ka9sdn

Wow! what a lot of good info from the members! Just keep working at it and you will progress. I learn new things every day and Jan's drawings are great for us all. Good luck.

toverly

I feel your pain, I did the same thing when starting out. I solved it by making the HST's larger and squaring them up. Also make certain your seams are the same on every sewing. Whether it's a large 1/4 or a scant 1/4, as long as they are the same, it should work out.

maviskw

Floating is better than buried. But just a little buried is not earth shaking.

You can sew all of your seams perfectly some of the time, you can sew some of your seams perfectly all of the time, but you can't sew all of your seams perfectly all of the time!

Be sure to trim your HSTs as Jan suggested, and pin each intersection. Then let come what may and be happy.
There is no way I'm going to flip my piece each time to get the larger piece on the bottom. Just use a stylus, seam ripper, pin or something to ease in the top where the excess is.

What I do is stretch the seam from the front and back as it is going under the needle, then let the feed dogs show me how fast to feed it. I've actually seen someone else do this, too.

bkay

I can only commiserate. I'm working on my second quilt and having some of the same problems. (Thankfully, they are all squares and rectangles.) I'm really looking forward to the next quilt, as this one is better than the last one. I have only had to redo 2 squares, but had to rip out and resew several to minimize the seams so they would fit well. My "mentor" will look for the matching seams. Of course, she's 86 and has been quilting all of her life. She's really good. Her hand sewing and quilting is so even, you would think it was done on a machine.

Thanks, Ladies, for all the tutoring.

bkay

AZ Jane

The way I remember this technique - I have heard it called the "baggy bottom" the piece that is slightly larger, goes onto the bottom and the accurate piece is on top, where you can see. The theory behind it is the feeddogs will gradually take up the excess fabric, good for 1.8 inch difference. Once sewn, you should not be able to see the difference and should not have pleats.

letawellman

Like some of the others here, I've been quilting a long time. With that said, I still goof on the HST's.

My biggest downfall is that I tend to IRON instead of PRESS.

Yes, I know how it's supposed to be done, but my brain still wants to IRON. The best tool I've found to help ME is the StripStick ( http://www.thestripstick.com/ ). Yes, this does press the seams open, and some ppl will scream about that, but as I said, this is what works for me. IMHO, the only time the open seams really matter is if you plan to SITD (Stitch In The Ditch, for you newbies). SITD truly requires both seams pressed to one side.

As others have said, I also make my HST's "oversized" and then trim them; I especially ignore anything that says "7/8", "5/8" and so on. I always up-size to the next 1/4 size - 1/4, 1/2, or 3/4. You can ALWAYS trim down... adding on after the fact is impossible (too bad the same can't be said for my body, it needs to quit adding on!! )

Don't beat yourself up over this small of an imperfection. One of the "quilters' sayings" that I like is "If it's not noticeable from the back of a galloping horse, don't worry about it"... or something along those lines.

Only another quilter is really going to notice your imperfections - and then it's usually to commiserate and say "I mess that up too" or "Here's how I got better at this".

Good luck, we will want to see your finished quilt!!

Karen Mc

Jan, you are wonderful. You have explained and demonstrated beautifully how to get great HST. Thank you.

Nanax4

My friend, who is a long time quilter and has won many blue ribbons, told me when I was first starting that if a man on a horse galloping at 20 mph couldn't see it from 2 miles away, it was good.

Although I happen to know that she rips out and re-sews at least 3-4 times. :-)

Useful comments above me. Quilting is so therapeutic; just have fun with it!

Dakota Rose

Jan, Thanks for all your help. If I lived closer I would ask to sit at your knee and listen to all you have to tell about quilting.

Fabric Galore

I bought Quilt in a Day 4 1/2" triangle square up ruler and I love it. I just made a quilt with 2" squares and 2" finished HSQ. Everything matched up perfectly and it was so easy. It was a little pricey but I feel it was worth the price to avoid the frustration.