advice for HSTs and fabric weight
 

Hi

Two questions:
1. I just completed my first quilt tob with half square triangles, and remembered why I avoided them in the past. Is there a secret to how to press them so that you dont end with all the seam allowances stakced on top of each other? I have done bargello quilts, where the instructions tell you which way to press the seams, and if you do it correctly the back side of the quilt is perfectly tidy with all of the seams nested. The backside of my quilt with HSTs was very messy in places. Any advice

2. I'd appreciate hearing your wisdom about making quilts using fabric of different weights. I am not talking about mixing velvet with lace, but rather quilting cotton with homespun (a bit heavier) with batiks (which seam lighter) with Liberty of London (very light weight and beautiful. Thanks in advance for your help.

For seams -- I press open pretty much all the time. I have tried both seam open/closed over my years of quilting and for a lot of reasons, I prefer open. 30-40 years ago I was rarer, but with more and more home long arms, more and more people are discovering some of the positives and are joining me on the open side of the fence. Basically/short form, I feel side seams are an artifact/leftover from hand sewing and that with modern machines (including irons) our seams are tough enough to be open and are desirable for multiple reasons.

I do a lot of scrappy style work and I will mix fabric weighs pretty happily for the most part. Batiks and Liberty of London (lawn) are quite light weight but have a very tight weave with fine threads. BTW, when sewing primarily batiks I usually use a "sharp" needle, that is not a fresh one but a type, like Microtex by Schmetz.

Homespun tends to be a looser weave than standard quilting cottons and that can be an issue, but I typically match homespuns with a solid non-homespun cotton. I typically don't have any issues with wear when used in a mostly non-homespun scrappy quilt.

I seldom prewash fabrics - shocking I know - but I do prewash batiks especially if mixing them with quilting cotton weight fabrics. Washing makes the batiks a bit softer. It doesn't change the basic fact that it has a tighter weave than quilting cottons though. I find it easier to sew them and as IceBlossom recommended used a Microtex needle. And like IceBlossom, I am also a rebel when it comes to seams. I've been pressing them open for years. And have never encountered an issue by doing so. Pressing seams open does relieve some of the bulk where seam meet.

I also don't wash my fabrics beforehand, none of them but I do dunk them in a tub of starch, wring them thru a home-made wringer to save my hands and hang to dry. Then mist them with vinegar and water to press. As to seams, have you tried the twirling method where the seams will go in the same direction all the way around? True, it won't always follow the rule of pressing to the dark side but to keep the seams at bay where they all meet together, it does a pretty good job as there's nothing like having a large bump in your quilt top when you go to quilt over it. I know my machine doesn't care for it none.

I do not care for seams pressed open--but that is just me and there is nothing wrong with doing things that way. I also do not follow the 'press to the dark' when making a block with lots of HST's. I have been known to lightly finger press the HST seams and lay out a block with the wrong side up. That way, I can figure out which way to press each seam so that they nest properly. Yes, it sounds like a lot of work, but if you need 20 of those blocks, it is a terrific time saver. If the pattern has two alternating blocks, I will do the same for the alternating block so that the two fit together better.

I press all hst seams open. I use a short stitch length about 1.8. When I press open the seams there is no fold over which will happen to a lot of the hsts I press. If a different type of cotton fabric is the color or print I want in the quilt then I use it.

I think the important thing about pressing HSTs is to be gentle and press with the grain. It is nice when patterns tell you which way to press. I have trouble figuring out such things, and in those cases, there's always the press open option. I will twist a seam if necessary on a pressed-to-the-side quilt, although I'm not sure how much this complicates the quilting process.

I'm also a "press to the side" fan, especially for white-colored fabrics. I find it easier to nest seams when joining sub-units this way.

Your previewing the blocks for pressing is BRILLIANT! I wish I'd thought of that for the beast I'm working on now (16 of one block, 20 of another, both with many pieces), but will definitely do so for future quilt tops. Thank you so much for sharing that idea/practice!

I press to the side also, mainly because it's a PITA to press them all open and I don't like to burn my fingers in the process. I try to go the easiest way that the fabric wants to go, or to the dark side. I don't take my quilts to a long-armer, so I have not worries about the machine having trouble with any extra bulk. My domestic goes over the seams just fine and I don't notice a difference when it's all quilted.