How To Press Quilt Block Seams

(Even nasty center knobs!)

"Press towards the dark!" This sentence is kind of a joke among many of us in our quilting group. I always feel like I need to pause after saying this (in a deep, firm voice) and wait for the "Star Wars" movie theme song to back me up. When it comes to pressing seams on a quilt block - those four words are a key rule.

When I teach classes I say this sentence over and over again. Class after class. It's important. Just like my constant reminder to my students to close the blade on their rotary cutters immediately after taking a cut. I charge them a nickel every time I find that they don't!

Just why do we quilters follow the rule of pressing seams towards the darker fabric? An easy answer that I could just walk away from would be so that the darker fabric doesn't show through the lighter fabric in the seam allowance and become visible on the front of a quilt. Usually that satisfies most everyone. But there's always one of THEM in every crowd and I come prepared with more information for them!

Most pieced quilt blocks share different color combinations. Sometimes two colors - light and dark, and sometimes more - light, medium, medium dark, and dark, and so on. Yes, the process of pressing our seams to the darker fabric to avoid having the dark fabric show through the lighter fabric in the seam allowance, and then show on the front of the fabric is important. But pressing your seams toward the darker fabric is important for another reason too.

When we all press our seams to one side - the darker of the fabrics - it also creates consistency. This consistency helps us to "snuggle" our seams when we sew pieces together while making individual blocks, sewing one block to another, and even sewing long rows of blocks together.

Do we ever NOT press our seams towards the darker fabric? Certainly! First of all, a quilt pattern designer may instruct you to press your seams in a specific direction when creating a block to eliminate bulky seams. You may find that you just can't avoid pressing some seams away from the darker fabric so that you can "snuggle" your seams when necessary.

There are also times when you will need to press your seams open. This technique is often used when creating many-pointed star blocks. The open seams help to eliminate bulk. I DON'T recommend pressing all of the seams open on all quilt blocks. Remember, we press our seams to one side to prevent broken stitches within a block, along the length of your border strips, and even your backing. I've seen too many people press the seams open when they sew two large pieces of fabric together to create a large piece of backing. This creates stress on the open seams. STOP THIS! I understand that the quilter wants to eliminate a seamed ridge on the back of the quilt, but when the seams are pressed open it gives "broken stitches" free reign. Flattening, pulling, and stretching the backing to ready it for basting or putting it on a quilt frame lets those open seam stitches break.

Many of us have struggled with those nasty knobs in the middle back of our quit blocks. They're awful! They look horrible! And smashing them down with your fist doesn't ever seem to help. Early on in my quilting efforts those type of blocks would often find themselves flung into the depths of my fabric closet.

These two Center Knob techniques made such a difference! I love teaching them to students and watching their faces light up in amazement.

4-Patch Center:

At the middle of the long seam on the back of the 4-Patch quilt block you will see that there are a couple of threads keeping the two middle seams together.

Clip only those couple of threads just into the seam allowance.

Now press the clipped seams in two different directions. This pressing creates a miniature 4-Patch design which will eliminate bulk. *Note - the seams in photos show pressing toward the lighter fabric for illustrative purposes only.

Pinwheel Center

This process is the same for the back of a Pinwheel quilt block. This method creates a cute miniature pinwheel!