dgreen

I'm so discouraged. I'm still pretty new at this, so hopefully I will improve. It seems that no matter how carefully I measure and cut, measure 1/4" seams, etc. my cornerstone squares in my sashing do not line up with the row borders! Is it really so hard to get sashings to line up or am I missing something? Anyone else feel like this?

Grama Lehr

Yes, sometimes, I make them a tad bit bigger, it's always easier to cut them down then have to figure out why they don't fit.... :oops:

LeeAnn

Try a strip of blue painters tape to mark your 1/4" sewing line on your machine. Painters tape doesn't leave sticky residue when you remove it. I measure 1/4" from my needle and apply the tape. It has helped me tremendously. Good luck and hang in there, it'll get better.

Sadiemae

Measure your blocks to be sure they are the correct size, before you cut your sashing and cornerstones. If they are off even a little it will make things difficult to line up.

np3

This is key. And check to make sure you are really at 1/4 in.

tweetee

It also depends on the stretch in the fabric too I have found. When I cut sashings, I try to cut then along the selvedge edge, not across the fabric (dont know the technical names lol)Across the fabric appears to have alot more stretch than the other way.

amma

Try starching your fabrics too, it really helps my accuracy in cutting and piecing :D:D:D

ckcowl

when you attach your strips with corner stones be sure your seams are pressed in opposite directions. so if you press the corner stone seam toward the strip then the piece you are adding it to should be going in the opposite direction then when you put them together you can snug those seams together for a perfect match...if the edges are off a tad they can be trimmed but if your join is whats off this will help. some people even make them a little bit larger so they can trim after attaching. but nesting your seams makes a huge difference when joining...corner stones or not.

Prism99

I agree with using starch. It stabilizes the fabric during cutting and sewing so that nothing stretches out of shape or distorts.

Are you matching and pinning every seam before you sew?

I wrote a short tutorial that explains how to get blocks to line up when using sashing without cornerstones. Basically you just mark extended seam lines on the wrong side of the sashing strip after the sashing is sewn to the first row of blocks. Then you line up the pencil marks on the sashing with the seams in the next row of blocks before sewing.

Since you are using cornerstones, the only thing I can think of is that you are not matching up and pinning all the seams before you sew. When you do this, you often have to ease in fabric in one area and stretch it a little in another area. Easing is something that is taught in clothing construction to make pieces fit together. Are you easing as necessary?