Lori, thanks for the explanation on when/why to do pressed-open. That makes a lot of sense.

And p.s. your quilt is exquisite!

Pressing to the side is not usually necessary with the strong stitches that our machines make. I press open a lot, due to not liking seeing a seam through my blocks :D:D:D

Many quilters quote this, "look at the strain the seams in our pants get,they are pressed open and they don't pull apart" :wink:

Mostly press to side. Few exceptions as described above by other board members

I'm literally on the fence with this. For matching seams, I like to press to one side and bump the edges together. For the rest, I like the flatter look of pressing open. If the block has more than 2 or 3 seams intersecting, I press open. For flannel or home dec fabric, I press open.
And guess what else I do! Sometimes I press to the side AND press open on the same quilt. I know, I know. I'm just wild and crazy like that!

I was told by some publised quilters the reason behind ironing them to the dark side was so that as they got older the batting wouldn't come up thru the seam as it tended to do. She also said when you are doing some blocks though; you don't have the option but to do them open if you want them to lay flat.

Hmmm, now I'm really confused

I press more seams open then to the side. If I can see a dark fabric underneath a light fabric then I always press to the darker side. Pressing open insures the seam is flat, straight, and keeps the size of the cut.

I just finished the 111 blocks for the Farmers Wife Sampler Quilt; they are 6" finished. I had to press most of the seams open so the block would be flat--some of them have 30 or more pieces so too many intersections to press to the side.

I started pressing to the dark but after a while switched to pressing open and
like it much better. All my seams are flat. :D