romille

I have done some blocks lately with a ton of seam intersections, and the only way get things to lay smoothly was to clip the seam to the stitching so that I could press it in two different directions. I put a dot of Fray Check on the clipped fabric out of paranoia. I haven't found much while Googling about this, so I thought I would ask you guys...

Did I do a huge no-no or do you clip seams as well?

I did this with one quilt that is finished now, and has been washed twice so far with no signs of trouble. But I would hate to do this and find out in a few years that my quilts are falling apart.

EasyPeezy

The quilt I'm working on has the same problem and I decided to clip where necessary.
So far so good. Glad to hear that you have washed your quilt without any problem.
While I was doing a little research online there was a famous quilter who said
if you can clip when you're sewing clothes, why can't you clip when you're piecing.

PaperPrincess

There are a couple of blocks that I do this for. Seam needs to nest in two different directions to make it lay flat and have the points come out well. This is a common practice in garment construction. Just make sure you don't clip the actual thread that you used to sew the seam. Fray check is good insurance, but probably not needed.

Onebyone

I fan the seams at intersections. I don't like to clip as it weakens the seam. If there is a lot of bulk I will press the seams open.

Pollytink

Is there a Fray Check that dries soft? What I have dries stiff.

bearisgray

I try to avoid clipping a seam - but if/when I feel I need to, I clip each side of the seam allowance separately at least 1/2 inch apart. A drop of fray check - or other fray stopper - is a good thing.

romille

I have heard that Fray Block is softer, but I haven't tried it yet.

romille

I am glad to hear others do this as well! I open them where I can, and try to wrangle things as flat as possible without any clipping.Often I can just rip the seams on the outside of the stitching so that I can open the junction... But when it comes to a block where I have a lot of seam points meeting and another junction down the line that pulls the seam back another direction, clipping is the best approach I have found. Without clipping the seams I would have had lots of lumps and bumps. I would have also have hated to hit a lump of 16 layers of cotton while quilting!

yngldy

It is called fray block. Got mine at Joann's and Walmart. Don't use on white without testing first. It shows on white for some reason. (at least for me, but it does come off with rubbing alcohol.)

You could do another row of stitching just inside the actual seam allowance and that would strengthen where you do the cut.

Tartan

I will sometimes take out a couple of the stitches in the seam so I can swirl the seams but I don't clip the fabric.