Question about squaring up

[Barnettca]

i am currently making the Brilliant Swirl quilt. Although I have really tried to do my best photo with sewing and piecing, some of my individual squares ( that I sew into a four patch) look a wee bit off. I wonder if I should be squaring them all off now or sewing together into the group f four and then squaring off the big square. Thank you in advance for your help!

[Rhonda K]

You can square up the sub-units before you sew them into the final block. The process of squaring-up will assist you when you put the blocks/rows together later.

It's not a have-to do by any means. I just find it easier to match the intersections when I square-up.

Another tip that I use is to put the quilt together in blocks of four instead of sewing row by row of blocks together. That way there is only on seam to stitch with the whole quilt on the machine bed.

[JCY]

By all means, square up each block as you go. They should all be the same size in order for the quilt to go together correctly.

[classynsassy]

I agree that squaring up each block before moving on to the next step in a pattern will help you achieve a better finished product. However, it’s entirely up to you if you wish to do it or not. IMHO fabric is expensive, and when I’m making something, I want to make sure I’m doing the very best I can to ensure good results.

[oldmanquilts]

If the block is meant to be square, each individual piece needs to be square (and the same size) before it is joined to the others.

You'll hate yourself later, but you could make the four patch and then square that up. Problem is, if your pieces were not square to start with, there's no guarantee the center seams are perpendicular, or the length of the raw edges are the same, so joining them to the other blocks might/will result in big issues.

Square things up at the earliest possibility. Work on your "squaring up" techniques so it becomes easier.