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OOhh, and did you see the poll results? Very interesting!
Which way do you press your seams while quilting?
40% consistently press to one side
10% consistently press open
48% are pressing both ways
and 2% don't iron
One year ago the results were this --
Which way do you press your seams while quilting?
56% to one side
1% open
37% depends
3% don't iron!
I have a few more readers in the last year but cannot avoid the differences here! More people are pressing open at least some of the time. Have you changed your process in the last year? What made you try it?
Quilt guild is tonight! I missed the last two meetings, so I'm really looking forward to going....I just remembered I need a name tag! I'll have to get on that :)
Blessings~
Amy
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You must be influencing people to press their seams open! I love the results of people who don't iron - those rebels. I think those polls are fun, so I'm glad you do them. Enjoy that quilt guild meeting tonight! I bet it will be fun to catch up with the group.
ReplyDeleteI've always pressed my seams open. I just find it's easier to work with and looks better... to me anyway :)
ReplyDeleteI was making a quilt with jelly roll strips sewn together the length of the strips and I found that if I pressed to one side, it was getting lop-sided. I went back and pressed them all open and "voila!" they straightened and flatened out and I no longer had a huge gap in the width of my quilt at the bottom.
ReplyDeleteSometimes, pressing to the side works, but I think pressing open may make *me* more accurate (not necessarily everyone).
I've never made a quilt but I'm currently working on one. That said, as a kid I was taught in school and by a few other ladies as an adult, to press them open. BUT with the tutorials I see online now, many say to press to one side! It's difficult to know which is best but I find pressing to one side is easier!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the guild meeting tonight. I can't wait to see the finished quilt!
ReplyDeleteWow! I can't believe people don't press! It makes such a difference. Well, to each his own.
ReplyDeleteYour stack of blocks-in-progress is awesome! Wishing you more 'writing-a-freakin'-awesome-quilt-book' mojo!
I didn't do the poll last year but if I had, I would've said "always to one side" but since then I've been addicted to Oh Fransson's blog and quilts, and have come over to the dark side. I only press to the side when it looks better.
ReplyDeleteI used to only press to one side.
ReplyDeletethen one day I was trying to deal with a lot of bulk in one place and decided this is just plain silly and started press many of my seams open. It helps with bulkiness but I also think it makes it much easy to line up the seams when you're sewing blocks together.
That is very interesting how many more are pressing open! Thanks for linking and I can't wait for guild tonight too!
ReplyDeleteI was a garment sewer long before I was a quilter, but when I started quilting, it was always "press to one side", usually to the darker fabric. When dealing with bulky seams and crossings, this doesn't always work well for me, so depending on what I'm working on, i will press open or to one side. I've really just adopted this attitude in the last year, but it does work for me!
ReplyDeleteHow interesting that more people are pressing open. I've never liked the "hump" that occurs when you press to one side, and all antique quilts I've seen have been pressed open - so I've always done it that way.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to see the quilt you're working on. Enjoy your meeting tonight!
Have fun at your guild meeting tonight. Thanks for the lovely eye candy yesterday.
ReplyDeleteI have been quilting for twenty years or so, and have always pressed to one side, because that's what I was taught to do. Teachers used to insist that the seams would be weaker and batting would migrate through the seams if you pressed open.
ReplyDeleteI decided to follow the Mod Quilt Along at Oh Fransson! last year and that I would follow the instructions to the letter, and boy am I glad that I did! I picked up a lot of useful tips and now I press my seams open a lot of the time. I find the process a bit more fiddly (prying the seam allowances apart) but it does make a difference. And with modern batting products, migrating is probably not an issue anymore. So it just goes to show that it pays off to be open to other people's ideas and not be too set in your ways :-)
I used to press to one side as I was taught growing up, but once I saw how much easier it was to match up points and corners pressing open I started doing that.
ReplyDeleteHowever I have heard that a quilt isn't as strong or will last as long when the seams are pressed open and that way. Is that true?
I love seeing what you are up to. I'm sure that your quilt will be beautiful. I've been busy too. http://whiteplumsews.blogspot.com/2010/04/ive-been-busy.html
ReplyDelete