Linda B

I, too, press to one side or the other -- dark if that is relevant in the block. But I press the seams on binding strips open. Is that a mistake? It just seems less bulky to me, but it it causes too much stress I'll change.

Pam

I do all of the above, but my goal is the same as yours, to come out with a pretty block. One word of caution, if you do press to the lighter side of your fabric to reduce bulk if your dark fabric seam allownace is a little larger than your light, it will shadow through. If you see this happening, CAREFULLY trim a tiny amount of the dark fabric away with scissors, and voila! No shadow.

Scissor Queen

I generally press to the dark side because it's easier to do with quarter inch seam allowances. However, there are some fairly complicated patterns that for accuracy it's better to press seams open.

The original reason for pressing to the dark side was quilts were hand stitched and the batting wasn't needle punched or bonded and pressing to one side kept the batting inside.

CAROLJ

I'm finishing a quilt where I pressed them to the dark side. (As the pattern said to do.) What a mess because of HSTs. For now on I'm going to press open when I have multiple seams meeting.

Princess

wow what great iformation, I have always wondered about which way to press as I was taught in sewing class to press seams open but I have found in quilt making it can be different..I have tried that nesting technique mentioned aove and it seems to work well. and I just press them all in one direction or another and check how it is laying.
Thanks for the question..I learned something again!!

MadQuilter

I generally do not press the seams open because I do mosttly SID (stitch in the ditch) quilting. Because the quilting line runs down the seam, an open seam would be weakened.

However, there are times when many seams converge on a center, I may decide to press them open. So your question cannot be answered by a simple rule.

I try to figure out the assembly pattern early on so I can press the seams on any subcomponents so they nest when assembled. I practiced the nesting principle on a standard 4-patch and 9-patch.

When I have the blocks sewn into rows, I also follow the nesting principle. This means I press the first row to one side and the next row to the opposite side. That way, when I align the rows they will nest and I can pin and sew a clean seam.

To be truthfull, sometimes the seams flip and the back does not look as clean as I would like...but that's life.

Rose Marie

I love El Burns patterns because she tells you which way to press seams. So many patterns dont.
If I am not sure which way I will press open. If you can sit on pants that have a seam that is pressed open you can press a quilt seam open. Quilting From The Heartland always presses open.
There are some blocks that no matter how careful you are some seams end up in the same direction and that is so frustrating. So open seams are a solution for a complicated block.
I like to press to the side for nesting seams in oposite directions, this makes for the best matching of points.
I also agree with madquilter for stitch in the ditch.

Theresa

I've always pressed to the darker fabric until I read a great article on pressing seams open. It really made sense. It's a little more time consuming, but supposidly more accurate. May do this on my next project to see how it does.

Flipped seams nearly drive me wild. Don't really know why...they don't show!

quiltilicious

It all depends... I press toward the darker fabric on most occasions, unless it's going to mean all the seams are going the same way when I join up rows or larger components. Then I'm going to press to "interlock" (or nest, I guess). The interlocking helps me ensure that the corners meet properly.

I also will press seams to make one patch pop out from the background (press in towards the patch you want in front). I learned this in a book called "Piecing Workshop" (I forget the author at the moment). I'm doing this with a Goose In Flight block right now - pressing in towards the focus triangle.

Haven't done a OBW, so I can't say on that. But to second Elanor Burns' instructions - I did a Giant Dhalia, and pressing all the pieces in the same direction made a nice pattern on the back (like the petals on a flower) that laid very flat.

AnnaK

Like almost everyone else, I usually press to the dark side and I've had to re-press a seam when I'm at an intersection and need it to go the other way. Don't worry Newbie, it will all become second nature before long. Also, not to confuse you but when you have 4 seams coming together, nip a stich out of each of them once they are sewn together and then 'fan' them out. It takes the bulk out of your seams.