Fourteen Kitty Cats

 

In patchwork quilting, the most important skill to learn is the scant quarter inch seam, meaning you sew slightly less (the width of two threads) than a quarter inch from the fabric’s edge. The word “scant” is there because when the seam is sewn and the fabric is pressed, the fold “eats” a tiny, almost imperceptible amount of cloth. If your seam is ever so slightly off in either direction, your finished block will be “off.” It will cause no end of frustration when you try to set it with other “off” blocks in a quilt. One way to check your seam allowance is to cut three pieces of fabric exactly 1.5 inches wide. The length doesn’t matter, but three or four inches will do. Stitch them together, then press and measure again. If the width is 3.5 inches, bravo! If it’s wider, your seam allowance is too small. Narrower, the allowance is too big.