Monday, July 13, 2015

Liberated Quiltmaking II & Cultural Fushion great color, design

My blocks, liberated shoo-fly and stars

 I'm working through Liberated Quiltmaking II by Gwen Marston. Next I'll work through Cultural Fushion Quilts by Sujata Shah. In 2013 I did a lot of embroidery on my sewing kits and finished up a couple of art quilts. Lately I've felt the need to branch out into more traditional quilting still keeping  the art aspect, the freedom to use color and design as I wish. So Gwen's book and Sujata's  book are just right for that.
 First off, working through Gwen's book, I made enough wonky log cabin blocks to make a small quilt. Then came liberated  star and shoo fly blocks, next onto flying geese blocks. They'll go into a sampler type quilt, I think.
 I'm going to start pressing seams open, it looks neater and flatter. Sujata suggests doing seams that way. Some quilters advise to press seams to the side. I've done that and the results are not as neat and flat. How do you press your seams?
That's my progress and report for Monday, have a good week!

Two of the best books on the true spirit of quilting...

5 comments:

Pamela said...

Sometimes I press the seams to the side and sometimes open. I don't have a reason for doing one way or the other. I'll try pressing them open on the next thing and see if they seem neater. I'm all for things being neater.

Janie said...

Yes, neater! I try not to get obsessed about it, however.

Karen said...

if I ever press seams which isn't very often I prefer to press them flat, open

Magpie's Mumblings said...

I don't suppose the quilt police will be checking to see how the seams are pressed...or do they? I guess if you were entering the quilt in a competition there would be rules for pressing, but I think it's up to you how you do it. Don't quote me though - I'm not a sane quilter!

Sujata Shah said...

Janie, I am so thrilled to be paired up with Liberated Quiltmaking! Thank you for that honor! I also want to tell you how much I have loved seeing your hand quilting. My ultimate way to relax while I am creating!
As far as seams go, I do both. when I am looking for an uneven textured look in the quilt, I choose to press them on one side. Some quilts just call for opening them up. I am flexible when quilting and so they have to be too!