Press left, press right
 

We've all heard the Quilt Police. Press this way; press that. Aim toward
the feed dogs, aim away. Pin before and aft and in the middle. Sew over
pins. Don't.
I've declared myself an 'expert'. For those of you who don't know, an
expert is someone 50 miles away from home with a briefcase.
Bringing forward my dress making experience and my heirloom sewing along
too - I have decided to ignore the rules and press my quilt piecing/block
seams open.
Yes.
I have.
Just in case that would make the seam endings weaker or more prone to
come undone, I've set my stitch length a little shorter.
Ta-Dah.
I've just make a quilt top of something so sweet: Tweetie Bird on
bright yellow combined with a batik of Blue Jay blue. Every ... need to
HOLLER he corner. Every one of them is pretty perfect.
Open pressing just works so much better for me. Conclusion? Let's all
go out and break some rules. After all . .. there's a full moon. Polly

Press left, press right
 

I've grown up to press seams open, too, Polly. I love the flatter look
on the top. I do press dry first, though, just in case of a sneaky
pleat! Then when I've checked the other side, I'll use the steam.
I've even thought that I will practise Judy Mathieson's foundation paper
piecing method, where you can choose your seam pressing 'direction', so
that I can press them open. I have done it once or twice, but it is
slower for me until I get more used to it. That has been the only fault
I have found with that technique.
I shall be breaking rules and cutting corners a lot over the next three
weeks! (not necessarily in quilting though).
..
In message , Polly Esther
writes
We've all heard the Quilt Police. Press this way; press that. Aim
toward the feed dogs, aim away. Pin before and aft and in the middle.
Sew over pins. Don't.
I've declared myself an 'expert'. For those of you who don't know,
an expert is someone 50 miles away from home with a briefcase.
Bringing forward my dress making experience and my heirloom sewing
along too - I have decided to ignore the rules and press my quilt
piecing/block seams open.
Yes.
I have.
Just in case that would make the seam endings weaker or more prone
to come undone, I've set my stitch length a little shorter.
Ta-Dah.
I've just make a quilt top of something so sweet: Tweetie Bird on
bright yellow combined with a batik of Blue Jay blue. Every ... need
to HOLLER he corner. Every one of them is pretty perfect.
Open pressing just works so much better for me. Conclusion? Let's
all go out and break some rules. After all . .. there's a full moon.
Polly


--
Best Regards
Pat on the Green

Press left, press right
 

I do that Polly, my left over habits from when I used to make all my
families clothes.
I also pin before, in the middle and at the end, another habit - even to the
extent that if I am uncomfortable with the seam, I will even baste it. I
also sew over the very point of the pins, and never had one break the needle
yet....

"Open pressing just works so much better for me. Conclusion? Let's all
go out and break some rules. After all . .. there's a full moon. Polly"

I'll second that.

--
Di
I'm creative! You can't expect me to be neat too.
Vic Australia

"Polly Esther" wrote in message
...
We've all heard the Quilt Police. Press this way; press that. Aim toward
the feed dogs, aim away. Pin before and aft and in the middle. Sew over
pins. Don't.
I've declared myself an 'expert'. For those of you who don't know, an
expert is someone 50 miles away from home with a briefcase.
Bringing forward my dress making experience and my heirloom sewing
along too - I have decided to ignore the rules and press my quilt
piecing/block seams open.
Yes.
I have.
Just in case that would make the seam endings weaker or more prone to
come undone, I've set my stitch length a little shorter.
Ta-Dah.
I've just make a quilt top of something so sweet: Tweetie Bird on
bright yellow combined with a batik of Blue Jay blue. Every ... need to
HOLLER he corner. Every one of them is pretty perfect.
Open pressing just works so much better for me. Conclusion? Let's
all go out and break some rules. After all . .. there's a full moon.
Polly

Press left, press right
 

On Mar 26, 1:27*am, "Polly Esther" wrote:
We've all heard the Quilt Police. *Press this way; press that. *Aim toward
the feed dogs, aim away. *Pin before and aft and in the middle. *Sew over
pins. *Don't.
* * I've declared myself an 'expert'. *For those of you who don't know, an
expert is someone 50 miles away from home with a briefcase.
* * Bringing forward my dress making experience and my heirloom sewing along
too - I have decided to ignore the rules and press my quilt piecing/block
seams open.
* * Yes.
* * I have.
* * Just in case that would make the seam endings weaker or more prone to
come undone, I've set my stitch length a little shorter.
* * Ta-Dah.
* * I've just make a quilt top of something so sweet: *Tweetie Bird on
bright yellow combined with a batik of Blue Jay blue. *Every ... need to
HOLLER he *corner. *Every one of them is pretty perfect.
* * Open pressing just works so much better for me. *Conclusion? * Let's all
go out and break some rules. *After all . .. there's a full moon. *Polly

Another 'open presser' here as well. Again from the clothing
experience side of things. And I agree, I like the flatter look of
the completed top that way. Rarely have I had an issue with the ends
of the seams - mostly they are 'caught' by the next seam. Your quilt
sounds adorable. I have no idea how you can be so incredibly
productive and get so many quilts done so quickly! I'm mightily
impressed!

