Quarter square triangles

I've only been quilting since January and in general I think I'm doing
pretty good :-), my blocks come out with good points and the right size,
save for one thing - quarter square triangles, I'm pretty sure my
stitching doesn't suddenly go nuts when I'm stitching them, so it can't
be that, I'm also fairly sure I'm not stretching the bias edge, so it
must be the cutting, but as far as I can tell the cutting is fine, I'm
adding 1 1/4 to the finished size, I'm cutting accurately from point to
point, but despite attention to detail, by the time it's all stitched
together the QSTs are a tiny bit off and it all gets worse from there.

HELP!!!

Anne

My preferred method is to cut them larger, stitch, and trim to size. (You
need a little square ruler with a bias line.) Then they are perfect.
Roberta in D

"Anne Rogers" schrieb im Newsbeitrag
. ..
I've only been quilting since January and in general I think I'm doing
pretty good :-), my blocks come out with good points and the right size,
save for one thing - quarter square triangles, I'm pretty sure my
stitching doesn't suddenly go nuts when I'm stitching them, so it can't be
that, I'm also fairly sure I'm not stretching the bias edge, so it must be
the cutting, but as far as I can tell the cutting is fine, I'm adding 1
1/4 to the finished size, I'm cutting accurately from point to point, but
despite attention to detail, by the time it's all stitched together the
QSTs are a tiny bit off and it all gets worse from there.

HELP!!!

Anne

Roberta Zollner wrote:
My preferred method is to cut them larger, stitch, and trim to size. (You
need a little square ruler with a bias line.) Then they are perfect.
Roberta in D

I was thinking about doing it that way, though it can get a bit time
consuming! I just completed a quilt where I cut every single unit down
to size, which was really pessimistic when doing 4 patches!

The top that's in mind that requires me to solve this issue only has 6
blocks, so it's not too many, though they are fairly big, but thankfully
not bigger than my biggest ruler.

I'm glad it's not just me that has to cut them down to size!

Cheers
Anne

Trimming is good, forgetting to trim is not. Sometimes I get so
enthusiastic about watching a block evolve that I fail to trim one and then
realize that no amount of fudging is going to work. For speed in trimming,
a small cutting mat (mine is about the size of a sheet of copy paper) is a
great help. You can place the ruler on the HST, cut two sides and turn the
mat for the other two without moving the ruler. I've seen quilters cut in
all 4 directions without turning and they simply scare the Dickens out of
me. Polly

"Anne Rogers" wrote in message
. ..
Roberta Zollner wrote:
My preferred method is to cut them larger, stitch, and trim to size. (You
need a little square ruler with a bias line.) Then they are perfect.
Roberta in D

I was thinking about doing it that way, though it can get a bit time
consuming! I just completed a quilt where I cut every single unit down to
size, which was really pessimistic when doing 4 patches!

The top that's in mind that requires me to solve this issue only has 6
blocks, so it's not too many, though they are fairly big, but thankfully
not bigger than my biggest ruler.

I'm glad it's not just me that has to cut them down to size!

Cheers
Anne

I second Roberta's suggestion to cut them a little large and trim
them. I also move my needle one click to the right so my seam
allowance a really a scant 1/4". Trimming might sound time consuming
but it is such a joy to have every square extremely accurate that the
time is forth every second it takes. Lately I have been pressing my
seams open on HST. This makes a much flatter piece to trim, no danger
of ruler slipping off the piece being trimmed.

Susan

On Tue, 14 Aug 2007 08:52:59 +0200, "Roberta Zollner"
wrote:

My preferred method is to cut them larger, stitch, and trim to size. (You
need a little square ruler with a bias line.) Then they are perfect.
Roberta in D

"Anne Rogers" schrieb im Newsbeitrag
...
I've only been quilting since January and in general I think I'm doing
pretty good :-), my blocks come out with good points and the right size,
save for one thing - quarter square triangles, I'm pretty sure my
stitching doesn't suddenly go nuts when I'm stitching them, so it can't be
that, I'm also fairly sure I'm not stretching the bias edge, so it must be
the cutting, but as far as I can tell the cutting is fine, I'm adding 1
1/4 to the finished size, I'm cutting accurately from point to point, but
despite attention to detail, by the time it's all stitched together the
QSTs are a tiny bit off and it all gets worse from there.

HELP!!!

