Honey

That's the way I was taught to do it.

Terryl

I prefer mine pressed open. Many times when joining blocks, if seams are pressed to one side, the seams get sewn together and it causes too much bulk for me.

Quilter7x

For the most part, I press mine toward the dark side.

If you're making a pinwheel, you need to press them all in the same direction (sort of like in a circle) to avoid a lot of bulk where all the pieces meet in the center.

Some patterns say to press all seams open. Deb Tucker's Hunter's Star pattern says to press all seams open. This pattern creates an 8 pointed star and pressing the seams open in this pattern does help reduce bulk where the star points meet.

eparys

Before I throw in my 2 cents worth, the good news is that there are no "Quilt Police" :D

I agree with [i]amma[i/]. I almost always press to one side. I try to press to the dark, but sometimes it does not always work out and is too bulky. The block tells me otherwise. I included two shots of a BOM that I am doing. The back shows most pressed to the dark but there are several intersections that I pressed to the light. You can see from the front that there are no show-able results from the pressing to the light. There are times that I press open when all else fails to reduce the bulk.

Do it however it is comfortable for you and remember this is fun!

retired teacher

when I press them open they sometimes unstitch themselves on the ends - a big pain if you are making a large quilt. If I am finishing a piece by handquilting I have been known to press open so I don't have to stitch through the thick parts

eparys

Life is sweet asked about my seam intersections. The seam allowance is not cut. That is the "thing" that Eleanor Burns does where she actually opens the incoming seams inside the seam allowance and once open, you can have each seam going in a swirl around the intersection. It really cuts down on the bulk when you are doing stars like the one I posted earlier in this thread.

Here is a closeup of one of them.

Quilter7x

That's an excellent picture showing how seams should be pressed almost in a circular motion. This works great with pinwheels to avoid lots of bulk in the middle.

Honey

A friend showed me how to do this, but I couldn't figure out how to describe it. Thanks.

eparys

It is really cool and a great way to reduce bulk, but I was not sure that my explanation was clear - but I hope that others understand what I was trying to describe.

life is sweet

hi Betty, thanks for the explanation of the "swirled" seams. I'll try it in the morning. Or maybe tonight 'cause I'm anxious to try it out.