When and how do you iron, press, set?
 

I am making my very first real to me quilt (I've only done a flannel rag quilt) a rail fence quilt with honey buns. Some of the strips on my finished blocks are curved. I thought it was my seam but the lady at the quilt store said my 1/4" seams were perfect! Yeah me! She said the problem was the way I was ironing. A little bit of the fabric from the strip next to it was covering the seam. So, how and when do you iron, set, press, etc? Do you press open or to one side?

after I've stitched the seam and before I open it out I press along it to set the stitches then open out and I normally press to one side (if its dark and light fabric) I press towards the dark, I also press the seam away from me less chance of catching any fabric - hope this helps a bit - 'only' a rag flannel quilt!! flannel is hard to work with so well done you - don't forget to post pictures.

Usually I press seams to one side. Sometimes, if there's a lot of seams meeting in one place, I'll press the seams open.

Pressing is a tricky thing. You have to be careful to not stretch the bias of the fabric, but you have to at least pull the fabric taut, so you don't get puckers. Try pressing from the right side of the blocks, instead of the seam side. You might also try "finger-pressing" your blocks first, before taking them to the ironing board, then press with the iron. Inspect your blocks after pressing but before assembling them into rows - if there's a pucker, you can always fix that with a little shot of steam.

I set the seams after every row of stitching.
And then press the seam open ... well actually to the side
And keep pressing at every stage of the block.

The better job you do in pressing as you go ... the better the results at the end.

It's important to press (up down), not iron (sliding back and forth).

You're less likely to stretch if you press.
Very likely to do so when you iron.

Starching or using sizing before you cut and sew your fabric will help tremendously, along with pressing, not ironing. Using either sizing or starch is a personal opinion. I prefer starch.

Lisas...thanks for the question....I needed help with this also...but sadly the answers sound great....but I cannot get a grasp on what everyone is saying....I understand, not ironing....but I need pictures as to what. I starch before I cut my pieces and sometimes after depending on the amount of handling (I have to resew alot lol) I also finger press, but I too get alot of one fabric over the other at the seam....any pictures would be great. thanks.

Pressing can be your problem . . . BUT ~ When I read that your blocks were curved, what came to my mind was - how many 'rails' and were the all sewn in the same direction? When you have multiple strips, it is suggested that they are sewn in opposite direction. Down, up, down up . . . not down, down down.

If the 're' pressing does not cure the problem, then you might (sorry) want to un-sew and try again.

I did my best at sewing the rails in the opposite directions. The curve is noticeable to me on only a few blocks and its the last strip, the ends are a little bit longer than the middle. Does that make sense?

I'd like to clarify pressing, ironing and setting. Pressing is lifting the iron vertically up and down and placing it on the fabric. You don't want to move the iron back and forth like you would when you are ironing a shirt, correct? To set the seams it is right sides together and press the hot iron onto the stitching line.

okay...you're gonna have so many different suggestions..you will have to try them... I cut pcs apart after seaming, (in this case, magic squares), place all pcs on the ironing board with the dark side up...this saves movements...press on top of the seam (setting the seam) to set the stitches... then open by holding the corner of the darkest side and press TOWARD the seam...this will automatically push the seam to the dark side... the 'setting the seam' creates a sharp line to fold on... it is really helpful, do not skip...

then i grab another square and place on top, starting the whole process again... after pressing 5 pcs (all stacked up) place them to the side (this helps count when you have a lot of pcs to press).

I press the seam first like the others to set the stitches, then I press all my seams open, very carefully to be sure they are fully open. I will lightly keep my strips taught and straight while I am pressing to ensure that the set is really straight, but I don't stretch it!!?? I prefer my seams open because there is much less bulk underneath. Try both ways and see what works best for you!!!