Been quilting long enough to know how....but don't.
 

Ok..true confessions time. I have tried over and over when sewing blocks together, to have the back seams lay properly. I have ironed, I have used pins, I have held my finger over the seam until I was almost one with the machine and STILL, I'll have a seam that gets twisted in the sewing, so that when you turn it over, the first part of the seam allowance will point left and the end of the seam allowance will point right. It really bothers me, but not enough to rip every bloody block out and redo it.
What's the secret? Or, is it really that most quilters have this problem?

I am so watching this thread. My seams do the exact same thing-

I have that happen occasionally, but I can usually feel it as I am sewing. In other words, I can tell if a seam is twisting, but I keep going anyways. It usually irons flat, so I don't let it bother me. Most of my seams stay where they are supposed to.
Sue

It happens to me quite often and I don't care. As long as the front looks good and seams line up there I don't care if the occasional seam allowance gets flipped the wrong way. Hasn't caused a problem yet.

I know we have discussed the benefits of starch on this board quite abit. But I starch my fabrics , and that really helps the seams to behave . I starch my fabrics to force them to submit to my will. LOL. And torture the fabric a bit more by sticking it with pins and a hot iron. Some fabrics are more stubborn than others , but I can usually claim victory with starch and pins.

Try ironing the seam flat first before pressing to side. That seems to set the stitches and make seam flatter. I press to dark side of the fabric or alternate side I need to when joining seams. . Also when sewing put your top seam so that it pressed/lies to the left side and the bottom to the right . That allows the bottom seam to flow with the feed dogs and the top seam to be pushed/locked into the bottom. (make sense?). Also do not pin directly on the seam but rather on both sides of the seam after you have aligned up the seams by holding the pin straight. Pinniing directly on the seam will usually cause the seam to be off. Aslo I just heard at my LQS for their repair person to use you wider/regular sewing foot instead of you 1/4" foot when peicing. Just adjust you needle to make 1/4'seam. This allows the fabric to feed better/evenly thru the feeddogs .

ssshhhhh ***looking left, looking right****** no one can hear ......

I have that more often than I care to admit to ...... I just go with the flow :) I have set the seams, pins , look/feel the seams right before they go under the needle ... big sigh nothing seems to help ......

Happens to me on every quilt, but with time it is less and less.

Bigsister has an excellent point about the use of the feed dogs. I am using my 1/4" foot for all my piecing just to be sure I've got the accuracy, but my joining the pieces and blocks was easier, and straighter especially at beginning and end of the run, when I used a regular foot and moved the needle so that I could keep both feed dogs on the material. I don't quite get the top seam/bottom seam instructions but I will try it and figure it out. Anything but those lumps on the back of the quilt!

Your posts always make me laugh, Lori!

I am with the people who say "The seams twist and I don't care" - I usually pin my block intersections, and try to have the seams going in opposite directions of course, but they do occasionally twist nonetheless. I just let them be...after giving them the hairy eyeball, of course...

Alison

Yes ,I must admit this happens to me to. I just leave them.

I do much the same as Tartan, holding the seam with . . . okay, I just use the tip of a pin. Anyway, it the cross seam STILL doesn't lie flat, I finish the long seam, then go back and rip-and-redo that one spot.

Yep, happens to me too. I've never been able to spot an errant seam allowance after the quilt is finished, so I don't usually fix them.

It happens to me quite a bit. I just don't care about it. Like, at all.

I also have a problem with this occasionally. I think whoever said to set the seam first is correct, I think it does work better. My quilting teacher always had us set the seam and I remember that they laid flat and I rarely had it twist. But later when I got really into quilting and was in a hurry, I didn't always set the seam. And that is when my problems started. Glad you mentioned this because now I will go back to setting the seams.

Just part of the process I guess

Happens all the time. I just go back and fix it. Dont know what else to do.

And when all else fails, I clip near the unruly seam and within a hair's breath of the seam, leave the unruly seam where it is and press the rest of the seam to where it should be!

This is what I do.

If it happens in a place that makes a difference - and it does sometimes! - don't rip out the entire seam. Just the few stitches that turned the seam allowance the wrong way. It only takes a second or two. I want those seams out of my way when I hand quilt so I do it. I also finally purchased some Clover fork pins. They are quite expensive and I don't use them a lot, but they keep things going in the right direction like nothing else!

Every single quilt I've made, it has happened. Not as much as it use to. Guess I'm getting lucky. I have never ripped out a seam because of it. They have never caused a problem before. I only notice them when I flip my block over. After it's quilted, I can't tell the difference. I'm never going to be a perfectionist when it comes to quilting. I love to quilt and I make mistakes and if they are big mistakes, I fix them, otherwise, I just keep going and enjoy the process. I only give my quilts away and not one person has ever said anything but nice things about my quilts. And I've made over 30 quilts and given most away and most have twisted seams.

I think what happens to me is that there's a slight bump where the throat plate meets the bed of my machine. If the loose edge of the seam on the bottom goes first, it can catch on this bump and flip. When I have a long seam with lots of intersecting seams, i sew a bit slower. When the seam intersection has just passed this bump, I take my stiletto and drag it under the fabric to make sure that the seam is going in the right direction. If it's facing the right direction when the seam is totally on the throat plate, the feed dogs will do the rest.

