Question for hand quilters
 

There has been a lot of discussion here about pressing seams open or toward the side. My only problem with pressing to the side is the bulk when I try to stitch in the ditch. Have any of you pressed the seam open and then stitched. With the batting being flat (I use Hobbs 80/20, it seems that the material would adhere to the batting more easily than using a poly batting with a loft. Any ideas?

Do whatever you want. I don't do stitch in the ditch because i don't like stitching thru all those seams and i think it's harder to get a good looking straight line. I come away from the seam anywhere from a smidge to a 1/4". I am currently working on a disappearing 9-patch and opened those seams when i pressed to maintain the accuracy. (That and the fabrics are all darker, so you don't see the seams)

I know when i use whites/creams, i always press the seams to the darker side i don't see the seam fabric.

I see what you are saying. It looks like if you are going to SITD, pressing your seams open would not work because you would be stitching on the batting if the seam is pulled a little.

If I'm STID, I would be stitching through the pressed to the side fabric and and the batting or am I wrong?

STID is exactly what it says stitching exactly in the seam. True STID quilting is not supposed to show, it is buryed in the seam line and yes if you press your seams open you will be quilting on the batting and thread used to connect the two peices of joined fabric that made the seam. I am sure you would be catching threads of the fabric as well assuming you used a fairly small stitch length. So you are not incorrect. If you are STID on seams where the allowance was pressed to the side you would be stitching through all the seam allowance you have pressed to one side.

When I hand quilt I never STID. I want all my work to show. So I will echo the seam stitching 1/4" away from the seam on both sides. Because I am 1/4" away if I maintainted my 1/4" seam allowance I am not quilting through extra layers of fabric. Some people don't like to do this echo quilt due to it kind of raising up the area where the seam is a bit between the two lines of quilting. Personally, I like that look, it reminds me of the antique quilts I have seen when the practice was very common because it reinforced hand peicing.

I looked at my grandmother's quilts and her stitches were maybe l/8 inch from seam. I guess this is my version of STID. If I stitch 1/8 inch from seam I would be stitching through fabric and batting. Would that work?

I never SITD when I hand quilt either, but I have stitched 1/4"away. If you are pressing your seams open, I, personally, wouldn't stitch on the seam line (the "ditch"). Handquilting is a very individual process. Every handquilter has their own preferences and techniques. It's all up to the individual.

I'm a hand quilter and press my seams open all the time. Just like the accuracy and flatness I get to my quilt top. I have done SITD but even with open pressed seams it's HARD if you quilt in the actual 'ditch'. I use W&N batting all the time. Because I want my quilting to show, I usually do 1/4" away from any seams as well when I do that type of quilting vs. an all-over or design-specific quilting pattern. I've never had issues with SITD with open-pressed seams though.