Jeannette in NJ

I took a class with Carol Doak and she taught us to do few (3 or 4) basing stiches over the critical, need to match areas. Then you can sneak a peak and adjust if needed. On a large block like you are doing, do not break the thread between each basting area but just skip forward to the next critical spot. When you are happy with the basting adjust to normal stitch and stich over the basting stitches which you will just leave in.

finch

I do the pin trick like Pamela.It seems to work for me.

QuiltingQueen

Wow! All great ideas! I use the forked/U shaped pins that they have done wonders for my matching. I will try the glue and the tacking... This site is a wealth of information... no wonder I spend so much time here!

reach for the stars 2

I would say thread and make sure your all your seams allowance are the same width, but you are probably going to be the only one to notice. Sometimes we are to hard on ourselves.

lovinquilting

Sharon Schamber has a GREAT technique that uses Elmer's School Glue. All you do is apply a small drop of the glue to the matched seams, press with your iron (I count to 3) and you end up with a matched seam - even angles. She sells tips for the Elmer's bottles - I ordered them. Haven't made many quilts (I am a real newbie) but I can say the last one I made wasn't ripped because my seams did not match. This method really works well. Good luck!

bstanbro

I've had this problem too. The short answer to your question is YES. With practice, you will get better at it. Just don't be too hard on yourself in the meantime. I too don't have enough patience to be ripping things out and trying until it's perfect. Quilting should be fun, and that isn't fun. Don't get discouraged. It will get easier. You'll find your own method of getting it right eventually.

Ragann63

You got the first three biggies - cutting, sewing and even pressing. I add to that squaring everything as I go. The majority of my seams come out dead on. I am also a perfectionist, so I will work them until they are right. I hate mismatched seams!

kbwoody

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I needed all that info. I've been so frustrated.

greaterexp

I'm anxious to try all of these suggestions, since I, too, have trouble getting my seams to line up correctly! Thank you all for sharing your wisdom! What kind of starch would be best for quilts I do not want to wash after hand quilting? I've heard some will attract silverfish or moths.

wishiwerequilting

i've been using spray starch or MaryEllen's best Press for years and never had a problem with attracting any kinds of bugs to my quilts. However, I do usually rinse them in cool water after quilting, if for no other reason than to rinse off markings for quilting.

As for the seam in your "off" block, Rachel, it does appear from your photo that your seam allowance is a tad too much and that is why it is not matching. sometimes seam allowances "measure" 1/4" with a ruler, but really what you want is a "scant" 1/4", or the seam allowance that takes away 1/4" from the finished piece. Thickness of fabric and thickness of the thread do affect those things.

What I find in my own piecing, as well as when I look for problems in the piecing of others who are frustrated about things "not matching up perfectly" is that often the very edges of the seams don't match exactly, so while you may have taken off the right amount on one fabric in the 2 fabrics that are being fed into your machine, the other fabric was off just a bit from being perfectly lined up and it is off just a bit in what you took away from the finished piecing. Does that make sense?

The solution to that is to starch fabrics heavily (so that they feel more like construction paper) before you cut them, and then when you take them to the machine you can almost stack them together evenly like they were two pieces of paper.

The glue basting is perfect for holding the fabrics in alignment. just a dab of glue at the beginning and end of the seam will do it. They sell glue pens which are ideal for that, as well as just a dab of water soluble glue. Elmers works..just a small dab, applied with a toothpick will work. heat set it.

Hope that helps!
Many suggestions here will help.
And BTW, the blocks are gorgeous and NO ONE WILL NOTICE, unless you are trying to win a ribbon in a show! <3 <3