I'm great with assumptions. I make them freely and rarely question them, so they feel comfortable floating around in my brain. They know they won't get kicked out anytime soon.
When it came time to construct the 25-patch corner blocks for my Sugar Skull top, I ironed four strips of 4 squares in opposite directions, knowing the seams would nestle with each other and all would be well. Why not five strips of 5 squares? I was working on pairing and re-pairing sets of 2 squares at a time, so I had a plethora of squares sewn together into strips of four. I started with those.
Anyway, I sewed my four strips together, nestling those opposite-pointing seams, then set about twirling and pressing. Except, things didn't want to twirl and press nicely!
Look at all those folded-over seams I had to create in order to twirl the seams where they joined! That's not right!
Assuming I had somehow lost my place in the sewing process because I hadn't pressed seams before adding more to them, I started assembling the next 25-patch block.
And there's where it all became clear.
Yes, opposite-pointing seams nestle wonderfully. If they're all ironed in the same direction on the same strip, however, they won't twirl nicely. I should've maybe turned the top green seams inward, and the bottom orange seam also inward...?
Then the clue-by-four hit me: I'd made literally hundreds of Scrappy Trip Around the World blocks, and the very first ironing instruction is: iron every other block the other way (seams of one go into its middle, seams of the next go away from its middle)! I had followed that guidance, but never really understood why it mattered. Now I finally get it.
(Did I go back and resew those blocks? Nah.)
You are indeed a brave and confident quilter to show the back of a flimsy. (Mine are a profusion of twisted seams though they are not deliberate.)
ReplyDeleteLaughing a little here. Thanks for being so honest. I "try" hard not to have issues like that but every time there is at least one wonky seam. Sometimes a lot. I tend to not twirl my seams. I usually iron row one right, row two left etc. And, definitely I agree with Nann. Brave of you to share!
ReplyDeleteI think it was something my grandmother instilled in my mother, who mentioned it to me. My mom was taught to make the back of her work (usually embroidery) as neat as the front, so that's my aim in quilting too, when feasible. Since I do all my own quilting on a Juki long arm (set in a table, with me guiding the fabric under the needle), I try to avoid great wads of thicknesses. Hence the twirling.
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