Ninnie

I've never understood why they say scant 1/4 seam. It should either be 1/4 or another size! I just try to take a little off and that has always worked for me.

LindaR

its not quarter inch and its not eighth inch, whats between the two???

Rose Marie

Everyone is different. My scant 1/4 will be different from someone elses.
Technically it is a stitch line less than 1/4 inch but that is not enough for me and I move mine over about 3 stitch lines.

bearisgray

Back to the old test -

Cut three strips "your" two inches wide by five inches long

Sew them together, using "your" 1/4 inch seam

Press the piece the way you usually press it -

Measure it -

It "should" be exactly five inches by five inches

If different, some people compensate by changing the seam width, some compensate by moving the ruler one way or another - my strips are probably actually about 2 1/16" wide after they are cut

pittsburgpam

I have a 1/4" foot but I prefer using the larger standard foot and just moving my needle to the 1/4 setting (which is 1.80 to the right) and then I move it over one more position to 2.0.

For HSTs I cut my squares 3/8" larger than required and then square up the finished HSTs. I don't sew perfectly but I can line up the 45 degree line on my ruler real good! A 3 1/2" HST calls for a 3 7/8" square so I would cut them at 4 1/4". I get better results and the points most often line up perfectly.

Ninnie

:lol: 16th at least my mathematical brain would register. I like numbers not words like scant! :evil:

OHSue

I do all my piecing with my even feed foot on my machine, and it has a mark for the 1/4 inch, I find that if I sew just inside that mark it makes it scant. I am sort of bothered by the 'scant' measurement, but figure if they went to full 1/4 inch, they would say, cut your fabric a scant amount larger than the size they say now.
I did recently pick up a gadget called Seams So Precise and it actually has markings for 1/4 inch and scant 1/4 inch. I haven't actually tried it yet, I am just a gadget junkie.

Shemjo

I am also a gadget junky! :lol:

Quiltgranny

My problem is never knowing for sure when to use a full 1/4" or a scant unless it's specified. I recently became quite friendly with my seam ripper trying to make the Rosebud block. I'd heard before to use a scant 1/4" on the smaller components in most blocks, then a full quarter when sewing the halves or quarter or thirds together. Well, a scant 1/4" was a miserable mistake, so rip, rip... A full 1/4" made the block slightly less than 9 1/2" when done. Argh!! What's a gal to do?

I've heard the "just be consistent whatever you do", but when I'm consistent with a full 1/4" my blocks don't measure what they're supposed to. It does help some to use a thinner thread, like Superior, but still...

What works for everyone else?

bearisgray

I measure my smaller components first - to make sure they are right - before adding them to the rest of the block

making one test block before cutting out a bunch of stuff sometimes helps - at least, if there is a glitch, one hasn't messed up a lot of fabric

for the HST and QSTs - I've learned to make bigger and trim down - it's not a totally wasted step - get rid of all the dog ears and messy edges that way, too