quilterken

I do the same - works everytime

mommessy

I use scant when using my Singer 301, and I follow the 1/4-inch foot when on my Viking.

plainpat

Same here...one thread aking a fiff made no sense to me. Besides, I don't have to buy a gadget to sew a scant seam .More important to sew all seams same size.

Laura22

I use a regular 1/4" seam mostly unless a project specifically states to do scant for it.

katlady

I use both depending on the pattern, some patterns call for a scant seam. If the stitch length is not big I use 2.5 seams do not open up.

DogHouseMom

Here's a strange answer for you. It depends on which machine I'm pieceing with!!

I always use a 1/4 guide foot. The 1/4 guide foot I have on my H-Viking has a single hole for the needle so I HAVE to use the 1/4 guide - which is no longer 1/4 after I iron it.

The 1/4 guide WALKING foot on my Janome has a wider needle hole so I move the needle to 5.9 which is what I determined to be 1/4 AFTER ironing.

Of course once I start piecing a project on one machine I have to finish it on the same machine. The type of project I'm working on will determine what machine I'm using. If I need to make long strips (for Bargello for example) I prefer to use the walking foot.

Sue

foxxigrani

I try to use scant and the blocks never come out the right size, they don't come out the right size when I use a bigger size seam either. Question, how would I who is sewing challenged make a block that is the size its suppose to be? Do I cut it a scant bigger and sew it from there, do I cut all the pieces bigger and then cut it down to size what works. I am really tired of trying to make this work and it doesn't. I have been struggling with this very problem for yrs. I sew, measure again and its never the right size, what am I doing wrong?Thanks for any help you can give a very challenged person here. I do sew very carefully and when I get done its never never the size it says its suppose to be. HELP....

teacherbailey

I never figured out why one or two threads worth would matter, so I use the 1/4" that I marked many years ago on my sewing machine. Then again, if I am a couple of threads off from matching seams/points perfectly, I'm OK with that. My job requires perfection so when I quilt, I don't make myself continue with that.....it's my way of relaxing a bit.

Nolee

I put the edge of my pieces to be sewn together along the outside edge of the foot. 1/4" is about a 16th of an inch in from there but if I do the whole quilt that way, it matches perfectly. I can't eye 1/16th of an inch all the way through piecing a quilt, so this is much easier for me. I figure if you use the same mark throughout the sewing process, what possible difference can it make in the end result? So far...none!! If it's a few inches smaller than the pattern, doesn't matter to me.

Nolee

I had this problem earlier in my quilting career and just made the block a bit bigger and trimmed. Worked every time, but then I don't make complicated quilts. Doing a strip quilt on the diagonal has all but eliminated this problem for me. They are just plain fun. You might want to try one.