Pressing!

Is Pressing Your Quilt Really that Important?

Some quilters press after every seam, It is best to wait until all of the patches are sewn in the blocks.

Once pressed, it is difficult to get a patch to adjust if it needs to be bigger or smaller. Once the whole block is sewn, you want the inside patches to stay that size.

Press both sides of the block, beginning with the back, that way the seam allowances are facing the way you want them to.

Once everything looks good on the back, I flip the block right side up, and give it another press, checking the seam allowances.

Sometimes an extra little push with the iron into a seam allowance flattens the block even more and may hide any sewing errors.

Also, if my seam allowance was a tad too small, it gives you an opportunity to correct that will pressing as well.

In that case, sometimes you can go back and sew the seam to correct it. Other times, leave it alone, and let the quilting secure the seam.

It's Important to Press, Press, Press!

Your piecing accuracy will improve immediately when you take a bit of time to press your quilt blocks as you make them. Pressing is an extra step, but you'll love the payoff in time saved when your quilt blocks fit together just like they should.

Pressing seam allowances as you work helps eliminate little widths of fabric that become "lost" in seams, creating distortions and making blocks smaller than they should be.

Let's look at an example...

Your quilt block contains a row of pieced units, and in that row there are a total of ten seams.

What if a pencil line width of fabric is caught up in each seam allowance simply because you didn't press? It doesn't sound like much, but multiply that line by 10 and it becomes the difference between stitching an accurate quilt block or a block that won't match up to its neighbors.

You might argue that, if all seams are smaller by the same amount, what difference does it make? Maybe none if you're constructing very simple blocks and sewing identical blocks side by side, but the shortage will definitely cause problems in quilts where different types of blocks are sewn together, because each block will be off by a different amount.

You've perfected your quarter-inch seam allowance -- don't let inadequate pressing destroy it. Get into the habit of pressing each unit as soon as it's assembled and you'll see an immediate improvement in your quilts.

Always press your quilt blocks, allowing the weight of the iron to do the work for you. Avoid moving the iron back and forth vigorously across the surface of your blocks, because the movement will possibly stretch them out of shape.

You can use movement when pressing large pieces of fabric, but take care not to pull and tug too much.

Steam or No Steam?

Quilters disagree on whether or not to steam press. I rarely use steam to press my quilt blocks, but sometimes it is helpful.

• Careful steam pressing can help you square-up a skewed block. Steam pressing produces crisply pressed seam allowances and fabrics.

• If you tug at a block that's been dampened with steam it is more likely to stretch.
• Steam could cause some fabrics to bleed, leaving stains.
  
• Keep a spritzer bottle filled with water on the ironing board. If I need a little moisture,
  
• mist a specific area and avoid sending loads of hot steam throughout my quilt blocks.
  

• Turn your iron to the "cotton" setting if pressing cotton patches.
• Place the patchwork, on your ironing board, unopened, just as it was sewn. The fabric that the seam allowance will be pressed towards should be facing up. (Most quilting patterns tell you which way to press seam allowances.)
  
• Set the iron down along the unopened unit to set the seam.
  
• Let the unit cool a bit then flip the top fabric back gently, using your fingers to fold
  
• it away from the bottom fabric along the seam line.
  
• Place the edge of the iron on the lower strip and very gently work it towards and
  
• over the seam allowance. Too much pushing action could stretch the fabric, so take care.
  
• Allow the weight of the iron to press the seam flat. Raise and lower the iron along  the entire length of the seam to finish pressing.
  
• Turn the unit over and press from the back to complete the job.
  
• Inspect the unit from the front. Notice that seam allowances on the back make the front of the unit pooch out a bit, creating loft. You'll put that trait to work for you when you sew units together.

• Sew units together to create rows, then press seams in each row as directed in your pattern.
• Sew rows together and press the completed quilt block.
  

If your quilt pattern doesn't specify pressing direction, try to press seams that adjoin each other in opposite directions. The loft of one will butt into the seam on the other to help create a snug fit.



Rules for pressing seam allowanes:

• toward on side
• under the darker fabric
  
• facing in opposite directions
  
• toward the patch with the fewest seams
  
• toward the patch with the least bulky seams (i.e. diamonds with triangles sewn on them tend to be bulky; squares sewn into squares are generally pretty flat.
  
• the direction that makes your popints more pointy - or make things line up better
  
• under a patch that you want to stand above the surrounding patches
  

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