Steam or not
 

I was /am told not to use steam on patchwork. Reason is because the steam stretches the fabric. Now I watch jenny at MSQC who always steams and no problem.
Should we use an iron without or with steam?

I have always used steam. Once while watching "Simply Quilts" they talked about the great debate on to steam or not to steam and the final answer was, do what you think is best for you.

I have seen lots of debate on this one. I also use steam because I get much flatter seams. But I try to br careful to PRESS not IRON my patchwork pieces.

I always use steam, being careful not to push to hard, I press not iron.

Another steamer here. Never seems to be an issue for me.

one problem i can see with steaming... the steam would act like washing in hot water. so if your fabric was not pre-washed, it might shrink. depending on your pattern, it might make the block shrink/too small or make it wonky if your fabric shrinks differently in each direction. i'm a pre-washer and use steam all the time with no problems.

I used steam on the fabric from Joanns that I didn't wash first, and thats how I got this terrible chemical burn on my face, so be careful with steam on unwashed fabrics. It released a terrible gassy chemical odor throughout the house, and then I developed a terrible burn all over my face and inside my nose. That was in December, and my face is still a mess.

That is very scary! I never heard of that happening. It makes me really glad that I pre-wash all my fabric.