Spin the Seam
In general, I do not press any seams open. Because of am a serial glue baster, shunning pins whenever possible, pressing seams open is just not possible. I like to glue baste because it increases my accuracy, and it stabilizes bias edges. I know that some believe that seams pressed open weakens them, I have no evidential matter for that. Given that quilts have so much quilting, I would believe that it is reasonable to assume that pressed open seams will not receive undue strain from use. Further, experienced proponents of open seams have tons of experience and attest that these seams do not fail.
But because of my glue basting proclivities, such is not an option for me. I wanted to show you what the back of my OBW quilt block looked like
It is nice and neat, and it lays perfectly flat.
Cutting and Chain Piecing Strategies:
As I noted in a this post when you spin your seams, you must spin in the same direction. To achieve consistency, the seam must be spun relative to the center. Edyta Sitar spins ("pushes") her eight pointed stars to the left (with center point facing you). I've used that method and have had no problems with things lying flat.
A word about triangle rulers: It's worth noting that some 60 degree triangle rulers have flat tops and some have pointy tops. Make sure that you match your pattern to the ruler. I have both a Clearview 10" 60 degree and a Creative Grids 60 degree diamond ruler. The Clearview has pointy top and the CG has a flat top. As a matter of math, if you are cutting strips and using a pointy tipped, your strip set will be 1/4" wider than a strip set using a flat tip which as the 1/4" tip clipped away.
💡 I (strongly) recommend that you achieve a flat tip for your triangles so that you always have a north star that tells you where the tip of your piece is. You can achieve this through your ruler or by using a trimmer. I have a Marti Michell 60 degree trimmer...it does an excellent job trimming your points as well as it has a hole so that you can mark the 1/4" inside for Y seams. I simply took my pointed stack and put the trimmer on it and cut all 6 at the same time.
Using a helper ruler when cutting. I'm not a big fan of spinning fabric--particularly any fabric that takes 1/2 a lifetime to line up such as the one block wonders. I use a helper ruler that butts up against the triangle ruler to make the left hand cut. (Butt the helper ruler on the left, and then push the master ruler to the right and make the cut.)
Mark the Centers: If you are using a flat tipped ruler, you always know which is the straight of grain edge and which is the center because it is flat! If you are using a pointy tipped ruler, well, each point looks the same as the other. Until you you pull and meet resistance on the long end do you find the bias. I use a fine pointed Sharpie/Pima pen to put a small has mark on the centers...more later. (I've since got my Marti Michell 60 degree point trimmer...it is great.)
Pieces of 6: As you cut, put a small clip on the straight of grain side or toward the left or right edge close to the top (center point). This will ensure that you have the right orientation and avoid bias on your outside edges.You will develop muscle and eye memory using this guide. Do not underestimate the power of either in your productivity as well as avoiding the unpleasantness of ripping out seams.
Chain Piecing: There are lots of pieces to sew together. I'll share with you how I accomplished this task. At first, I laid out each block. I later nixed that step as my process matured.I was able to work very fast and accurately using this method.
- Grab your Pieces of 6. Before you remove the clip, mark the top piece with a hash mark on the center point.
- Work with 3 pairs. You will be working with 3 pairs of fabric. The first 2 pairs you will be sewing together. The 3rd pair you will be splitting up and sewing the right side (center facing you) of Pair 1 and Pair 2.
- Match the first pair (top two pieces, right sides together with the marked center point on top). Lay down with center down.
- Make a mark on the 3rd piece (start of 2nd pair)to mark the center point. Match it right sides together with piece 4. Lay down with center down. (you can overlap stack).
- Mark the center point on piece 5 and leave it paired with its mate. Each of these pieces will be sewn to Pair 1 and Pair 2 later.
- Place the 3rd pair aside in an order that makes sense to you. As long as the pairs are together, you can overlap them if you are short on space. I put these in a tray.
- Match the seams of the center line. Secure. Sew. You can pin. I glue baste each seam and overlap stack them. I then zip them through the sewing machine.
- As you chain piece, your order of Pair 1 and Pair 2 Block 1 is preserved. The next Pair 1 and Pair 2 is for Block 2. See how fast this goes? You are chain piecing so ALL of the pairs stay nicely together.
- Attaching Piece 5 to Pair 1 and Piece 6 to Pair 2: Once you have sewn the pairs together.
- Place them on your ironing surface. Set the seam. With the center facing you, (you have one piece on each pair marked, so you know which it is!), push the seam to the left. (You could also push to the right, but you must maintain the same directional push!). You could also choose to press open...but I'm advocating pushing and spinning.
- Find Pair 3 from your set asides. They should be in the same order as your Pairs 1 & 2. Because I push left, I am adding my pieces to the right side (center toward me) as I have the dog ear to perfectly match. I mark the center point for the piece added (you should only have to do this for 1 as you've marked the other.) Again, I'm glue basting.
- Sew 3rd triangle and create half block... The beauty of glue basting is that nothing is going to budge, and there are no pins to stick to other pieces or you.
- Press your Halves. Once you have sewn this final pair to Pair 1 and Pair 1, you now have 2 halves.
- Set seam on your halves and then push to the direction (or open) you have chosen.
- Joining your halves.
- Line up the center seams the same way that you would do so on pinwheels or other complex blocks. I push the seam aside to find the V join on the back of the top piece and put a pin through it. I then push the pin through the bottom half (RST) seam convergence. I then push straight into my ironing surface (I have a 1/2" wool mat that I have upholstered with linen cloth..so I can easily pin to it). It makes a nice pivot to line up the outer edges. I then put glue on either side of the join to the end.
- Remove the the pin and press block together. You should have a perfect join and you can stack these aside for final sewing.
- Final center join.
- Sew your blocks together.
- Set Seam
- Turn over and spin the seam
- Unpick the 2-3 stitches on your last join. (Often just a twist will work)
- Twist the seam.
- Spin the final seams in the direction you have chosen for your halves. It should look like the picture above.
- Press. I like to spritz with starch, cover with pressing mat and do a final press.
Slap it up on your design wall. Here are all of my beautiful blocks on my design wall.
Each are so wonderfully unique. Yes, I'm about 10 years behind what was a trend. These blocks were cut from 3.75" If you were to look carefully at some blocks, you will see that there are some minor deviations in the matching/cutting. None that any would notice.