I'm a complete weird-o fanatic about this. When I learned to quilt, my teacher insisted our backs looked as good as the front (her thinking being that if the back was all in order, the front would reflect that). I was also taught to press my seams open & I do. Plus I press every seam as soon as I sew it (no finger pressing for me). I rarely have my seams flip. I mean, it may seem like a lot of extra work to do it like I do but I think it pays off. Just my opinion...

I could have written this post! Must be in the 'county water' (I live just south of burchquilts) to be a little 'anal' about our quilting. I could probably count on one hand the # of times my seams have twisted. I never realized this was so common. I use a stiletto when needed. I press with an iron to set every single seam and then open to the correct side (some blocks make a huge difference which way it is pressed. Not always toward the dark.) and press again. This is one of the first lessons I learned years ago when I started making blocks. Always use a small dry iron to press the stitches, then press open. I also press all my foundation seams. Nice, crisp seams. Makes a difference I think on how the blocks end up looking when all done. I starch only the fabrics that have been washed first. When I have 2 seams meeting for points, I pin at a 45 degree angle from the right side to the left, then pin straight across that pin starting on the left going to the right. I will re-iron a seam if 2 seams were in the same direction, so they end up facing opposite directions. Butt them up tight and pin. If my points were 1 stitch off from being exact, I will rip out as much needed to get it back on track. I think I see too much since I started wearing glasses to sew.

I pin and use a cuticle stick to hold things in place. I do not like bumps that occur, because I was told it creates a weak spot in the quilt. I'm not the quilt police but it does get on my nerves when I do that. Most of the time i rip out those few stitches, because I think if I rip it out I'm less prone to doing it again

Yep I do the same - sometimes I will snip those "wrong-way" seams. I try to get them right but sometimes it just doesn't happen.

I used to have that problem once in a while it rears its ugly head now. I started adjusting my sewing....for example if most of the seams were pointing towards the feedogs I simply flipped it and sew in up side down after I pin. I also look as the seams approach the foot and double check they are laying flat. I can't stand ripping and resewing but will do it every time because that is one of the things that bothers me in my projects so I try to avoid that. Now if when going over that seam if my stitch length would stay consistent I would love that!! Sometimes it goes long....sigh...

Happens to me all the time. If it is going to cause a problem I just snip it.

It happens, when it does I just snip it and press it so it lays the right way, so that it is not such a large bump to quilt over. I agree setting the seams seems to help, no pun intended... LOL

I hate when this happens so here is what I do. When I'm setting my seams before pressing them to one side, if there is a seam where the seam allowance is pointing the wrong way on the bottom side, I put a tiny spot of Elmers school glue just at that spot. When you then press the seam to one side, that little sucker is glued down and will not give you a problem when you sew over it. The glue washes out, the frustration is gone and it's quicker that re-sewing any twisted seams. I usually repair seams when I do them twisted and it bugs me every time so this way cuts my stress level!

I have this happen sometimes to but I don't let it bother me. The front looks good, then I am fine. I do not spray starch any thing on my quilt. I love the softness of the fabric and batting. I tried it one time and sewing with "cardboard is not my thing. In all the years that I helped My Grandmother make quilts, not one time did I see her starch her quilt blocks or quilts. Just enjoy the the quilt making. There is only one who is perfect!

I'm with you on this Comice! I discovered that the front part of the machine that opens for the bobbin had a gap in the height from the plate with the feed dogs. i was able to put a shimabout 1/8 inch) under the section that was lower. So now the machine lines up fine, but I still get the twisted seams. I just iron them into submission. No ripping out or I'd never finish a quilt! Besides, I'll be dead and gone before someone tries to check the inside​ of my quilt!:D

I so admire your precision! One of the quilters in my open class showed us one of her WIP's - a very pointy complicated kind of log cabin - and the back was beautiful! My quilt backs were not so pretty - flipped seams, ravelley fabric, trailing threads etc . (Of course I am not in quilt shows and going to be a judge like she is) I wanted everyone in class to admire the back of her quilt. Now I am trying hard to make my backs better. I bet you find it easier to quilt the top knowing your seams are in order.

Love the Clover fork pins. Costly?? Depends on how much the twisted seams bother you.

All the replies to my question have been greatly appreciated and I've learned something. I just love to quilt and I'll try harder using a stilleto to get my seams straight but in the end, by the time somebody checks the inside of my quilts, I'll be off-planet. I feel better knowing I'm not being a complete failure by not having my seams straight. And kudos to those who do fastidious work. I really admire the quality of precision as I careen my way though life. But, try as I might, I'll never be one of the precise ones. And that's just perfect for me. Isn't it wonderful to be a quilter?

I find that if there is even a slight ridge on the machine where it meets the cabinet I have a problem. A piece of green label Scotch tape placed over the ridge stops the problem. Cheap, easily replaceable when I have to change the bobbin and makes a real difference.

I'm glad this came up - being a new quilter, I just figured (sigh!) it was one more hurdle I would have to learn to get over.

Marysewfun

Ditto for me too tartan! Exactly how I do it.