Pressing ?
07-23-2016, 03:57 PM
#31
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Kenai, Alaska
Posts: 1,150
Also in Alaska. Maybe it is your seam measurement that isn't true. I press most of my seams open and not to the side. If to the side I will press to the dark from the underside of the block and I check the top to make sure there aren't any creases. Sometimes I spritz with water before pressing. I use the ruler and line up with the diagonal --corner to corner. I have the Steady Betty but forget to use it.
My blocks rarely come out to what the pattern says. They are not always square and maybe an 1/8" off at least. Do others have this problem? I wish sometimes I could look at the quilts designers put on their patterns and see if this is the case for them even though the pattern says a block should be a certain size. I think one of my big problems is pressing. I am losing measurement because my blocks aren't pressed crisp and flat. Any tips for getting a better press?
Thank you
Thank you
07-23-2016, 06:19 PM
#32
Super Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: California, USA
Posts: 1,318
Re: Clapper
Now I know what it is called. That is what I saw Nancy use in her program about ironing seams to set them. I never knew what it was and just thought it was a piece of wood. $17.00 (USD) sounds a bit expensive. I realize that it is probably a special type of wood, but that still seems extreme. I wonder if you could get a piece of hard, unfinished, no seams type of wood like Oak and do the same thing for less money. You could sand it down really well and just put an old drawer pull for a handle. ??? Anyone have any ideas?
Now I know what it is called. That is what I saw Nancy use in her program about ironing seams to set them. I never knew what it was and just thought it was a piece of wood. $17.00 (USD) sounds a bit expensive. I realize that it is probably a special type of wood, but that still seems extreme. I wonder if you could get a piece of hard, unfinished, no seams type of wood like Oak and do the same thing for less money. You could sand it down really well and just put an old drawer pull for a handle. ??? Anyone have any ideas?
07-24-2016, 03:49 AM
#35
Junior Member
Join Date: May 2007
Location: West Yorkshire ,England
Posts: 239
Even the professionals get it wrong sometimes. It really isn't worth getting stressed about, annoying maybe, but there are various way of "fudging", which I have to do in every quilt I make. I starch, pin, baste and still there is always something that gets skewed or the seams do not come out not a perfect 1/4". Remember it is meant to be a pleasure not a pain.
07-24-2016, 12:07 PM
#36
Super Member
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Central Willamette Valley, Oregon, USA
Posts: 7,695
The best help I ever got for pressing while quilting was to set the seams while in the sewing position, then open and press flat. I don't lose little bits of my blocks if I do this. My measurements are much better this way. Give it a shot?
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