Kim in NJ

Press left, press right
 

I've thumbed my nose at the 'quilt police' as well. Like a lot of you
ladies, I come from a garment making background. When I started
quilting, I listened to the accumulated 'wisdom', tried to press all
to the dark side, tried to do it 'right' and decided that it was fine
if you only made square patch quilts. Now I mix and match side pressed
and open pressed seams depending on the block unit. The more
complicated the block the more I tend to press the seams open to
reduce the bulk, but if it is not necessary I press towards the side
that has fewer perpendicular seams. The only rule I follow is that the
pressing must be consistent among all the blocks for that particular
quilt and if I am still trying to decide which block should go where,
then the pressing must be consistent even if the block is rotated a
quarter turn.

Diana - PA

On Mar 26, 7:25*am, AuntK wrote:
On Mar 26, 1:27*am, "Polly Esther" wrote:



We've all heard the Quilt Police. *Press this way; press that. *Aim toward
the feed dogs, aim away. *Pin before and aft and in the middle. *Sew over
pins. *Don't.
* * I've declared myself an 'expert'. *For those of you who don't know, an
expert is someone 50 miles away from home with a briefcase.
* * Bringing forward my dress making experience and my heirloom sewing along
too - I have decided to ignore the rules and press my quilt piecing/block
seams open.
* * Yes.
* * I have.
* * Just in case that would make the seam endings weaker or more prone to
come undone, I've set my stitch length a little shorter.
* * Ta-Dah.
* * I've just make a quilt top of something so sweet: *Tweetie Bird on
bright yellow combined with a batik of Blue Jay blue. *Every ... need to
HOLLER he *corner. *Every one of them is pretty perfect.
* * Open pressing just works so much better for me. *Conclusion? * Let's all
go out and break some rules. *After all . .. there's a full moon. *Polly

Another 'open presser' here as well. *Again from the clothing
experience side of things. *And I agree, I like the flatter look of
the completed top that way. *Rarely have I had an issue with the ends
of the seams - mostly they are 'caught' by the next seam. *Your quilt
sounds adorable. *I have no idea how you can be so incredibly
productive and get so many quilts done so quickly! *I'm mightily
impressed!

Kim in NJ

Press left, press right
 

Welcome to my world! I almost always press my seams open and, yes, I sew
over pins. When I pin my pieces together, though, I pin from left to
right, rather than the traditional way, and the tip of the pin ends up
close to the 1/4" seam line. For me, it seems to cause less distortion
as I sew the pieces together, and I'm sewing over just the tip of the
pin - less likely to get a broken needle.

To get a really flat seam, after pressing them open and checking to make
sure there are no pleats, I dip a small paintbrush (like you'd use for
watercolor) into water and run it along the seam line on the right side.
I then plop my iron down on it, and it comes out really nice. I don't
care to use steam in my iron, so this is my alternative.

The exception to open seams is for the borders. I still press toward
them in one direction there, just because it's easier.

--
Louise in Iowa
nieland1390@mchsi dot com
http://community.webshots.com/user/louiseiniowa

Polly Esther wrote:
We've all heard the Quilt Police. Press this way; press that. Aim
toward the feed dogs, aim away. Pin before and aft and in the middle.
Sew over pins. Don't.
I've declared myself an 'expert'. For those of you who don't know,
an expert is someone 50 miles away from home with a briefcase.
Bringing forward my dress making experience and my heirloom sewing
along too - I have decided to ignore the rules and press my quilt
piecing/block seams open.
Yes.
I have.
Just in case that would make the seam endings weaker or more prone to
come undone, I've set my stitch length a little shorter.
Ta-Dah.
I've just make a quilt top of something so sweet: Tweetie Bird on
bright yellow combined with a batik of Blue Jay blue. Every ... need to
HOLLER he corner. Every one of them is pretty perfect.
Open pressing just works so much better for me. Conclusion? Let's
all go out and break some rules. After all . .. there's a full moon.
Polly

Press left, press right
 

Whatever works! Ssh... I press open too sometimes, when it works
better.
Roberta in D

On Fri, 26 Mar 2010 00:27:00 -0500, "Polly Esther"
wrote:

We've all heard the Quilt Police. Press this way; press that. Aim toward
the feed dogs, aim away. Pin before and aft and in the middle. Sew over
pins. Don't.
I've declared myself an 'expert'. For those of you who don't know, an
expert is someone 50 miles away from home with a briefcase.
Bringing forward my dress making experience and my heirloom sewing along
too - I have decided to ignore the rules and press my quilt piecing/block
seams open.
Yes.
I have.
Just in case that would make the seam endings weaker or more prone to
come undone, I've set my stitch length a little shorter.
Ta-Dah.
I've just make a quilt top of something so sweet: Tweetie Bird on
bright yellow combined with a batik of Blue Jay blue. Every ... need to
HOLLER he corner. Every one of them is pretty perfect.
Open pressing just works so much better for me. Conclusion? Let's all
go out and break some rules. After all . .. there's a full moon. Polly

Press left, press right
 

Breaking rules And cutting corners? That has a delightful ring to it. I'll
join you. Polly

"Pat S" I've grown up to press seams open, too, Polly. I love the
flatter look
on the top. I do press dry first, though, just in case of a sneaky pleat!
Then when I've checked the other side, I'll use the steam.
I've even thought that I will practise Judy Mathieson's foundation paper
piecing method, where you can choose your seam pressing 'direction', so
that I can press them open. I have done it once or twice, but it is
slower for me until I get more used to it. That has been the only fault I
have found with that technique.
I shall be breaking rules and cutting corners a lot over the next three
weeks! (not necessarily in quilting though).
.
, Polly Esther
We've all heard the Quilt Police. Press this way; press that. Aim
toward the feed dogs, aim away. Pin before and aft and in the middle. Sew
over pins. Don't.
I've declared myself an 'expert'. For those of you who don't know, an
expert is someone 50 miles away from home with a briefcase.
Bringing forward my dress making experience and my heirloom sewing
along too - I have decided to ignore the rules and press my quilt
piecing/block seams open.
Yes.
I have.
Just in case that would make the seam endings weaker or more prone to
come undone, I've set my stitch length a little shorter.
Ta-Dah.
I've just make a quilt top of something so sweet: Tweetie Bird on
bright yellow combined with a batik of Blue Jay blue. Every ... need to
HOLLER he corner. Every one of them is pretty perfect.
Open pressing just works so much better for me. Conclusion? Let's
all go out and break some rules. After all . .. there's a full moon.
Polly

Press left, press right
 

Well now ain't that nice!!!

I have secretly been pressing open most of my seams since I started
this latst addiction (piecing and quilting) a few years ago. However,
since the consensus always seemed to be to press seams to one side, I
quietly went my own way and never told anyone anything! Works fine for
me. This is what I'm used to doing with seams. Read an article
yesterday in this month's Qulter Magazine (arrived in my mailbox
yesterday) on stitching in the ditch. As that is the quilting I use
mostly, I was interested to see that the author says that seams have
to be pressed to one side otherwise you're only stitching on threads
rather than fabric. Maybe so, but all the stuff I've done to date is
none the worse for wear!

So glad to finally be able to come out into the open and admit that I
like to press my seams open and not have to feel guilty about it any
longer!!!

Oh and yes, I also lick my floass when I cross stitch (bite me if you
dare!)

And I pich off raw pieces of cookie dough or cake batter when baking
(and I use real eggs, not the artificial stuff) so sue me!

Here's to you, quilt police; go find someone else to make miserable!

Claudia

Press left, press right
 

Sandy wrote:
In article ,
"Polly Esther" wrote:

We've all heard the Quilt Police. Press this way; press that. Aim toward
the feed dogs, aim away. Pin before and aft and in the middle. Sew over
pins. Don't.
I've declared myself an 'expert'. For those of you who don't know, an
expert is someone 50 miles away from home with a briefcase.
Bringing forward my dress making experience and my heirloom sewing along
too - I have decided to ignore the rules and press my quilt piecing/block
seams open.
Yes.
I have.
Just in case that would make the seam endings weaker or more prone to
come undone, I've set my stitch length a little shorter.
Ta-Dah.
I've just make a quilt top of something so sweet: Tweetie Bird on
bright yellow combined with a batik of Blue Jay blue. Every ... need to
HOLLER he corner. Every one of them is pretty perfect.
Open pressing just works so much better for me. Conclusion? Let's all
go out and break some rules. After all . .. there's a full moon. Polly



I've done a little bit of the "shhhh ... don't tell, but the seams are
pressed open" thing, Polly. I usually do it where bulk is a
consideration, but I may begin doing it more often.


There are only 4 Laws of Quilting!

1: There are no quilt police!

2: If it works, it's right!

3: If *you* like the pattern/colour combination, then it's beautiful.

4: Finished is perfect!
--
Kate XXXXXX R.C.T.Q Madame Chef des Trolls
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons
http://www.katedicey.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!