Steam and fabric distortion

I'm just curious. Recently there was a thread on how much steam an iron
produces and it seems the consensus is, we like our steam. But the
other day I was watching Simply Quilts, and Alex Anderson was saying she
turns her steam completely off due to the fact that she believes it
contributes to fabric distortion during pressing, especially with bias
edges. Just curious if any one else had experienced this? I tend to
not like working with bias edges, and my I Spy points NEVER line up...
no matter how much care I take during cutting, pressing etc...just
curious if there was distortion due to my love of steam....

Jan

Hullo Jan
There could certainly be a danger with this; but I do use steam - only
after I have finished making a 'section' whatever that might be: block,
row or whatever. I use a dry iron in my sewing room while I am making
the pieces, then take the whole lot to the big iron and board and steam.
I have not always been as careful as I am now not to move the iron other
than up and down. That care certainly pays dividends.
..
In article et, Jan
Dunaway writes
I'm just curious. Recently there was a thread on how much steam an
iron produces and it seems the consensus is, we like our steam. But
the other day I was watching Simply Quilts, and Alex Anderson was
saying she turns her steam completely off due to the fact that she
believes it contributes to fabric distortion during pressing,
especially with bias edges. Just curious if any one else had
experienced this? I tend to not like working with bias edges, and my I
Spy points NEVER line up... no matter how much care I take during
cutting, pressing etc...just curious if there was distortion due to my
love of steam....

Jan


--
Best Regards
pat on the hill

Jan Dunaway wrote:
I'm just curious. Recently there was a thread on how much steam an iron
produces and it seems the consensus is, we like our steam. But the
other day I was watching Simply Quilts, and Alex Anderson was saying she
turns her steam completely off due to the fact that she believes it
contributes to fabric distortion during pressing, especially with bias
edges. Just curious if any one else had experienced this? I tend to
not like working with bias edges, and my I Spy points NEVER line up...
no matter how much care I take during cutting, pressing etc...just
curious if there was distortion due to my love of steam....

Jan

I am a beginner quilter (I ought to be working on my 2nd one now,
instead of playing on the computer) but I use lots of steam. My 1st
quilt was a pinwheels and stars, lots of bias edges. I use a ton of
steam and had no problem lining stuff up. OK, no problems once I took
the 1st block apart 3 times. It was flannel.
I am now making 4 pinwheel blocks for the corners of my logcabin quilt,
more bias, this time in batiked cotton, Again, so far, no problems.
I am careful not to tug on the edges of the fabric when ironing, maybe
that prevents some of the potential distortion.

liz young in sunny california

In article et,
Jan Dunaway wrote:

I'm just curious. Recently there was a thread on how much steam an iron
produces and it seems the consensus is, we like our steam. But the
other day I was watching Simply Quilts, and Alex Anderson was saying she
turns her steam completely off due to the fact that she believes it
contributes to fabric distortion during pressing, especially with bias
edges. Just curious if any one else had experienced this? I tend to
not like working with bias edges, and my I Spy points NEVER line up...
no matter how much care I take during cutting, pressing etc...just
curious if there was distortion due to my love of steam....

Jan


I think it depends on her guest. I've also heard her say she loves
steam but just keeps it away from the bias edges :-)

I personally think that more distortion occurs from pushing on the
fabric while ironing. Fabric is fluid and stretches - steam or not. So
a heavy hand with the iron can cause distortion. Think "lift and press"
and not "slide and push".

marcella

On Sat, 27 Dec 2003 16:17:26 GMT, Jan Dunaway
wrote:

I'm just curious. Recently there was a thread on how much steam an iron
produces and it seems the consensus is, we like our steam. But the
other day I was watching Simply Quilts, and Alex Anderson was saying she
turns her steam completely off due to the fact that she believes it
contributes to fabric distortion during pressing, especially with bias
edges. Just curious if any one else had experienced this? I tend to
not like working with bias edges, and my I Spy points NEVER line up...
no matter how much care I take during cutting, pressing etc...just
curious if there was distortion due to my love of steam....

