I'm making a Jacob's Ladder right now, and all the four patches are "furled" - all the seams go clockwise around the patch. So two are pressed toward the light and two are press toward the dark. The center opens up to reveal a tiny four patch as you press it. That way the patch has no up or down and matches up so that seams nest; the top seam faces away from you and the bottom seam toward you. The bottom seam will not "flip" the wrong way when feeding. You can see the top seam to assure that it goes under the needle correctly.
I always press to one side; mostly the dark side. But sometimes it needs to be pressed toward the light as you are putting the pieces together. The only time I press seams open is at the middle of a pinwheel or star or such, where more than four seams are coming together. My sewing machine has no trouble FMQing over this.
And if I get to a seam and both are going the same way, I'll flip one. So don't you go looking at the back of my quilt! LOL
I think pressing to one side is so much faster and easier. The only seam I'll always press open is the seam on the binding, to reduce bulk.