Seriously? A "Scant Quarter Inch" is a True Measurement?

          I recently agreed to do a few blocks for a charity quilt. As I was looking over some of the sample blocks, I noticed that the seams were narrower than what I typically produce. Of course, that got my head spinning and wondering how all of those blocks were going to fit together if every one's "quarter inch" seams were a little different.

          I guess it's a good thing that the quilt will be for utility--not for show.

          The next thing I knew, my thoughts were off on a tangent. I was stewing about the many quilting books and online block instructions I'd read that called for "scant" quarter inch seams. As a math geek, that term about sent me over the edge. How "scant" was "scant"? I didn't have any markers on my machines that read "scant seam line right here". It was all up to interpretation. And as we all know, human opinions come in all shapes, forms, and sizes.

          Even my own mother did not expect me to deal with iffy measurements when I was first learning to sew garments as a pre-teen. She took a bottle of red fingernail polish and very carefully painted a dotted line on the bobbin plate of the sewing machine where my seam edges should align. That line is still there.

          My machines have seam guidelines, but they are fairly short. The increments are marked, but the numbers are very small and placed way toward the back. In my book, this is not conducive to a good time sewing. Lots of mistakes and eyestrain, to be sure.

          This is my solution: No, I do not use fingernail polish. I adhere a sticky label along the quarter inch line of the bobbin plate, turn it under, and then trim. I use it until it peels off--which is literally months--then simply replace it.

          And as far as those "scant" seams are concerned, I don't even go there. If I haven't seen a particular term of measurement in a math book, I'm not using it. I will stick to the standard quarter inch.