mimstrel

Okay, I'll admit, I got myself into this situation and I have nobody to blame but me.

I did a modified Irish Chain for a friend - ostensibly for his wedding, but then he went and eloped a couple of months before the wedding. I have promised to finish before his first child is born. Why the extension?
Because I have all of these stupid 9-patches that are 4 1/2" finished blocks, on a queen-sized quilt, and I pressed all the seams open because that's what I always do, but now it needs ironed again and it took me more than three hours to iron just the top three rows of blocks.

By my calculation, that leaves me with another 20-something hours of ironing left to go. And then I still have to quilt the dang thing.

Is there an easier way?

ManiacQuilter2

Have no short cut to ironing open seams. Just set yourself a reasonable goal and allocate your time daily so you won't go stir crazy. Good Luck. I NEVER press my seams open unless there is a pile up of too many seams coming together in a single location. Irish Chain seams can nest very nicely.

mimstrel

Thanks
I press open because that way I never have to worry about flipping them by accident, which was an issue for me (I often use many fabrics of similar value, so there's no "press towards the darker fabric" option). They're all always open unless there's a specific reason not to.

I'm pretty sure that "you're going to have hundreds, if not thousands, of tiny seams to iron at the end of this project" should have been a specific reason not to use open seams... but hindsight is 20:20.

bearisgray

How rumpled is it?

If you pressed it as you went while you were assembling it, I think you might be able to get by with "blocking" it on a very humid day.

Or barely mist it and "hand press" it on a bed or put a sheet down on a carpet and the top on the sheet.

I had to repress a top with a jillion seams - and I did use sizing/starch on it to make the seams stay put. (I usually avoid starch/sizing like the plague - but it really did help in this instance.) Then if the day is humid or damp - the seams stay pressed.

mimstrel

I did press as I went, but it's rumpled enough that I'm tempted to flip it over, press the seams as flat as I can get them from the "right" side and call it good. The fabrics I used were recycled from old shirts, so they aren't as predictable and cooperative as quilter's cotton from the fabric store. But I may try the starch idea. Can't hurt, at least, right?

bearisgray

I will try to explain how I sometimes press things when I only want to do one seam at a time -

When I pres this way, it is usually from the "right side""

I line up one seam about an inch (or whatever works with what you are making) from the edge of the ironing board - smooth the item as well as I can - and then i can press only up to that seam or more - it's a great way to get those pleats by the seams out because I can see them - and nudge them away with my iron.

Then I move the item so the next area is "in place" to get pressed/ironed/smoothed.

If I iron almost on the edge of the ironing board - it seems to work almost as well as those half dowel things for pressing seams.

quiltsRfun

That's what I'd do. But ironing the finished quilt top is my least favorite thing to do.

Onebyone

I don't stress over which way the seams go after matching them. I press top flat and never look at the back. The seams have only two ways to go anyway.

Bree123

I usually just re-iron the row to which I'm attaching new pieces. That's worked okay for me so far. Also, make sure to use PLENTY of starch/sizing.

I'm not entirely sure what you're asking, but I'll share the method I just used for creating my modified 9-patch (9-patch plus 4 corners; so it ended up with a row made up of a 2" square - 6x2" rectangle - 2" square; then a row of a 6x2" rectangle on its side - 9 patch block - 6x2" rectangle on its side; and then another square-rectangle-square at the bottom.

1. Cut strips of fabric in needed size x WOF. In my case, that was 2.5" x WOF.
2. Strip sew sets of color-white-color and white-color-white (need twice as many of the former as the latter).
3. Set & press those seams (open, in your case).
4. Slice the pressed strip sets into the desired size (in my case, that was 2.5" to make a 2" finished square).
5. Sew together Rows 1 & 2. Set & press seams. Then add on 3. Set & press seam.
6. Sew together block 1 & 2, then add on 3.

I get the 2 gallon Ziplock bags to store my blocks flat if it's just going to be a day or 2 until I can get to it. Plastic isn't good for fabric long-term, but a couple days shouldn't harm it. I number the Ziplock's (the same way I number paper plates for applique work) so I can keep reusing them for each new project.

And finally, I really truly do love my Clover Mini Iron 2. It is so perfect for pressing seams. I set up a mini ironing surface right next to my machine so I don't need to keep stopping. And I don't press my seams until I'm ready to sew on the next piece so I can avoid double work.

EasyPeezy

I starch all my fabric before cutting and press most of my seams open.
Never had to repress that much. They stay nice and flat until I'm done quilting.