Originally Posted by GailG
Originally Posted by barnbum
Sigh--I stopped pressing open--takes too much time and I like the swirl I see when seams go to the side. I've pulled stitches out in several places but I never get a nice little 4 patch like you all do. So--I'm opening the last seam--and that seems to be good enough. Nothing else has to go through that center anyway....
Does someone want to come over and show me how to do it? I'll let you kiss a horse! :wink:
I have a problem with unsewing the correct seam also.
It took me a few tries to understand what exactly to do, but once I got it, it made total sense. Imagine making a 4 square block. You piece 2 sets of 2 blocks, press them in the opposite directions, then sew them together. Now on the long seam you just sewed, you would normally press it in one direction. If you clip the few stitches within the seam allowance from the end of the row of stitching the 2 sets of blocks, you can press this one long seam half one way, half the other and you will see the little 4 squares in the center. End result on this is all seams go either clockwise or counter-clockwise depending on how you pressed the first 2 sets of pieces.
If you start by finger pressing the long seam different directions at each end, it might help you recognize which stitches to remove. The pics at the beginning of this topic should help.
Once I understood the way to do it, I tried it on my quilt. It only took me a few minutes to do them on all 42 of my blocks. It's a great method and makes a world of difference in the bulk overall!
A big thanks to the original poster for posting this topic!!! :D