marjben

I am a new quilter that made my first quilt (baby quilt) with seam allowances to the side, but since then, have seen people that have them open as it does produce a flatter quilt top. I am now piecing a 120 x 120 top for my son's wedding present and have ironed them open, but am now questioning this due to reading that open is not as sturdy.

Which do you do and why?

I would love to hear your thoughts!

TIA

MadQuilter

I use both methods depending on the block. One thing to remember is if I press open, I will not do Stitch in the Ditch quilting. I will either do a quilting pattern that crosses the seams a lot or I will do parallel to the seam-line quilting that crosses the seams regularly.

When seams get bulky, you can also spritz them/steam them and beat them within an inch of their lives with a mallet.

quiltingshorttimer

I only press open when many seams come together in one spot so that it lies flatter when I quilt without little "bumps". I don't stitch in ditch when I open then.

Boston1954

I have always gone to one side. No one told me not to, so I did.

joe'smom

I like pressing to the side on traditional patterns with small pieces. The quilt back seems sturdier and neater when pressed that way, and I have a much easier time matching seams that are pressed to the side and will nest.

When I make a modern pattern with larger pieces, I'll follow the directions if it says to press open. Chances are, I wouldn't be stitching in the ditch with a big block pattern, anyway. You don't have a ditch to stitch in if seams are pressed open.

There are times when things seem to work out better pressing to the side, and the same thing with pressing open. Just recently (I can't remember the specifics), I started pressing open and things worked out much better to the side, and just yesterday I tried pressing to the side and it worked much better to press open. So you can do whatever works best with the particular pieces you're working with.

I don't think, with machine stitching, the seam is any stronger when pressed to the side. But with hand stitching, you should never press open, because you'll have actual gaps that the batting can come through. I believe that's where pressing to the side originated -- to cover hand stitched seams.

tessagin

same here but still depends on the block and how you're going to quilt it. [QUOTE=joe'smom;7859580]I like pressing to the side on traditional patterns with small pieces. The quilt back seems sturdier and neater when pressed that way, and I have a much easier time matching seams that are pressed to the side and will nest.

When I make a modern pattern with larger pieces, I'll follow the directions if it says to press open. Chances are, I wouldn't be stitching in the ditch with a big block pattern, anyway. You don't have a ditch to stitch in if seams are pressed open.

There are times when things seem to work out better pressing to the side, and the same thing with pressing open. Just recently (I can't remember the specifics), I started pressing open and things worked out much better to the side, and just yesterday I tried pressing to the side and it worked much better to press open. So you can do whatever works best with the particular pieces you're working with.

I don't think, with machine stitching, the seam is any stronger when pressed to the side. But with hand stitching, you should never press open, because you'll have actual gaps that the batting can come through. I believe that's where pressing to the side originated

Tartan

It will be fine if you do an all over quilting design. The problem with pressing open is, if you stitch in the ditch, there is no fabric in the ditch and you can cut the thread with the quilting.

Stitchnripper

There was something I read recently regarding open seams being strong. Not to the issue of stitch in the ditch of an open seam or not, but it said in clothes all the seams are ironed opened and they seem to hold up. Yes, they are usually 1/2 to 5/8 inch, but there is a lot more stress on those seams than on a quilt. I press them open depending on how many meet.

tallchick

Depends on the block and pattern, but more and more I'm pressing open and using a smaller stitch length, the results are lovely and far less frustrating. Many times I just make up stuff as I go, and I have no patience to draw out a pressing plan.

suern3

Tallchick brings up an important point, in my opinion, regarding using a smaller stitch length when planning to press seams open. I tried the open seams for small blocks with many small pieces at the recommendation of shop owner and I had a problem with the stitching coming out near the end of the seams just through normal manipulation while piecing the blocks. It did help to shorten the stitch length, but I finally went back to pressing to the side since I found the seams nested better. Not to say there may not be other projects where the open seams might be just the thing.