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#1
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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 |
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#2
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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 |
#3
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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 |
#4
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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 |
#5
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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 |
#6
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Never use steam here...
The Blessed Fiddy, Patroness Saint of the Disorganized LC in Sunny So Cal Personality Development Specialist (Full-Time Mom!) |
#7
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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 |
#8
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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?) |
#9
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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 |
#10
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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 |
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