Originally Posted by
quiltmama22
Also on four patches & nine patches ---any block where you want your seams to turn in opposite directions. As you press, allow the few stitches at the intersections to pop open so the iron can
smash them down flat. (Makes the cutest little "four-patch" on the back.) This greatly reduces
bulk, makes a smoother looking surface from the top side, and makes it easier to FMQ as your machine will glide over those intersections much more easily.
Learned this years ago in a class with Georgia Bonesteel (the original queen of QAYG). She in turn learned it from a student in Billings, MT so Georgia called it the "Billings Bonus".
The cute little four patch on the back is the way you know if you did it right. A "master quilter" from our guild said she would never do that because she thought the seam would unravel further. But when you press your seams like this you don't cut off any thread. The little seams seem to just pop open, but sometimes I have to lift one thread. Just don't cut it off.
If you iron all your seams in a clockwise direction, (or counter-clockwise, just they are all done the same) the four patches will nest with the next one no matter which way you turn the colors in the 4-patch.