Pressing matters

I have some very pressing matters to discuss. The problem is two-fold
regarding a pressing strategy.

When I sewed the blocks for Miss Fussy Rose's quilt (yes, the blocks are all
now completed, layed out and ready to sew!), I pressed the seams in the way
most conducive to constructing the block, without regard to assembling the
blocks together. The seams nested nicely in opposite directions. Now, when I
go to sew the blocks together, those South-going Zax seams are going to have
to match up with more South-going Zax seams, instead of nesting with the
North-going ones. Should I just let the intersections be lumpy, or twist the
seams, forcing them oppositely?

Secondly, how does one create a pressing strategy? I'm going to be joining 6
columns of blocks, 11 rows. I want to sew them in pairs, then
"neighborhoods" of 4, etc. I've never been good at strategy. How do you plan
out which way to press the seams to make them all line up neatly?

--
Wendy
http://griffinsflight.com/Quilting/quilt1.htm
De-Fang email address to reply

Howdy!
Strategy: keep my sharpest scissors on the ironing board.
I like the seams to nest, but sometimes they just don't, so I snip
a little of the seam allowance and gently force it to lie flat.
I also snip around the intersections to avoid lumps. Gentle pressing,
sometimes going lightly over the same area several times, will
work better than just "hitting" it with the iron as I have seen some
pressers do.
I prefer to sew the blocks together in "units", ala MaryEllenHopkins,
rather than long rows. I'm more likely to get the best (nested & straight)
seams and the least pulling of the top that way.
Good luck!
Ragmop/Sandy
"frood" wrote in message
. com...
I have some very pressing matters to discuss. The problem is two-fold
regarding a pressing strategy.

When I sewed the blocks for Miss Fussy Rose's quilt (yes, the blocks are
all
now completed, layed out and ready to sew!), I pressed the seams in the
way
most conducive to constructing the block, without regard to assembling the
blocks together. The seams nested nicely in opposite directions. Now, when
I
go to sew the blocks together, those South-going Zax seams are going to
have
to match up with more South-going Zax seams, instead of nesting with the
North-going ones. Should I just let the intersections be lumpy, or twist
the
seams, forcing them oppositely?

Secondly, how does one create a pressing strategy? I'm going to be joining
6
columns of blocks, 11 rows. I want to sew them in pairs, then
"neighborhoods" of 4, etc. I've never been good at strategy. How do you
plan
out which way to press the seams to make them all line up neatly?

--
Wendy
http://griffinsflight.com/Quilting/quilt1.htm
De-Fang email address to reply

I press my seams open. No problems ever.

Kathy


http://community.webshots.com/user/katquilts53

"frood" wrote in message
. com...
I have some very pressing matters to discuss. The problem is two-fold
regarding a pressing strategy.

When I sewed the blocks for Miss Fussy Rose's quilt (yes, the blocks are
all
now completed, layed out and ready to sew!), I pressed the seams in the
way
most conducive to constructing the block, without regard to assembling the
blocks together. The seams nested nicely in opposite directions. Now, when
I
go to sew the blocks together, those South-going Zax seams are going to
have
to match up with more South-going Zax seams, instead of nesting with the
North-going ones. Should I just let the intersections be lumpy, or twist
the
seams, forcing them oppositely?

Secondly, how does one create a pressing strategy? I'm going to be joining
6
columns of blocks, 11 rows. I want to sew them in pairs, then
"neighborhoods" of 4, etc. I've never been good at strategy. How do you
plan
out which way to press the seams to make them all line up neatly?



I feel your pain!!! Being somewhat dyslexic and spacially challenged at
times, this gives me a lot of trouble. Sometimes I think I have it all
worked out in advance and then I find out that I don't. I do what Ragmop
says she does, in her message on this topic, including sewing together
quilts in sections instead of having a huge confetti of blocks at the same
time. Then I try not to worry too much.


Iris

wait, Ragmop, I don't get it.. you snip INTO the seam allowance?
I also dislike rows... I like going from 1 to 4 to 16 blocks per chunk,
eg. My least favourite part of sewing a quilt is adding the borders, I
strongly dislike long seams.... because I am not very good at them! )

Ellison wrote:

Howdy!
Strategy: keep my sharpest scissors on the ironing board.
I like the seams to nest, but sometimes they just don't, so I snip
a little of the seam allowance and gently force it to lie flat.
I also snip around the intersections to avoid lumps. Gentle pressing,
sometimes going lightly over the same area several times, will
work better than just "hitting" it with the iron as I have seen some
pressers do.
I prefer to sew the blocks together in "units", ala MaryEllenHopkins,
rather than long rows. I'm more likely to get the best (nested & straight)
seams and the least pulling of the top that way.

--
Dr. Quilter
Ambassador of Extraordinary Aliens
http://community.webshots.com/user/mvignali
(take the dog out before replying)

I run into this all the time. I press whichever way seems to work the best
for the block then end up with similar situations to yours. I snip the seams
allowances so they lie flat. Bludgeon them with dull implements to further
get the message across to them.
I tried pressing the seam allowances open. My fingers got burned. Those
are might tiny bits of fabric to mess with.
I hope you find a way that works happily for you. If you find a miracle cure
please let us know.
Diana

frood wrote in message
. com...
I have some very pressing matters to discuss. The problem is two-fold
regarding a pressing strategy.

