Urgent your quilt is a crucial a part of the quilting course of that requires particular care and methods. These editor-approved quilt urgent ideas and merchandise will assist be certain that your lovely murals appears to be like its greatest!
“I’m certain you’ve heard all of the ‘quilt-pressing guidelines,’ akin to ‘at all times press towards the darkish aspect’ or ‘at all times press the seams open.’ When my mother, sister, and I quilt collectively, the urgent of the quilt prime can create controversy. My mother and sister favor urgent seams to the aspect, whereas I prefer to press seams open. No matter your desire, beneath are some tricks to guarantee the best-pressed seams.”
– Linda Pumphrey, Creator of Crimson & White Quilting and Mountain Mist Historic Quilts
1
Press, Don’t Iron: Urgent is the movement of reducing and lifting the iron from the material floor. Ironing is the back-and-forth movement of the iron on the material. Whereas ironing can pull and deform shapes, urgent lets you flip seam allowances open or lay them to at least one aspect with out distorting or stretching the material.
2
At all times Set Stitches: After stitching a seam, at all times press them with the precise sides collectively to set the stitches into the material. (Keep in mind to press, not iron.) This permits the stitches to meld collectively and holds the material higher, assuaging distortion and stretching. After the stitches are set, you’ll be able to then both open the seam or press it to at least one aspect.
3
Urgent Seams: Beginning with the darker material on prime, open up the darkish material piece and press alongside the seam line. When you favor to open all of the seams, press from the mistaken aspect and gently press the seams open alongside the seam line.
4
Use a Dry Iron: To make use of steam or to not use steam is one other controversial matter. Some quilters love steam, whereas others by no means use it. In my expertise, it’s best to make use of a dry iron. Nonetheless, steam is perhaps wanted to clean out seams with a number of factors. As an alternative of steam, you need to use a shot of mist from a sprig bottle to assist in ensuring the seam lies flat.
5
Finger Press First: For small shapes, you’ll be able to finger press the again of your fingernail throughout the within of the seam. When you finger press small shapes, you’ll nonetheless wish to press them with an iron to make sure a clean seam.
6
Forestall Shadowing: Shadowing happens when a darker material exhibits by a lighter material, which may detract from the general look of your quilt. Shadowing particularly happens when working with high-contrast colours. Every time attainable press darker material to the darker aspect. If that’s not attainable, press seams open so the sunshine seams are on the lighter material and the darker seams find yourself beneath the darker material. When you should press to the lighter aspect, trim the darker seam by 1/16″ (2 mm) so it’s barely smaller than the lighter seam and fewer seen.
7
Press Seams Once more, If Wanted: If a seam is pressed the mistaken method, press the form again to the way in which it was sewn. Set the seam from the mistaken aspect once more, let it cool, and begin over.
8
Press Bias Seams: Press a bias seam together with your iron at a 45-degree angle and press alongside the straight-of-grain of the material. This works nicely on shapes akin to flying geese and half-square triangles.
Completely pressed seams are key to taking your quilts to the subsequent stage. We assure following Linda’s quilt urgent ideas will give your quilts a extra professional-looking end from the beginning!
Eileen Fowler’s Suggestions
When I’m basis paper piecing, I arrange a small ironing station nearer to my stitching machine with my wool mat and a small transportable iron (SteamFast SF-717 Mini Steam Iron). I additionally maintain a silicone iron relaxation close by. These are additionally excellent to tackle quilting retreats.
Vivika DeNegre’s Suggestions:
I had by no means used a seam curler previous to making an attempt a sophisticated paper piecing undertaking. Quilter Violet Craft advisable the common-or-garden seam curler to sharpen the perimeters of the folded material, and it labored wonders. I do know it’s not rocket science, however rolling the seam in place made a world of distinction.
My quilting studio boasts a number of urgent mats from completely different sources, however my favourite is a small 10” sq. dimension that I maintain subsequent to my machine. I maintain a bigger on a folding desk subsequent to my design wall, and am jonesing for a full ironing board dimension to make use of on a regular basis. Our new marketer Riane Morrison agrees {that a} wool urgent mat is a should have — “particularly for placing in your stitching desk when piecing. It makes piecing/urgent go a lot quicker, and the seams are good and flat.”
Fast Tip: Prior to now, I’ve ruined my irons utilizing faucet water. Preserve just a few gallons of distilled water readily available for a fast refill. As a result of it has been purified, you’ll have a lot better outcomes total!
I’ve additionally discovered a fast spritz of Finest Press is a should when working with flimsy garden material. It helps to barely stiffen the material and maintain it from slipping beneath the ruler when reducing. Now it’s time so as to add some warmth! I used the Dependable Velocity Iron at a QATV taping, and needed to get one for my residence studio. It’s highly effective, heats rapidly, and has unimaginable steam energy that’s simple to show off when the steam is required. A giant plus: my husband loves it and has taken over the house ironing chore!
Valerie Uland’s Suggestions
You’ll certainly see a Mary Ellen’s Finest Press spray bottle at my urgent station! The aroma of Lavender Fields lifts my spirits whereas I’m urgent. There’s one thing very satisfying about squeezing that set off and getting a positive, even mist, over patches I simply sewed. After urgent, the seam threads are neatly nested into the material, and the seams keep put whereas I be part of subsequent patches and sections of quilt blocks.
In addition they produce other scents, like Tea Rose Backyard, Linen Recent, or unscented, and useful refills. I maintain a cushty pair of sharp material scissors useful to snip chain-piecing threads and canine ears. A tiny desktop trash cup helps maintain my workspace tidy, too!