Friday, October 05, 2012

tip #23 speed pressing

Along with chain piecing and cutting, there is also chain pressing.
I press patches one over the other,
I off set each patch by about 1/2 inches so the seams don't pile up.
Place patch and open with left hand, press with iron in right hand.
Pick up next patch, place about 1/2 inch to left, and press.
Over, and over, and over.
You get a motion and a rhythm going that makes the pressing go very quickly.

Think about what all happens with pressing.
The hot iron relaxes the fibers then dries them under pressure to smooth.
I usually set the seam, pressing the patch as it was sewn. This embeds the sewing thread into the fabric.
But, I find that when I speed or chain press, the warmth of the previous patch relaxes the next patch enough that I can press without setting the seam.

I also do a count as I press to give myself a running total.
In this photograph I was working in sets of 10 for the boatload of half square triangles I needed to make a bunch of trees.
The block (on point) is 16 inches finished. I use old flat plate (no steam) irons so there are no holes for the corners of the patches to catch in.

4 comments:

antique quilter said...

omg I love these blocks just beautiful what a great red!
ok maybe I haven't had enough coffee yet, just starting my first cup you press them like they are shown so they are in a pile? maybe I need to come back later and read this again!!!! LOL
Kathie

antique quilter said...

ok back again yes I get it now you lay out your hst staggered like shown in the picture and then press the whole row....I am going to try this so must faster then individually, good thinking!!!!!!
I had better not read blogs before I drink that first cup of coffee again!
LOL , sorry!
Kathie

Willeke said...

These blocks are great!
Thanks for the pressing tip.

Saska said...

that's how I press too...AND you have my iron!