Am I making this harder than it is?

[Kajenkids]

I'm making a pattern that is essentially a snowball. So, I have two dramas...

1. Sewing the diagonal. I carefully marked each,lined up my corners, and carefully sewed down the line, but half of them still come out weird. Why? I mean, I can even see the stitching settled on my line and I'm still getting catywompus corners...ACK!!

2. The snowballs actually turn into flowers, so one corner has a color. Then there is a sashing between the petals that finishes up the flower centers. I'm having a heckuva time lining this up. Is there a trick? (Photo A shows a completed flower, Photo B is a closeup of unmatched seams I've redone about 6 times...)

Clearly I should not play with triangles...
Kathe

[yeeehawterri]

I can't help, but my comment on the photos is as follows: the first pic, the closeup unmatched seam is noticeable, but the the second pic, it just isn't that noticeable. From my snowballing experience, I have this happen frequently. Any slight variance in cutting, placement, anything can really skew things. I used to get so worked up over those little thingss, but once its quilted and washed, only you will know.

[Kgrammiecaz]

Mine were doing that too. Then I read that you should sew a thread or two next to the line to leave room for the fold. Then, press and square up before cutting off the extra. It helps with the squaring. Hope that made sense.

[CarrieG]

Step away - You're too close to your work! Once you get them all sewn together, quilted and bound, you will have a hard time finding your unmatched seams. I think both look great!

I have a quilt on my bed and around 1 of the blocks there is 1 border that I had to add 1/2" to. I have a hard time now finding it, when I purposely look for it.

[JCY]

When snowballing (or also making flying geese) I never sew right on the line. I sew just next to the line, about a needle's width. Then the snowballs should come out ok. Press & always square each section as you go. JCY

[Kajenkids]

Thanks everyone! I squared up before I cut off the extra and it's better. Perfectionist me still wants it exact, but I'll learn to deal :-)

[Claire OneStitchAtATime]

Carrie G is right -- nobody looks this closely. Yes, perfectly matched seams are satisfying, but if you're not planning to enter the quilt in the State Fair, step two feet away & you won't be able to see the mismatch. It's my theory that if the quilt is going to be on a bed, you should put the perfect blocks near the top edge, where someone might actually look closely. But I could be totally wrong about that bit!

[Kajenkids]

I like that theory Claire!