quilt corners

i'm into simple square quilts. they are easy. they are fast. and i like the classic 'quilt' look.
there are so many samples on pinterest to inspire you.

so when i made my christmas quilt and started my cowboy quilt, i was having a hard time lining up my corners. and i was frustrated. and mad. 

i was being ever so careful measuring, cutting, pinning, and sewing. there was no logical reason to why my corners looked like this. 

 

so i whined a bit. messaged quilter friends. then sat down and started being methodical.

first, do not simply lay your strips right sides together and sew. even if they match up perfectly. they might be the exact same length, but the corners might be slightly off on every.single.corner. i know this to be true. i hate this.  

second, there may be a time and a place, but i do NOT believe in pressing my seams open. why? 

1. because my mom said so. 

2. i did that with my last quilt and it was a hot mess of mismatched corners.   

3. when you go to lay your strips right sides together, if you've pressed the top strip to the right, and bottom strip to the left, they will link up. like legos. perfectly fitting into each other.  

if you wiggle your fingers together when holding them, you can actually feel it match up.

so once you feel each corner match up, pin it right through the match. like the picture below. 

pin on every single corner. and i actually sew right over the pin. very slowly. and yes, i hit pins and change needles more often then i should.

and after being much more methodical, my corners stopped looking like amateur hour and i was happy. 

happy quilting!