When I sewed the blocks for Miss Fussy Rose's quilt (yes, the blocks are
all
now completed, layed out and ready to sew!), I pressed the seams in the
way
most conducive to constructing the block, without regard to assembling the
blocks together. The seams nested nicely in opposite directions. Now, when
I
go to sew the blocks together, those South-going Zax seams are going to
have
to match up with more South-going Zax seams, instead of nesting with the
North-going ones. Should I just let the intersections be lumpy, or twist
the
seams, forcing them oppositely?

Secondly, how does one create a pressing strategy? I'm going to be joining
6
columns of blocks, 11 rows. I want to sew them in pairs, then
"neighborhoods" of 4, etc. I've never been good at strategy. How do you
plan
out which way to press the seams to make them all line up neatly?

--
Wendy
http://griffinsflight.com/Quilting/quilt1.htm
De-Fang email address to reply

In article ,
"frood" wrote:

I have some very pressing matters to discuss. The problem is two-fold
regarding a pressing strategy.

When I sewed the blocks for Miss Fussy Rose's quilt (yes, the blocks are all
now completed, layed out and ready to sew!), I pressed the seams in the way
most conducive to constructing the block, without regard to assembling the
blocks together. The seams nested nicely in opposite directions. Now, when I
go to sew the blocks together, those South-going Zax seams are going to have
to match up with more South-going Zax seams, instead of nesting with the
North-going ones. Should I just let the intersections be lumpy, or twist the
seams, forcing them oppositely?

That's a tricky one, Wendy. I've tried both and don't really love
either, but I think which one to choose might depend on how bulky those
twisted seams vs. the all-one-direction seams would be.

Secondly, how does one create a pressing strategy? I'm going to be joining 6
columns of blocks, 11 rows. I want to sew them in pairs, then
"neighborhoods" of 4, etc. I've never been good at strategy. How do you plan
out which way to press the seams to make them all line up neatly?

Jackie Robinson recommends joining blocks in just that way: pairs, then
foursies, eightsies, etc. (she had the method from Mary Ellen Hopkins).
She also recommends *not* pressing the seams as you go. Simply do all of
the joining and *then* press them in whichever direction they ended up
going as you sewed. The advantage, of course, is less pressing and less
fiddling with seams going the wrong way. The disadvantage is that you're
now faced with pressing a larger piece and that you might have a seam
allowance that switches directions mid-stream. However, it really does
work pretty well. HTH.

--
Sandy in Henderson, near Las Vegas
my ISP is earthlink.net -- put sfoster1(at) in front
http://home.earthlink.net/~sfoster1

On Sun, 28 Mar 2004 03:31:36 GMT, "frood"
wrote:

I have some very pressing matters to discuss. The problem is two-fold
regarding a pressing strategy.

When I sewed the blocks for Miss Fussy Rose's quilt (yes, the blocks are all
now completed, layed out and ready to sew!), I pressed the seams in the way
most conducive to constructing the block, without regard to assembling the
blocks together. The seams nested nicely in opposite directions. Now, when I
go to sew the blocks together, those South-going Zax seams are going to have
to match up with more South-going Zax seams, instead of nesting with the
North-going ones. Should I just let the intersections be lumpy, or twist the
seams, forcing them oppositely?

Secondly, how does one create a pressing strategy? I'm going to be joining 6
columns of blocks, 11 rows. I want to sew them in pairs, then
"neighborhoods" of 4, etc. I've never been good at strategy. How do you plan
out which way to press the seams to make them all line up neatly?

When I am joining blocks I never press the seams until I am ready to
sew one unit to another. That way I can determine which way to press
the seams in relation to the meeting blocks.

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

I also sort of do this, in that I press as I go with a dry iron, and
this doesn't press 'finally'. Once I see where everything is
going/wants/needs to go, I press with my steam iron.
..
In article ,
Sandy Foster writes
snipped
Jackie Robinson recommends joining blocks in just that way: pairs, then
foursies, eightsies, etc. (she had the method from Mary Ellen Hopkins).
She also recommends *not* pressing the seams as you go. Simply do all of
the joining and *then* press them in whichever direction they ended up
going as you sewed. The advantage, of course, is less pressing and less
fiddling with seams going the wrong way. The disadvantage is that you're
now faced with pressing a larger piece and that you might have a seam
allowance that switches directions mid-stream. However, it really does
work pretty well. HTH.


--
Best Regards
pat on the hill

Howdy!
Yes. Snip right into that ¼" bit of fabric, but not thru' to the seam
itself. Never have had a problem w/ it, hasn't created a hole or
caused the seam to come unsewn. Carefully and gently with those
very sharp scissors. I've been quilting a long time.... g

Ragmop/Sandy
"Dr. Quilter" wrote in message
...
wait, Ragmop, I don't get it.. you snip INTO the seam allowance?
I also dislike rows... I like going from 1 to 4 to 16 blocks per chunk,
eg. My least favourite part of sewing a quilt is adding the borders, I
strongly dislike long seams.... because I am not very good at them! )

Ellison wrote:

Howdy!
Strategy: keep my sharpest scissors on the ironing board.
I like the seams to nest, but sometimes they just don't, so I snip
a little of the seam allowance and gently force it to lie flat.
I also snip around the intersections to avoid lumps. Gentle pressing,
sometimes going lightly over the same area several times, will
work better than just "hitting" it with the iron as I have seen some
pressers do.
I prefer to sew the blocks together in "units", ala MaryEllenHopkins,
rather than long rows. I'm more likely to get the best (nested &
straight)
seams and the least pulling of the top that way.

--
Dr. Quilter
Ambassador of Extraordinary Aliens
http://community.webshots.com/user/mvignali
(take the dog out before replying)