mesewquilty

I’m almost finished piecing my very first quilt. I used 6 charm packs. I worked on the placement, then to simplify, created 9-patch blocks. Once my blocks were completed, I joined them across into rows. I now have 5 rows to sew together (16 charms wide, 3 charms height).

I’ve been pretty lucky with butting my seams, but now that I’m ready to do the final sewing of the long rows, I have seams along the way that are not butting correctly. Because of the way the seams are sewn, I can’t just press it over to the other side without twisting the seam.

Any suggestions on how to get the seams that need to be re-positioned in the right direction? I was thinking about cutting into my vertical ¼ inch seam allowance which would allow me to turn the seam the correct way, but I’m wondering if this would have any impact on the stability of the quilt?

Any recommendations would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thank you,
Michele

Lakeview Quilting

Michele, this is to funny I just posted a topic about this exact issue. I will be watching for answers.

Kitsie

I was delighted to learn that it is quite OK to "flip" sides in the middle of a seam. Have had to do it often and really can't find those seams when the quilt is layered, quilted and finished.

erstan947

I have also clipped to get a flat intersection and recently saw this suggestion in a quilting magazine.

mtspools

I just sewed rows of blocks together today and had same problem, and was wondering what everyone did to get them in right directions.

DogHouseMom

While I try to keep my seams in opposite directions when they meet, sometimes they don't - especially if I need to flip a block cause it looks better the other direction. I simply don't worry about it. The only time I do worry about seam direction is in Bargello.

Another question ... if you guys see a twisted seam - especially in a long row, do you rip it and fix it or leave it? I'll leave it :)

mtspools

Well today i did some of both :D

mesewquilty

Thank you to all those that responded.

In hindsight, I now realize I needed a "pressing" plan. I did really good about butting all my seams up in the initial 9 patch and also when I joined 9 patch to 9 patch. When I begin making the final joining of rows 1 and 2 (only have 5 long pieces to join) I came to a dead stop this afternoon because I couldn't figure out how to fix this without having to pull it all out.

Going forward, now that I have the experience of making a quilt, I'll pay more attention and plan on how I press the pieces together.

My biggest concern was having a "knot" or big bump in the middle of the quilt, but it doesn't sound like that's going to be an issue if I end up twisting the seam.

Thank you for all the ideas.

Jan in VA

See this post for another way to piece without dealing with those long rows:

http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-104774-2.htm#2678078

Jan in VA

jljack

Not a problem to clip the seams near the side where you need to flip it. It doesn't affect it at all. I have clipped dozens and dozens of seams!!