3 Simple Things You Can Do For Better Quilt Piecing

written by Darla Christiansen

Piecing quilt blocks and other sewing projects is exactly that -- the act of sewing one piece of fabric to another piece of fabric. Simple, right? Well yes and no. It’s simple enough to just stitch two fabric chunks together. But if you’re looking to have your quilt go together with minimal do-overs (hello, seam ripper), a few minor adjustments can help take your piecing from unsung hero to cause celeb in your next quilt.

Making a Perfect Seam

The key to hero piecing is the seam. And for the record, we’re talking about the ¼-inch seam that’s standard in the quilting world. For something like bag patterns, that may increase to ½ inch, and for clothing 5/8 inch. For whatever you’re making, be sure to follow the project instructions.

So, how to get that elusive accurate ¼-inch seam? Here are 3 simple things you can do:

1. Measure your seams. Check those seam allowances every now and again to see if they actually measure ¼ inch. Give yourself a star for every true ¼-inch seam.

2. Know your needle position. It may help to move your needle a smidge to the right or left. Tuck a small ruler under the presser foot to check the distance from your needle to where the raw edge of your fabric would be – this will be your seam width. It takes a tiny adjustment to get a too-big or a just-right seam. A little experimentation here, followed up with some measuring, will tell you when your needle is in the right place.

3. Choose your seam guide. A variety of options are available, and the one you use comes down to personal preference. Or mood. Or machine.

• Presser foot: Some are designed so that the edge of the foot acts as a ¼-inch seam guide. This is an obviously clever idea, but this is not my favorite. Here’s why: If I’m watching the edge of the presser foot, I’m not watching what’s about to come up to the needle and whether it’s aligned properly. Additionally, there’s a tiny indent on the side of my “piecing” foot and I’m never quite sure if my guide is the indent or the outdent of the foot. It gets very confusing around there. Things can go awry during speed sewing sessions and then we’re right back to the seam ripper situation.

• Lines on the throat plate: Look for those tiny little marks on the metal throat plate under your needle and presser foot. These lines are marked at various distances from the needle, thereby creating seam guides for about any width. These can be absurdly small and easy to miss without a magnifying glass. A magnetic seam guide could be your friend here.

• Lines on the sewing table: If you have a platform that extends from your machine, you may see printed seam guidelines that are larger and more obvious than those chicken scratches on the throat plate. Simply check it occasionally in case it needs to be adjusted a bit to keep the lines, well, aligned.

• Printed tape: Get thee a roll of diagonal seam tape by Cluck Cluck Sew. Mine goes wherever my Featherweight goes. It creates an excellent ¼-inch seam guide, with the added bonus of a center line to keep diagonal sewing, like half-square triangles, on track.

• DIY: It’s easy enough to create your own seam guide simply by sticking down a strip of washi tape, painter’s tape or whatever you find in the kitchen junk drawer. Measure ¼ inch from your needle then position the tape. Build it up with a few layers and you’ve got a little edge to help guide your fabric.

Accuracy is King. Or Queen.

Accurate piecing means your project practically puts itself together. Or for the moment, let’s just imagine that is the case.

One thing is certain, accurate piecing means the seams match up where you want them to. The points show on the front of the quilt. The blocks are the same size. The seams magically stay together instead of that one unravelling in the middle of the quilt top.

Size Matters

Using an accurate ¼-inch seam when you’re piecing a quilt can mean the difference between a block turning out the size you want or a size you don’t want. Case in point:

When making some of Tula Pink’s 100 Modern Quilt Blocks, my blocks measured about 6.25 inches, just shy of the 6.5 inches they were supposed to be. I repeated the mis-sized block construction several times, just to be certain I was doing it wrong. Yes, yes I was. At some point, my friend Gwen suggested I measure the seam allowances. Well now, that was telling. The seam allowances were a little thick and not a little bit inconsistent.

This thick seam allowance might not be an issue when sewing scrappy improv projects, but for the Tula quilt blocks, it mattered. You see, these blocks were meant to be submitted to a group project, but they stayed home, taking up residence in my extensive orphan block collection. Poor kids. Someday, they’ll find their way into another quilt top. Or maybe part of a quilt backing, which is an excellent use for wonky or extra blocks.

While it’s easy to overlook the simple details of accurate piecing , that under-appreciated accurate seam allowance is worth paying attention to. This is true whether you’re improv piecing and might have a little wiggle room, or when you’re doing something that requires more precision.