Posh Love Quilt Pattern: Fix Common Piecing Problems
By Sew Kind of Wonderful | Published: 2026-10-31
Category: Product Reviews
Troubleshoot wavy seams, gaps, and bulky intersections in the Posh Love quilt pattern. Match each symptom to its likely cause and a practical fix.
Quick answer
Most Posh Love piecing problems come from three fixable habits: cutting the curved units slightly off, sewing the curve without checking alignment at the midpoint, and pressing seams open when the intersection needs to nest. Check those three before you change your machine settings or recut fabric.
Why Posh Love exposes curve-piecing habits
Posh Love is built from repeated curved units, so any small error in one unit repeats across the quilt. A seam that looks acceptable on a single block can create visible ripples when several blocks are joined. That is why the same symptom often has a different cause depending on whether it appears in one unit, across a block, or only at the final assembly.
The pattern lists six quarter-yard heart fabrics and six quarter-yard neutral backgrounds, plus backing and binding. That fabric plan leaves little room for recutting many pieces, so it pays to test your seam allowance and curve alignment on scrap fabric before committing the supplied cuts.
When the problem is the pattern, not your sewing
If your cut pieces match the template sizes and your seam allowance measures accurately, but units still will not meet, stop adjusting your machine. Recheck that you traced or cut the correct size and orientation for each curved piece. A reversed piece can look almost right until you sew it.
If you have already trimmed or stretched pieces while troubleshooting, do not keep forcing them. Replace those pieces from the remaining fabric rather than unpicking repeatedly, which can distort the curve further.
Symptom-to-fix diagnosis
- Wavy seam along a curve: Likely cause: the concave and convex pieces were fed without aligning their midpoints, so fabric stretched on one side. Corrective action: unpick, mark the midpoint of both curves, pin at the ends and midpoint, then sew slowly with the concave side against the feed dogs. Stop if the fabric is already stretched thin; recut that piece instead of resewing. Check midpoint alignment before every curved seam, not after pressing.
- Gap or hole at a block intersection: Likely cause: seam allowances were pressed in conflicting directions, so the intersection could not nest. Corrective action: press one seam open and the crossing seam toward the darker fabric, then rejoin with the seams locked. If the gap remains after nesting, the units were cut or sewn at different sizes; measure both and replace the smaller unit. A gap that survives nesting is a size problem, not a pressing problem.
- Bulky lump where curves meet: Likely cause: too much seam allowance stacked at one point. Corrective action: trim the seam allowance inside the curve to about half its width before pressing, then press the intersection flat before joining. Do not trim below a quarter inch or the seam may pull open. Trim bulk before pressing, never after the block is assembled.
- Units measure correct but block is skewed: Likely cause: one curved unit was sewn with a seam allowance wider on one end. Corrective action: measure the seam allowance at both ends of the unit; if it varies by more than a scant eighth inch, resew that unit. If several units vary, test your quarter-inch foot on scrap before continuing. Measure seam width at both ends, not just the middle.
Pattern facts that affect troubleshooting
- Posh Love (Paper): Posh Love is a 28" x 42" project made from six quarter-yard heart fabrics and six quarter-yard neutral backgrounds, and the pattern calls for the QCR Mini Ruler and Sew Square 4. The small finished size means every curved unit is visible, so alignment errors show quickly and are worth fixing at the unit stage rather than after assembly.
Posh Love (Paper)
