The Renegade Quilter
First things first. I gotta cheer for my Texas Longhorns. They got it done last night in spectacular fashion, and I'm one happy transplanted Texan this morning!
So now on to quilting. I've been thinking some about my quilting philosophy because of a discussion in another group. I would say that I'm probably somewhat of a maverick quilter, but since I'm not in the maverick group, I thought I should use a different word. So I'm calling myself the renegade quilter. I've pretty much been a renegade all my life. It's a quality that's helped me out at times, but it has also gotten me into trouble at times. For instance, my 8th grade Home Ec teacher was not amused when I showed my class mates an easier and more accurate way to put in a zipper than the way the teacher showed us. I really wasn't trying to show off, but really I was a better seamstress than my teacher, and I don't think she liked that too much. I think she was a lot happier when we started the unit on cooking, which is definitely NOT something that I excel at.
I'm pretty much a self-taught quilter and I've gleaned a lot over the years from my many quilting books, but one bit of advice that never made much sense to me was the admonition to always press your seams to the side. Now, you have to understand that I started out my sewing life by making clothes. I made most of my own clothes from the time I was in the 4th grade to well into my adult-hood. So I was used to pressing my seams open. But, since every quilting book I could find said to press them to the side, I did it. I spent quite a bit of time being extremely frustrated. I couldn't even get a four-patch to go together right, for goodness sake. So, renegade that I am, I did the unthinkable. I started pressing my seams open. Lo and behold, my piecing started to improve. Seams matched, points were pointy and all was right in my quilting universe. In the last few years I've started taking some quilting classes. Even a renegade can learn some new tricks every now and then. Taking classes has opened my horizons, and I've truly learned a lot and found some better ways of doing things than the way I was doing them. But, I still press my seams open most of the time. I did once have a quilting instructor go into fits when she saw me pressing my seams open, but I just smiled and did it my way. I have found that more and more teachers are coming to the realization that it really is okay and sometimes better to press seams open. I've had several classes recently where the teachers advised pressing seams open. So it seems (no pun intended) the idea may be catching on. But I doubt the quilting universe will ever switch over entirely. Some things are just too deeply ingrained.
posted by Marilyn @ 8:48 AM
12 comments
12 Comments:
I sewed clothes too once upon a time and have pressed seams open on quilts occasionally. Weak seams is a popular argument but I've found no difference, especially with a reduced stitch length. Modern battings mean less bearding anyway and many books tell us to press seams open on our backings - why not the front too. Raspberries to the Quilt Police :-)
Marilyn, you're so right! Sometimes they just need to be open. For the most part, I do not press my seams, but when the need arises, I do it.
One word of caution is if you're having your quilts longarm quilted (or I suppose if you're quilting them on the DSM too), if you stitch in the ditch, the needle from the quilting machine hitting the threads where the seams are pressed open could shred the piecing threads.
In my quilting world, quilt police are not allowed and however it works best is the way I'm going to do it.
Judy
I've never understood the reasoning behind pressing to the side; half the time I end up pressing them all the same way and having to repress to make them go the opposite way when putting units together, and I also have a hard time sometimes getting the seams to line up. I think I'll jump on your bandwagon and press open!
Hi Marilyn, I'm pretty much a fair weather person, but this will sound like rain on your parade. In todays world probably pressed open seams are fine, as our quilts are used differently than in times long past.
If you think about it, once the seams is pressed open, the stitch threads are exposed to wear and tear. Imagine sitting on a bed, on the quilt, as you pull on your socks or shoes. You shift your body back and forth and slightly from side to side. Any movement you create does a "twist" type motion on the surface of the quilt. You can check it out, take a section of quilt in each hand and tug slightly up right and down left. See the shifting? Well, if the sewing thread is strong it will take that for awhile. But just those few threads that are exposed in that ironed open seam are all that keeps the pieces together. But with the thread and seam safely ironed under the "to one side" all that motion doesn't shift or wear on the seam. The fabric wears, but that's normal.
With todays products and many quilts machine quilted I'm not sure it's reason enough to still press to the side. But it is why we have done it in the past..*S*
WOOHOO TX! I enjoyed that game thoroughly! AWESOME!!!
Finn and Judy,
Thanks for the warning. I seldom to "in-the-ditch" quilting, but when I'm planning that, I do press to the side. I also press to the side for particular techniques like squares sewn on the diagonal and then folded over to make triangles. It would surely be a bother to press those seams open.
And, Finn, you are not raining on my parade at all. I know the reasoning that's been applied and it does seem a reasonable argument for pressing to the side. However, I have a made a number of garments that have far more stress placed on the seams than any of my quilts, and they have held together just fine. As you said, with machine quilting, it's probably not as much of an issue as it was in times past. Also, I do some hand piecing, and I never press those seams open.
I really appreciate all of your comments!
Marilyn
Thanks Marilyn, I love that you are a renegade...one of the ones who says "why" or "why not" if it suits her..*VBG*.
So much has changed in the world of quilting that some of the old ideas seem pretty unreasonable, especially since we don't hand wring our quilts out when washing them...LOL..You go girl!!
And thank you, Finn. I really appreciate all of your comments!
Marilyn
Can I be a renegade too?
BTW I once heard that in general the seams are pressed to the side so that the batting does not beard.... (just what I heard....)
& what Judy said about SID...
renegade huh? I like that better than the non-conformist title I earned in high school..I think there are many of us quilters that fit that "title" I too have challenged the why of "always" doing certain quilting things-again, I too am a garment sewer from the early days. I say do it the way you want-if it breaks, you can usually fix it. Nice to read your thoughts-Cher
Renegade is a good title! I tend to think of myself as "special" :) My family would certainly use a different word!
My Dear Grammy was someone you just didn't ask why ... so when doing clothing I press open and when doing quilts it is to the dark side ... cuz Grammy said so.
A gal at a quilt shop chewed on me awhile back because I do not do 1/4 inch seams. My machine is not marked for them, I can't see em, and my 3/8 seams are perfect. I was a math and science major in college/ life ... I can do the math to make a pattern work for me.
So ... to remegades everywhere ... salute!
best wishes,
Cindy
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