Originally Posted by AnnaK

Like almost everyone else, I usually press to the dark side and I've had to re-press a seam when I'm at an intersection and need it to go the other way. Don't worry Newbie, it will all become second nature before long. Also, not to confuse you but when you have 4 seams coming together, nip a stich out of each of them once they are sewn together and then 'fan' them out. It takes the bulk out of your seams.

Originally Posted by Kitsie

Good! Let us know if we can help some more! There are no "Pressing Seams" police. Whatever way it seems (no pun intended) to want to go and for the least bulk is "correct". Originally I also learned *only* to the dark side but then I strayed to whatever you like and it works for me.

Originally Posted by Shibori

pressing seams is a little like putting together a puzzle. It's helpful to stop and assess when joining blocks if you need to press something one way or another to get them to nestle where they come together in intersections.

Originally Posted by CAROLJ

I'm finishing a quilt where I pressed them to the dark side. (As the pattern said to do.) What a mess because of HSTs. For now on I'm going to press open when I have multiple seams meeting.

Originally Posted by reach for the stars 2

I press to the dark side. If you are making stars I press open (easier to sew and quilt) an sometimes u have to use your judgement on which way to press.

Originally Posted by MadQuilter

I generally do not press the seams open because I do mosttly SID (stitch in the ditch) quilting. Because the quilting line runs down the seam, an open seam would be weakened.

However, there are times when many seams converge on a center, I may decide to press them open. So your question cannot be answered by a simple rule.

I try to figure out the assembly pattern early on so I can press the seams on any subcomponents so they nest when assembled. I practiced the nesting principle on a standard 4-patch and 9-patch.

When I have the blocks sewn into rows, I also follow the nesting principle. This means I press the first row to one side and the next row to the opposite side. That way, when I align the rows they will nest and I can pin and sew a clean seam.

To be truthfull, sometimes the seams flip and the back does not look as clean as I would like...but that's life.

Originally Posted by Theresa

I've always pressed to the darker fabric until I read a great article on pressing seams open. It really made sense. It's a little more time consuming, but supposidly more accurate. May do this on my next project to see how it does.

Flipped seams nearly drive me wild. Don't really know why...they don't show!

Originally Posted by AnnaK

Like almost everyone else, I usually press to the dark side and I've had to re-press a seam when I'm at an intersection and need it to go the other way. Don't worry Newbie, it will all become second nature before long. Also, not to confuse you but when you have 4 seams coming together, nip a stich out of each of them once they are sewn together and then 'fan' them out. It takes the bulk out of your seams.

Originally Posted by HapaMom

Theresa, what did the article say? Was it that pressing seams open made for more accurate quilting?