Anne

Anne, I will agree with one of the first quilting teachers I had and say
that I am "triangle challenged". VBG I have just decided that in the
interests of my sanity and all to cut any quarter or half square
triangles over size and trim down when the unit is finished. It takes
time to do the trimming, but assembling the final project goes much
faster. G I usually add at least a quarter inch to the size of the
square for quarter square triangles. Not much, but enough to let me be
able to trim square.
Are you cutting the triangles then sewing or doing the mark the square,
sew a quarter inch each side of the line, then cut.... method? Be sure
when you make the second cut/or draw the second line it is exactly
perpendicular to the first one.

There are also various brands of triangle paper, for both half and
quarter square triangles that can help if you have a lot to make.

Good luck, have fun,
Pati, in Phx
http://community.webshots.com/user/PatiCooks



Anne Rogers wrote:
I've only been quilting since January and in general I think I'm doing
pretty good :-), my blocks come out with good points and the right size,
save for one thing - quarter square triangles, I'm pretty sure my
stitching doesn't suddenly go nuts when I'm stitching them, so it can't
be that, I'm also fairly sure I'm not stretching the bias edge, so it
must be the cutting, but as far as I can tell the cutting is fine, I'm
adding 1 1/4 to the finished size, I'm cutting accurately from point to
point, but despite attention to detail, by the time it's all stitched
together the QSTs are a tiny bit off and it all gets worse from there.

HELP!!!

Anne

Susan Laity Price wrote:
I second Roberta's suggestion to cut them a little large and trim
them. I also move my needle one click to the right so my seam
allowance a really a scant 1/4". Trimming might sound time consuming
but it is such a joy to have every square extremely accurate that the
time is forth every second it takes. Lately I have been pressing my
seams open on HST. This makes a much flatter piece to trim, no danger
of ruler slipping off the piece being trimmed.

unfortunately on my machine, the needle moves to the left not to the
right, I don't understand it, the instructions imply left is the
default, but then when you look at the seem guide on the foot plate, the
measurements are correct only if the needle is in the right most
position. Plus, it's in the right most position that it's in the centre
of the foot. Definitely something I'll be checking out when the time
comes to get a new machine.

Anne

Are you cutting the triangles then sewing or doing the mark the square,
sew a quarter inch each side of the line, then cut.... method? Be sure
when you make the second cut/or draw the second line it is exactly
perpendicular to the first one.

unfortunately not for this project, two QSTs form a bigger triangle and
then join to a different unit, so they all need to be the same
orientation, that method produces 2 one way round and 2 the other, which
is fine if you need hour glasses, but not for this :-(.


There are also various brands of triangle paper, for both half and
quarter square triangles that can help if you have a lot to make.

ooh, never seen QST paper, I've tried a HST one, actually it was one of
the iron on ones, I like it well enough, but you need too many different
sizes. Not long ago, I got an "Angler II" by Pam Bono, once I got it
taped to my machine properly it works really well.

Cheers
Anne

I don't usually starch my fabric, but I find that some spray starch or
sizing on the strips before cutting the triangles helps to keep them
from getting too wonky when I sew. I'm also in the "cut a bit larger and
trim" camp.

Julia in MN

Anne Rogers wrote:
I've only been quilting since January and in general I think I'm doing
pretty good :-), my blocks come out with good points and the right size,
save for one thing - quarter square triangles, I'm pretty sure my
stitching doesn't suddenly go nuts when I'm stitching them, so it can't
be that, I'm also fairly sure I'm not stretching the bias edge, so it
must be the cutting, but as far as I can tell the cutting is fine, I'm
adding 1 1/4 to the finished size, I'm cutting accurately from point to
point, but despite attention to detail, by the time it's all stitched
together the QSTs are a tiny bit off and it all gets worse from there.

HELP!!!

Anne


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http://webpages.charter.net/jaccola/

Anne, does your machine have a "mirror image" function? Some machines
only have the ability to move the needle in one direction, but the
mirror image moves it the opposite direction. (If that makes sense....)
G

Pati, in Phx who is having an interesting time typing with the help of
2 kittens.
http://community.webshots.com/user/PatiCooks



Anne Rogers wrote:
Susan Laity Price wrote:
I second Roberta's suggestion to cut them a little large and trim
them. I also move my needle one click to the right so my seam
allowance a really a scant 1/4". Trimming might sound time consuming
but it is such a joy to have every square extremely accurate that the
time is forth every second it takes. Lately I have been pressing my
seams open on HST. This makes a much flatter piece to trim, no danger
of ruler slipping off the piece being trimmed.

unfortunately on my machine, the needle moves to the left not to the
right, I don't understand it, the instructions imply left is the
default, but then when you look at the seem guide on the foot plate, the
measurements are correct only if the needle is in the right most
position. Plus, it's in the right most position that it's in the centre
of the foot. Definitely something I'll be checking out when the time
comes to get a new machine.

Anne