Early this morning while working on the On Podunk Pond (On Ringo Lake) nine patches I kept having the same problem over and over with my blocks. As hard as I try to accurately press, cut and piece my quilts, there's always a few little errors and tweaks in every quilt. Some errors can be fixed while others can be hidden the quilt so no one will ever know.
This morning the problem was a pesky little 1/16 - 1/8 inch overage on several units. The red arrow below points to the problem. The green arrows are pointing the perfectly nested/matches seams. I thought I was very careful with my cutting and piecing. But just to make sure I quickly measured the squares and the seam allowance. They both are correct, so what that tells me is my pressing is off.
In the picture below the red arrow is pointing to the stitch line. The blue arrow is pointing to the edge of the pressed seam on the red fabric. Do you see the problem? There shouldn't be a big gap between the two arrow points. The problem is poor pressing. It's an easy fix.
To fix it I just finger press the seam correctly. No need to rip out stitches! Just roll the red fabric over a little bit more.
Now it fits perfectly! YEAH!
I guess I should tell you I never use an iron when piecing. My fabrics are starched and pressed before cutting and then pressed again with an iron when the quilt top is complete. During the piecing process I use finger pressing only. And by finger pressing I mean fingernail pressing. Even when attaching long borders it's finger pressed. As with anything there are exceptions to the rule. I will press with iron for blog pictures. In the picture below the stack on the right is from yesterdays blog post so they were pressed to lay nice and flat. The stack on left are the ones I made in the middle of the night and they are finger pressed.
Any of you get up in the middle of the night and sew? I do it often. There's only so much TV a gal can watch in the middle of the night. When I sew in the middle of the night there's no TV or radio, just me and the hum of the sewing machine. Solving all the worlds problems one stitch at a time. I think most quilters use quilting as therapy. All hobbies are outlets for creativity and stress. The intense concentrating on what you are doing allows the mind to either drift off and do some mindless work or contemplate whatever weighs heavy on your heart and mind. The mindless work is the most therapeutic/meditative. Am I the only one? I bet not! Who else out there in quilty land loves to quilt alone in silence?
#quiltingtip #onringolakequilt #bonniehunterquilt #bonniehunter #quiltvillemysteryquilt #podunkpretties #quilting2018
Since I am alone and my 30Yrs+ of working nights - yes, I stitch the night away as well. It's my best time to work. I only finger press small units and sometimes don't use the iron until the whole block is assembled.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the reminder that the issue with sizing is not always because our seam allowance is off! Pressing does make a difference!
ReplyDeleteI had this EXACT issue yesterday and was so frustrated. Thanks for this perfectly timed post. And yes...silence is best.
ReplyDeleteI have not gotten up in the middle of the night to sew-I don't know that I am awake enough to sew, only awake enough to not sleep. Yes pressing is so important no matter what method we do!
ReplyDeleteI get a second wind about midnight, and can stitch away until 3 or 4 am. I love the quiet of the world at that time. Just the snoring of the dogs and the cats, and the 3:30 am freight train way off in the distance. Perfect!
ReplyDeletePressing is definitely important! I am more of a morning person, so don't stitch a lot at night. The hubs just changed shifts temporarily from 1-10, so I will be doing more evening stitching now! I do love to quilt in silence though. I don't feel the need that some do to have noise all the time! I like it quiet!
ReplyDeleteThank you for this informative and timely post! I too have been a night sewist, but that was in our last house where the back of my sewing chair was next to the bedroom wall with the head of the bed on the other side of the wall from me. Hubby complained of the noise of the machine. Oh, well! Your advice just may save some headaches from forming! YEA!
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