Why I HATE Scant Quarter Inch Seams!

LeahDay

Leah Day has been teaching online since 2009. She's the creator of the Free Motion Quilting Project, a blog filled with thousands of quilting tutorial videos. Leah has written several books including 365 Free Motion Quilting Designs, Explore Walking Foot Quilting with Leah Day, and Mally the Maker and the Queen in the Quilt.

11 Responses

  1. Danice says:

    I do not like scant 1/4″seams either, and found out the hard way how being a bit off will ruin the whole quilt top layout. Being much more careful after that experience for sure.

    • LeahDay says:

      Thank you for sharing Danice! Yep, it can definitely cause problems if you have a scrappy sashing that ends up too big and blocks that come out too small! Just thinking about scant quarter inch seams gives me a headache!

  2. Liz Broussard Williams says:

    I did that with a table runner ?. Didn’t even think about it & I at 66, sewing since I was 10. Well the 2 blocks went together perfectly and the center piece, ops! Wouldn’t line up at one end. Oh well, it was a class project – totally learning…

  3. Jane says:

    As a teacher is sewing and quilting I can say that no two machines sew the 1/4” seam the same. I always advise my students to stay with the machine they started piecing the quilt. I own two great Berninas. You would think that the 1/4” would measure the same on both with the same foot, right? But no. So when changing from one brand to another brand sewing machine they will most likely be totally different measurements. My advice stick to the machine you started with so all the seams match like they should. Great job in fixing your quilt Leah.

    • LeahDay says:

      Thank you Jane! Yep, I definitely learned a lesson with this block. While I love piecing on my treadle machines, nothing beats a solid 1/4-inch seam allowance!

  4. Marcia R Scott says:

    Scant quarter inches are very important if you are peicing with many seams. if you piece a 9 patch block, and expect it to fit next to a solid block, it won’t work unless you have scant quarter inch seams! One way to measure
    is to cut 2 strips of fabric, 2″ wide, by 6 or 7 inches long. Press the seam and measure the width. If you do not get a full 3 1/2″, then you need to move the needle 1/2 mm toward the right {toward the cut edge}. if your machine can’t move the needle, use masking tape or painters tape to provide a new stitching line.

    • LeahDay says:

      I disagree Marcia. As I showed in this video, I had a strip of 4 pieces fitting with a square in a square that was cut exactly to the right size. The scant quarter inch seam I used for the scrappy strips was too small, resulting in extra fabric when pieced next to the full sized units. A lot of this has to do with fabric prep and how you press the seams too, but my preference is to piece 1/4-inch seams.

  5. Zoe says:

    OK, first off I am not a quilter even thought i have been purchasing your friendship block patterns in hopes of using some of my scraps. My question is why a scan 1/4 inch seam rather than a 1/4 inch seam? Who started it and why? Thanks for any enlightenment to this non quilter.

    • LeahDay says:

      Great question Zoe! Scant seam allowance is nice if you press seams to one side rather than open or use very chunky thread. Thicker thread was more common and it takes up more space in the seam (fabric lost to the thickness of the thread in the seam), and then pressing to one side loses a bit of fabric too because it doesn’t flatten out quite as much as a pressed open seam. And this is still very common practice because it’s faster and easier.

      So you’d piece with a scant quarter inch, which is 1 thread width less than a quarter inch. Try finding that measurement on a ruler! LOL! It’s confusing nature was part of the problem for me. I find teaching scant quarter impossible to describe or explain and it doesn’t make sense if you #1 – press seams flat which results in a flatter seam and far less fabric lost and #2 – piece with thin cotton thread like 50 wt Aurifil. The thread takes up no space and the seam ends up far flatter which means you can piece with a 1/4-inch seam and have exactly 1/4-inch taken away.

      Quilting is based on math – add 1/4 inch to your pieces so that you take 1/4 inch away which leaves your pieces the right size and seam lines matching up. If you’re even 1 thread width off, when you piece very scrappy things with lots of seams, those thread widths add up quickly. If a block has 16 seams and your seam allowance is 1/16 inch off, your block will turn out 1 inch too big or 1 inch too small! So this is a nuancy kinda thing, but it has a big impact in your blocks as you can tell from the video and this explanation!

  6. Tonya Stokley says:

    So may I ask why not just use thinner better thread and press your send open ? Why do they even use thicker thread and why not press them open please may I ask !? And dear lord I’ve been wanting to get into quilting but idk if this investment of all these rulers and things was even worth my time ! I really wanna try but this math part and the difference between machines on where it’s at and everything is so scary to me but ty I’m going to watch your video ! I was looking for a ruler or foot that really gave you this measurement but it seems every machine is off ! Crazy someone needs to invent something and they would be rich after doing so ! Lol

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