teddysmom

I'm fairly new to quilting. Just completed a quilt top for DGD and pressed the seams open. I'm not sure that makes the seams strong enough but I'm am quilting "in the shadow" just beyond the edge of the seam. Any thoughts from you hand quilters on this? I'm just not sure about doing this again but I do like the "less bulk" when I'm quilting.

NJ Quilter

I would think if the stitches in your seams are small enough you should not have an issue. I've hand pieced and hand quilted items before but honestly don't remember if I pressed open or to the sides at the time. I'm pretty much an 'open' presser now but also usually machine piece. But I do hand quilt everything. I agree that having less bulk is wonderful. Might have issues with batting bearding? But again, if the stitches in your seams are small, I wouldn't think that would be much of an issue either. Good luck.

Stitchnripper

http://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f1...n-t201826.html

We are in the middle of another discussion on this. Lots of good hints.

Prism99

For hand piecing, traditionally seams were pressed to one side. This strengthens the seam. When seams are pressed open, there is more stress on the single thread that is used for hand piecing.

For machine piecing, pressing seams open is considered fine because machine piecing is stronger than hand piecing. The only issue with this used to be that batting could "beard" through an open seam. This is often not a problem anymore with the battings that are needlepunched, although it can still be a problem with certain battings.