To Square or not to Square

[mrsg730]

While sewing together rows of a monochromatic quilt I'm making I realized that the blocks of my rows weren't lining up. After a couple of hours with my seam ripper and taking the rows apart I squared my blocks and they lined up perfectly. My question should I always square my blocks? Do you always square your blocks?

[quilter.martha]

I always square up my blocks before I piece them together. Actually, I square up the smaller units of the block as well in the hopes of getting a good finished block that doesn't need squaring up!

[csarina]

Yes I always make my blocks slightly larger than they need to be which allows you to then square them up accurately, especially if they are half square triangles and the like.

[Cathy F]

Yes, I always square up my blocks.

[Bubby]

Squaring up your blocks is a MUST...it really makes a difference in the end. I even square up rag quilt blocks before I sew them together. Try to square up to the size of the smallest square if possible; hopefully you won't have any one square that's radicaly smaller than the rest. Once I had one block that was really smaller than the rest and I discarded that one and made another that was the correct size. I realize this is not always an option.

IT'S COOL TO BE SQUARE!!!! Hugs, Barb

[KatiesQuiltingCorner]

Squaring takes the headache out of lots of things when you're quilting!

[EsGrandma]

After ripping up many a square, I now square up everything!

[coffeebreak]

But my question is...why? If you used a square template and rotary cut the square, sewed 1/4" seam lines all around...shouldn't your square be square and the size you measured for? This is one of those little things that has bugged me so bad (doesn't make common sense!) and odds are if I could get over it I'd not hate squares so much!

[rebeccas-sewing]

I DON'T always square-up! It depends on the quilt. However, if you are using precuts it is wise to check your blocks after construction to make sure they are all the same size. Sometimes the pre-cuts aren't always perfectly square. Anything that has bias edges you should most certainly square the blocks. Some of it has to do with how good you are at pressing, how accurate you are at cutting, and how consistent your 1/4" seams are. All these steps in the quilting process can make a difference in the size of each block. Right now I'm making a quilt by an Eleanor Burns pattern. I used the "Shape Cut Pro" to cut out my strips. It makes for extremely accurate and consistent strips for piecing. If you're not familiar with it check out a demo on U-tube! Also if you try as much as you can to sew your patches together so the grain is going in the same direction on each piece in the block that can make piecing them together a lot easier. If you've got the give in the grain going in one direction and the next piece is going in the straight-of-grain direction they won't always fit together as well.

[K. McEuen]

But my question is...why? If you used a square template and rotary cut the square, sewed 1/4" seam lines all around...shouldn't your square be square and the size you measured for? This is one of those little things that has bugged me so bad (doesn't make common sense!) and odds are if I could get over it I'd not hate squares so much!

Because often your cutting isn't accurate, the templates slip just a bit. Your 1/4" seams aren't always exactly a 1/4". It's a whole lot easier to square the final block than measure every seam each time you sew it. No one is perfect.