Jan

I always use steam and have actually found that steam can be my
friend. When I have a block that is slightly small, I pin it to my
portable ironing board over a grid the proper size and steam the hell
out of it. I can usually add at least a 1/8 to 1/4 inch to a block
using this method.

As far as bias edges are concerned, I found the trick for handling
them is to starch the hell out of the fabric before I even cut the
fabric that will have bias edges.

Mardi
Real e-mail address spelled out to prevent spam. mardi at mardiweb dot com.
____________________

My Quilting page: http://www.mardiweb.com/quilts/MardiQuilts.html
Paint Shop Pro tutorials: http://www.mardiweb.com/web
Low-Fat Lifestyle Forum: http://www.mardiweb.com/lowfat

Never use steam here...

The Blessed Fiddy, Patroness Saint of the Disorganized
LC in Sunny So Cal
Personality Development Specialist (Full-Time Mom!)

the thing is, you can use all the steam you want AFTER you have sewn the
edges together, like when you are ironing your seams for flatness. It's
when they are just cut out blocks that you don't steam them.... and actually
there really shouldn't be a reason to steam just cutout blocks, better to
iron the fabric before marking and cutting and you won't be needing to iron
the freshly cut out blocks.
As someone else already mentions, you lift the iron up and down rather
than slide the iron around, which is stretching the edges, when you are
ironing your seams of blocks to flatten those seams out.

--



Jan Dunaway wrote in message
nk.net...
I'm just curious. Recently there was a thread on how much steam an iron
produces and it seems the consensus is, we like our steam. But the
other day I was watching Simply Quilts, and Alex Anderson was saying she
turns her steam completely off due to the fact that she believes it
contributes to fabric distortion during pressing, especially with bias
edges. Just curious if any one else had experienced this? I tend to
not like working with bias edges, and my I Spy points NEVER line up...
no matter how much care I take during cutting, pressing etc...just
curious if there was distortion due to my love of steam....

Jan

In article , Marcella Tracy
Peek writes:

I personally think that more distortion occurs from pushing on the
fabric while ironing. Fabric is fluid and stretches - steam or not. So
a heavy hand with the iron can cause distortion. Think "lift and press"
and not "slide and push".


Lift and press is a hard thing to teach people. I use a dry iron, but will use
steam on the finished block or top before I layer it for quilting. I get much
less distortion with a dry iron. I remember using steam in my dressmaking days
to shape fabric for garment construction.
Susan, from Kingston ON
quilting in Florida (what else?)

I have steam phobia from watching Alex Anderson. The first time I
ever used steam was when I needed to fuse the top and backing to the
June Tailor fusible batting. I wasn't comfortable using the steam.
But this sandwiching method was easier than using the quilt tack gun,
that's for sure!

A Joy in Hawaii

Jan Dunaway wrote in message ink.net...
I'm just curious. Recently there was a thread on how much steam an iron
produces and it seems the consensus is, we like our steam. But the
other day I was watching Simply Quilts, and Alex Anderson was saying she
turns her steam completely off due to the fact that she believes it
contributes to fabric distortion during pressing, especially with bias
edges. Just curious if any one else had experienced this? I tend to
not like working with bias edges, and my I Spy points NEVER line up...
no matter how much care I take during cutting, pressing etc...just
curious if there was distortion due to my love of steam....

Jan

Thanks for everyone's responses. This is the only pattern I've ever had
problems with points not matching up. It's the third time I've made
it and the third time I've had trouble. Luckily my soon to be two year
old won't care one bit. But I'd like to know what I am doing. I don't
press alot during the time that block has biased exposed. It is the PS
I love you I Spy that is made out of hexagons and isoslis triangles so
there is no avoiding the pressing exposed bias altogether. And since
it's an inconsistent amount not matching up, I'm puzzled. Maybe it's a
sign I should not try this! :-) Thanks again for the pressing
thoughts. I played around with no steam later today with the same
varying results. So I'm guessing it is not a steam issue, it's a find
an easier pattern issue. :-)

Jan