Finished Feathergirl tops! And a few words on seams....

Recently the Feathergirls got together because….

we finished our second Feathergirls (Feathergirls 2.0 we called them) quilt tops!

And like with our first Feathergirls quilts (click and click) it was so much fun to see the finished tops together! And again like last time it was the first time we saw eachother’s finished tops, a special moment!

My top was made of Ohio Star blocks, placed on point with alternating single fabric blocks. I decided the whole thing needed a bit more color with all that brown and had a beautiful red in my stash, but unfortunately not enough…. I found it online (isn’t the www just wonderful?) at a shop I had never bought from before, they did a great job, the needed fabric was here in no time. In the meantime I found this wonderful blue fabric with just that bit of red in it, so the whole top came together.

 

 

Hubertine (click) made her quilt from lots of churndash blocks, one of my favorite block patterns, with lots of different blue fabrics, so fabulous! You can see it here (click). As well as information on how she sandwiched her quilt.

 

When I posted a picture of the back of my quilttop in an earlier post (click) I received questions about my seams….. aren’t they supposed to be ironed to one (dark) side?
To be honest I left that idea completely when machine patching small seams. The whole idea of ironing your seams to one side for strength of the seam  I think comes from the world of hand stitching. And there it makes perfect sense and I strictly adhere to this rule.

However machine patching is a completely different technique. Your stitch is made of 2 interlocking threads with very even stitches, therefore your seam is much stronger. Also the quilting you add later on will make the seam more durable because it will reduce pressure on the seam during use or washing.

Also I remember years ago, when I still made some of my own clothes, some of which were pencil skirts and with an office job, sitting down practically the whole day, there was pressure on the seams of my clothes and we still pressed them open and they never came undone (luckily ;-) !

When you are able to press (yes, I press my seams) open they lie much flatter and your points are much sharper.

 

 



However, on the long seams - as in this top with the blue and red borders - I do still press my seams to one side, toward the outer edges of the quilt top. There is no need there to press them open.

So there you have it. This is the way I do my seams when I machine patch, but there is not one perfect way of doing things. Use the technique that you are most comfortable with, that one will be best for you.

Enjoy the spring sunshine this week!

 

Phyllis