bearisgray

Sometimes I would tie the thread ends together instead of backstitching.

My backstitching tends to get "off" and. The seam does not press as smoothly as when I tie the threads.

LAF2019

i always leave about half the block size unstitched, I never heard to only leave 1/4 or 1/2 inch. I think that would drive me crazy. you can manipulate things much better if you leave extra space. I like partial seams. they don't bother me at all

charlottequilts

Would you mind explaining this a bit more? I have seen videos with the 1/4" left unsewn, and then the adjacent seam goes 1/4" short, too, and somehow ends in the same spot. If you leave 1/2" or more open, how does that work?

thanks,
charlotte

LAF2019

after the last piece is attached (where in theory it would have met up with your partial seam), you just return back to the first half sewn seam and sew the undone part.
if you only leave the 1/4 inch then you are essentially treating the partial seam just like a Y seam. and I *hate* Y seams!. if you leave more open then, sure, you have one more step to do at the end, but it feels more like regular piecing and without the Y seam headache.

sandy l

I have seen patterns that I would like to make, but then when it says "partial seams", I decide that I didn't want to make that quilt that bad. I guess I'm just "an old cat that doesn't want to learn a new trick"

Snooze2978

I made a quilt where all the blocks had partial seams. It was my first and only quilt with partial seams too. I found marking the quarter inch at every corner with just a dot or short line helped me to match with the next block. My blocks came out much better than I'd hoped doing it this way. These were 21" x 9" logcabin blocks so lots of stretching occurred. I starched the heck out of them to help them from not stretching while putting them together. I'm also happy to say this quilt has finally been quilted and just waiting for a quilt label to finish the binding.

Patg

I hand piece anything with a y-seam. Much easier and more relaxing.

bearisgray

An illustration from long ago:

https://www.quiltingboard.com/attach...4687-block.jpg

charlottequilts

Bearisgray, that makes total sense, even to me! Thanks for posting it.

Patg, the colors in your quilt are so beautiful. Like pink grapefruit and peaches.

hugs,
charlotte

rryder

Yes, they do get easier. Especially if you leave enough that is not sewn. I always leave as much as I can. It's also helpful to not press the other seams until you stitch the partial seam, then press them all.

I do a lot of improvisational piecing and have found partial seams to be very helpful, esp. when piecing together multiple size units. Keep at it. Being able to do them will open up a lot of possibilities for your work.

Rob