Quilt patterns without matching seams

She has many names: nesting seams, spinning seams, twirling seams, swirling seams, fanning seams, spiral seams, popping seams...

Has this ever happened to you where a quilty friend shares a link to a really cool technique and you "think" you've committed it to memory until you didn't? Yep, that's exactly what happened in this situation. I "thought" I had the technique all locked down in my memory and I was in my sewing room making a block when my block did NOT look like the block I had remembered. What happened?!!! Preface it to say, "my mistake" turned out to be better than the original!! Why? Because "my way"…

Do you get frustrated trying to make pretty, perfectly matched seams when piecing your blocks? Want to know two secrets that will help you do just that? It all starts with the pressing. First thing you need to do is press the seams that will meet in opposite directions. Make sure you are pressing straight up and down and not ironing back and forth which can warp/stretch the fabric. For this example I made two mini rows. With the blocks pressed in opposite directions the seams will butt and…

Nesting your seams refers to how you line up the seams of your sewn fabric so that you have a perfect point. Usually but not always nesting means that your seams have been pressed to one side. I will only discuss pressing your seams to the side because this is the most beginner-friendly method. Nesting

Simple method to match fabric design when sewing seams

This is Week 4 of the Top 10 Tips for new Quilters - Pressing Seams For the complete line up of tips, please see this page. Just what does it mean to press the seams? Because your fabric pieces are sewn together with right sides facing each other, it is necessary to press the seams to enable those right sides of the fabric to both face up, like opening a book to see the pages. What is the difference between pressing and ironing? Ironing is used to remove wrinkles. Ironing yardage before…

One of the most frustrating things about trying to create perfect square quilt blocks is getting the corners to match up perfectly. It seems like no matter how hard you try, there's always a little bit of discrepancy, right? However, there is a simple trick that can help you get matched corners every time. You'll never have to worry about mismatched seams again when you use this tutorial. I'll show you how to do it quickly and easily, so your quilt will look amazing.

Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission from the sale if you click through and purchase. Until I made this Living Room Quilt - I had never tried matching the pattern on my backing to hide the seam. However, I really wanted to hide the seam on this one because... look at this gorgeous print! I didn't want any interruptions. Just the other day I was trying to find the seam to show someone and it took me a long time to…

How do you decide which way to press your patchwork quilt seams? Open or to the side? The pros and cons of both methods, with quilt block examples of each.