Open Seams over Time
 

I almost always press my seams open for a number of reasons. I feel I'm more accurate. I feel my seams are flatter and easier to machine quilt. Even though I have to pin, it is quick and easy. I don't get the strong bars of fabric that happen when you have white/white fabric touching. Other reasons too.

Was chatting with a board friend in PMs and said I'd pull out a quilt from the dog bed, yes -- seriously that's where it's been the last couple of years.

My son was born in June 1988, I made this quilt that winter, so it was done by early 1989. It was one of my early machine quilting attempts and was all scraps including some from clothing. Only purchase would have been the batting and the sheet for the back -- both of which have held up well. This was/is a "use" quilt. I had a really bad bout of allergies and this got washed frequently, at least every month for years.

Also, when I stitch "in the ditch" I am actually in the ditch sewing on my seam lines. Back then my piecing stitch wasn't as small as it is now but the quilting stitch was larger than the piecing. I can almost guarantee all the thread used in this quilt was Dual Duty. Never had an issue.

You can see that the biggest problem was the (cotton) fabric rotting out from lack of quilting. While some of the intact fabrics are indeed 100% cotton, the best survivors have some poly -- looks like a lot of the solids had some. Sometimes I mention that I'm ok with Rayon in quilts. The turquoise Hawaiian print came from a favorite 100% rayon dress that had been worn and washed a few times before a sad incident with an uncapped pen on my lap. It held up very well.

Basically all of my oldest quilts look like this -- seams still holding strong and proud but not enough quilting.

Interesting story. Thanks.

Interesting. Cotton fabric rots from lack of quilting? If you'd quilted those areas, they wouldn't have rotted? I'd never heard of that before.

That is SO weird. Wait - I don't see quilting in the sashing either, but there's no damage there. It's only in the colored fabrics that the cotton has disintegrated. So, is the sashing not 100% cotton? I wonder if maybe it's something to do with the dyes in the fabrics, or a soap product you used once upon a time, or maybe something in the water?

It is the movement/rubbing in the washing that causes the most wear on the fabric. The purpose of dense quilting was always to hold the quilt together in the wash. There is nothing that breaks down a quilt faster than repeated machine washing -- if I had stored it away it would be just fine and nothing would have rotted.

Most of the sashing fabric is probably left over sheet trims. There are definitely different weights and weaves. In that case, the weave of the sheet weight holds up better than the cotton.

Due to the allergies, I've always had to use as mild and scent free of products as possible. We have very neutral water.

I think being used as a dog bed would be the cause rather than the fabric rotting. Had that issue with our dog and my daughters' first quilt on the bed years ago. She also had used some polyester, and the bits that were destroyed were the expensive cotton fabrics.

Well the private emails are missing and I guess I wasn't clear without the backstory.

The point isn't the fabric that is missing. I think for a quilt washed a 100 times or so (without exaggeration) and being as old as it is, made from scraps when I was poor and cold, it is in pretty good shape. I don't have any acrylic blankets washed that often that survived either. I make blankets designed to be machine sewn, machine quilted and machine washed and eventually to be replaced -- I'm not making heirlooms to last all time. I get bored of them. I rather enjoy watching them age -- did you know that a lot of what you "think" was brown in Civil War quilts was actually purple when it was used??

The point is that all the things about open seams being not as strong as being pressed to the side. Or that they would break. Or that the batting would come out. Dual-Duty thread was anti-quilt police -- for one, it was easily available and cheap and two it was cotton wrapped polyester that would eat through the fabric. That stitching in the ditch would break the seams and likewise, batting would come out.

Nothing wrong with the seams at all -- they are indeed stronger than the fabric but didn't hurt it either.

With all the details, I focused on the open seams. For some reason it seems to me that stitching in the seam over and through the seam thread would cause it to break up. As having been poor which necessitated many frugal sewing decisions, I too had to use what was available in remnants and cheaper in the thread department. Looking at pictures of our first daughter as she turned 50 this month, some of those dresses from the 70's look pretty good...even without the expensive zippers and enhancements.

I press seams open when constructing a kaleidoscope block that has a circle inside a square. You can't nest those seams. Then stitch in the ditch which was the only technique I knew. That was BQB (Before Quilt Board)! Bed sheets don't hold up to a lifetime of machine washings. When the borders on a 20+ year old quilt (made of bed sheets) literally disintegrated, I just cut them off. I don't use sheets. I added a pic of newest kaleidoscope made with open seams.

I'm glad you shared about the open seams. There is always a lot of discussion about them! I've pressed open and to one side, depending on what seemed to be needed, but always wondered how much difference there would be with time.

Greaterexp- I too have wondered about that. I have always pressed mine to one side, but recently started pressing them open. Like Iceblossom, it seems they go together better and lay flatter. I suppose too it would depend on how you quilt them. Maybe not in the ditch?

I'm not sure I quite understand the issue here but my comment is to open seams and stitch in the ditch. If you are sewing in an open seam, surely the needle is bound to hit those threads. Hence, the chance of breaking the thread in the seam. If I chose to press open, I would not do stitch in the ditch quilting for that reason. Don't be afraid to press seams open--remember when we were doing garment construction and we pressed the crotch seam open. Those didn't seem to break but then we weren't sewing over that seam either! Only with time and stress did those seams pop open.
I have to comment about cotton vs polyester fabrics. Some quilters are so particular about all cotton fabrics, being "pure", but then machine stitch the finished product. I do like the sheen and the durability of cotton/poly blends and they tend to not fade like 100% cotton. Like you have experienced, cotton wears.
As with all crafting, do what you like. You are really the only one who is enjoying the process.

Sew interesting! I used some blue fabric I bought In 1980 in two quilts. For some reason, that blue fabric broke down and disintegrated in both quilts -- it was only the blue. I am sure it was 100% cotton. I think it was the dye because I didn't have a problem with any of the other fabrics, all bought at the same time and place.

I think sometimes the production process go awry and there is no way of telling which is good and which is bad.

But, in your case, I am happy the quilts have brought so much happiness to your family.

I'm always reminded of what an older quilter told me when I just started. She said, "Quilts were never meant to go in the washing machine." Heritage quilts usually were beat on a line to remove dust. I think about it everytime, I get age problems to quilts. But then, I make them to be used, that is to be expected.

I prefer the open seams. I have a long arm and when you are quilting you have spots where the seams are that have 3 thicknesses and they stitch different. I won't quilt for others because I don't know how they do their seams. I have a friend who not only presses to one side but she lines each block so there are a lot of layers to sew through. For me it causes frustrating problems. I think the only problem with open seams is if you quilt in the seam you could break the threads. I prefer open seams and do my quilts that way unless it needs to be pressed to one side. Good to know yours went through a lifetime of use and is still going strong.

I have a stack of quilts I made 30+ years ago sitting in our back bedroom. They have been returned to me for repair. Many of them have the problem of not being quilted close enough together. There are several I can repair and a few that I can't. I may be able to take a couple apart and re-do the quilts that way. I will pull them out from time to time to think about starting to work on them then I see the problem and that stops me. I even bought a new seam ripper to do the job so I have a nice and sharp seam ripper waiting for me. Then I am just not in the mood to try. I have been looking at these for 3 years now.
Thanks for sharing this wonderful story and this very strong quilt.