Quiltingboard Forums - I;m hiding in the shrubbery, I think the quilt Police are after me!

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Do whatever works for you. I don't think you need worry about a pressed open seam being weaker. We do it in clothing all the time and they get much more stress than a quilt, especially a stocking.

Lots of quilters press their seams open. Tell the quilt Police to back off.

I press to the side using this method:

1. Can I figure out which way to press the seam so that the next time I sew on this particular piece, the seams will 'lock'?

If "Yes", press the seam to the chosen side, celebrate, do a happy dance, imagine myself to be the 'great, all-knowing Quilter'.

If "No", give up trying to figure it out, tell myself it doesn't matter and move on to Step 2.

2. Can I figure out how to press so the bulk of the seam lies to the 'dark' side of the fabrics?

If "Yes", press the seam to the chosen side, celebrate my return to "the dark side", practice breathing through a black face mask, and imagine myself to be the most feared, dark 'Jedi-knight Quilter'.

If "No", give up trying to figure it out, tell myself I'm not a rocket scientist anyways and move onto Step 3.

3. Can I just figure out how to press the seam to one side or the other???? The voices in my head say, "Enough already, you've spent 30 minutes trying to press out ONE seam while exercising your imagination. Just press the dang seam!" Goto Step 4.

4. Realize that Quilting is exhausting. Turn off the iron, leave the quilting room, and close the door. I'm sure I can find "Star Wars" or "The Twilight Zone" reruns on cable somewheres...

I do what ever the situation calls for, but mostly open for me!

Your ok. I put in a call and diverted the qp!

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaryAnnMc

Trying to figure out which way to iron these seams is driving me batty, and I'm only making a patchwork Christmas stocking! I can't imagine doing this on a whole bed quilt. So, from now on, I'm ironing all my seams open. Go ahead, shoot me! Steal my favorite seam ripper! :mrgreen: I actually find matching points & seams easier that way anyway.

Me too! I can't be bothered figuring that all out when I can design the quilt I want in EQ. From an old seamstress matching and pinning is not that hard and quilting gets even easier without what my mother would call "hunky" seams.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quilter7x

:lol: No shooting or stealing of the seam ripper allowed! The rule of thumb is to press the seams toward the darker color. That doesn't always work if you have intersecting seams where they both fall on the same side. However, pressing everything open isn't the answer either. If the thread breaks between those seams, then you see right through to the batting. The seam is stronger when the seams are pressed to one side.

Time for a break. Go get a cuppa and a snack to go with it and come back to it later. {{{hugs}}}

That may have been true when piecing was done by hand. Nowadays machine stitching is very strong and seams can be pressed open without danger of coming open.

I am going to start locking my doors so the QP can't come in, didn't know they were so active this time of year!

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwendt

bwahahaha! It's not just me!!!

"Pressing? I don' need no steenkin' pressing."
(Hoping someone recognizes the parody.)