Sometimes there is something that needs to be said enough to do a blog post.  For example, in the photo below, you can clearly see how important proper measuring and allowing for seam allowance can be when making a quilt.  This baby quilt has 28 – 2″ squares across and down.  As I was working on assembling the rows, the amazing “shrinkage” caused by seam allowance became so glaring that I just had to show it here.

I am using 1/4″ seams and look how much area is lost once the seam allowance is taken up when each row is complete.  This also leads me to point out how extremely important accurate cutting and sewing can be to the finished quilt.  For example, if I sew a row of 28 squares with  a 1/16″ additional allowance and another row without, the difference between row one and row two could be as much as 2-3 inches.  I don’t want to do the math, but you get the idea.  The rows above look a little wonky, as they have not been sewn to each other yet, but it would be really obvious if one row was an inch or two longer than another.  All this to say that taking your time and stitching very deliberately and accurately, can make the difference between a keepsake and a nightmare.  If I can remember, I will post photos of the completed top and quilt.