One thing about picking up a UFO … my seams are ALL OFF. 😦 Since I started this quilt, I learned about scant seams. Never mind scant seams – being able to sew a consistent seam is tough enough.
First, with the UFO. Thankfully, when I made the blocks, I had to cut them down a bit after they were sewn. Since I’m up-sizing the size of the quilt, I did a little guess-timation on my piecing, overshot it, and had to cut down the finished blocks. Less thankfully – I pieced the first row. I’m starting to suspect that I’m going to have to rip it out!! BUT … that’s a learning experience! That’s me learning. And it’s just the first row. I’ll survive.
Second, with my tiger face quilt. I have trouble sewing seams straight for longer stretches. Longer stretches = longer than 4″, so I gotta work on that. 😉
Not-scant seams 
See top and bottom
In this piece, I made a wobble in the middle. I was only off by a couple of millimeters, but it made a huge difference the bottom of the block. Add in that the block fabric was slightly mis-aligned … the bottom was almost 1/4 inch out. Once the square is re-pieced, I’m still a little bit out, but within acceptable margins. Plus, I was mad by this point, so that beast is staying the way it is. 😉
The other issue is piecing feet. I did all the husband quilt piecing with a 1/4″ quilting foot on the presser foot holder. I’ve now started doing my piecing using my 1/4″ walking foot. I’m finding it easier to move the fabric with a walking foot, but it also means that I’ve had to re-learn my seams. On the standard 1/4″ foot, the mark was dead-on for my seams. On the walking foot, it makes a bit on the wide side.
Practice, practice, practice. That’s what it takes. Going slow, steady, and not being tired when doing the long seam piecing.
That – and learning how to cut correctly. 😀 But that’s a different blog.
~M
