Go Back  Quiltingboard Forums > Tutorials
Pressing for Perfection >

Pressing for Perfection

Pressing for Perfection

Old 09-03-2011, 01:56 AM
  #1  
Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Indiana, USA
Posts: 33
Default

The way you press your seams can

make a big difference when it comes

to precision in your work. I love

precision but I also want quilting to

be enjoyable so I have a few easy

pointers to help you be precise.




I know some quilters who press their

seams open ~ always. I don't, I rarely

do and I'll show you the times I do.

I think pressing your seams to the

side is a great aid to precise quilting.

That is what we will look at today.
Attached Thumbnails attachment-250765.jpe  
american homestead is offline  
Old 09-03-2011, 01:58 AM
  #2  
Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Indiana, USA
Posts: 33
Default

Quilting is all about bringing small

pieces of fabric together and that

means lots of seams! I generally

press my seams to the dark fabric.

When we are then sewing 2 units

together I like to "lock" that seam

together as shown above. You can

see the pressed seams are opposing

each other and when you bring those

units together to pin you can feel

them "lock" together.
Attached Thumbnails attachment-250766.jpe  
american homestead is offline  
Old 09-03-2011, 01:59 AM
  #3  
Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Indiana, USA
Posts: 33
Default

As a result, the points on this

4-patch are perfect.
Attached Thumbnails attachment-250767.jpe  
american homestead is offline  
Old 09-03-2011, 02:01 AM
  #4  
Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Indiana, USA
Posts: 33
Default

Let's say we want to make this

pinwheel block from Half Square

Triangles. All the seams on these

HST's are pressed to the dark fabric.

We will lay them out in 2 rows

as shown.
Attached Thumbnails attachment-250768.jpe  
american homestead is offline  
Old 09-03-2011, 02:02 AM
  #5  
Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Indiana, USA
Posts: 33
Default

Now we will sew the 2 rows together.

When we are pinning the seam we want

to make sure the seams "lock" together

where the points will be ~ this is very

important.
Attached Thumbnails attachment-250769.jpe  
american homestead is offline  
Old 09-03-2011, 02:03 AM
  #6  
Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Indiana, USA
Posts: 33
Default

After sewing the points are perfect.

Now we have to think about the next

seams, press the seam in row 1 to the

left and the seam in row 2 to the right.

"Lock" those opposing seams when pinning

and sew your seam taking care to maintain

a 1/4" seam.
Attached Thumbnails attachment-250770.jpe  
american homestead is offline  
Old 09-03-2011, 02:04 AM
  #7  
Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Indiana, USA
Posts: 33
Default

Here is the block, a pinwheel

with very precise points.
Attached Thumbnails attachment-250771.jpe  
american homestead is offline  
Old 09-03-2011, 02:05 AM
  #8  
Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Indiana, USA
Posts: 33
Default

Now is one of the times when

I press a seam open. There are

so many pieces of fabric coming

together in the center of this block,

it is best to press the seam open

to reduce bulk.
Attached Thumbnails attachment-250772.jpe  
american homestead is offline  
Old 09-03-2011, 02:07 AM
  #9  
Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Indiana, USA
Posts: 33
Default

Now let's work on this Flying

Geese unit that has some different

rules. We will make it from 4

Half Square Triangles, lay them

out as shown but in this case the

seams of the 2 HST's on the left

have their seams pressed to the

dark fabric but the 2 HST's on the

right have their seams pressed to

the light fabric.
Attached Thumbnails attachment-250773.jpe  
american homestead is offline  
Old 09-03-2011, 02:08 AM
  #10  
Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Indiana, USA
Posts: 33
Default

When we pin the units together

we will be able to "lock" these

seams together and achieve the

desired perfect points as shown above.

We could only make this happen by

planning our pressing method beforehand.

We needed to press some seams to the light

fabric to make this happen.

Once again, after sewing the rows together

we will press the seam in row 1 to the left

and the seam in row 2 to the right so we

can "lock" them together.
Attached Thumbnails attachment-250774.jpe  
american homestead is offline  
Related Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Becky13
Main
282
02-09-2011 11:37 AM
sushi
Main
8
11-19-2010 06:45 PM
Lady Shivesa
General Chit-Chat (non-quilting talk)
9
10-02-2010 05:55 PM
sondray
Links and Resources
0
08-07-2008 05:53 AM

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


FREE Quilting Newsletter