cut some scrap fabric and sewed seams until I can mark a place for a sewing line that presses out to equal an exact 1/4" seam --- i'm happily sewing all these strips together and realize in the fine print in the corner the total of these strips should be 17" Now some of these pieces are only 7/8" wide so ripping all (by which I mean a LOT) of the constructed strip sections apart is not an option. I'm almost done by the time this little tidbit catches my eye. My pieces vary in size but are all in the 18" range.. I'm going to see the family in March and I know I will be asked how its coming. I'd like to drown the $300 undone piece in the river but don't see that as an option. I need to recut all these strips some of them in 7/8" wide pieces and then resew them into something that looks like a block. I Would like to use my new Bernina 880 as it has differential feed so that the seams halfway match up. But what do I do to make these blocks turn out halfways square. I'm afraid its going to be a mess no matter what I do. And by the way HE chose the pattern. it looked so simple. SOMEONE SAVE ME - Give me some encouragement; some inspiration; some suggestions.

dunster

Can you show a picture of the pattern, and of what you have so far? It's hard to make any recommendations without more information. There will surely be options to help you salvage your project.

nanac

I'm not getting it. You say that you have 1/4- inch seams.Okay. You say that you noticed that some pieces are 7/8ths inch wide. Okay. You say the srtips are supposed to be 17 inches wide, and most of yours are in the 18 inch range. Okay.
I'm not getting gow this is an issue. Can't you just cut the 18 inches down to the 17 inches? Are the pieces supposed to be larger or smaller than 7/8ths? are you supposed to have specific shapes once the strips are sewn together?
This is not enough information to be able to offer solutions or suggestions.
What pattern are you using? Can you show us what you mean, or what you need to change?

PaperPrincess

How did you check your 1/4"? sounds like it is a bit too narrow. You really don't measure the seam, you measure the resultant patch.
Here are the instructions:
http://www.quiltingboard.com/tutoria...ce-t89997.html
When you join the pieces with the strips, do the seams have to match? If not, you can trim them a bit.

Prism99

Without seeing the pattern, I don't have a clue about the problems.

WilliP

Honey, take yourself and your $300 project to your very friendly local quilt shop and have a getting to know you show and tell. They should be able to help you. Been there, done that too many times to mention --including the baby quilt I am almost finished with that I should've taken the time to consult and would've had I t on the frame instead of manhandling Minkee on my Bernina 380. LOL Hugs. This too shall pass and you will live to do another graduation quilt for another relative. Bless the boy's heart, he has faith in your abilities!

Plumtree

It's not Moonglow is it? Only asking because many years ago when I started quilting again I went into LQS and asked about this BOM they had, Moonglow for beginners. Long story short, I still have this in my UFO pile. Jinney Beyers idea of beginner and my idea of beginner are entirely different lol. Would love to see a picture of your progress :-)

JenniePenny

It sounds as if your seams are too narrow. When this happens to me, I don't rip out the seams - I just sew another seam right next to the first one. Doing this on all the strips in the set will close up the width if your strip unit.

Silver Needle

I have already pressed the seams the way the pattern describes. But this isn't a bad idea. I guess I could unrpress the seams and more or less start over using my Bernina 880 with the differential feed I wouldn't need pins and it shouldn't take that long to redo everything. I would feel more confident with the quality of the 1/4" all the same. I have had it with this scant 1/4" business. If it says 1/4" seam I'm stitching a 1/4" seam. If the project turns out a hair smaller So What!!!

GailG

Whatever you do, DON'T THROW IT AWAY! I, too go back and restitch without ripping. Once pressed into place, it will be fine. I understand your frustration, but remember there are no quilt police and we will think your quilt is lovely. And...I agree with your opinion on the 1/4 in. seam.