Beginner's Guide To Quilting - UK (2020-04)

Patchwork Made Easy

Beginner’s Guide to Quilting 49

Line up the rows. Roll the seams between

your fingers until they lock in place. Secure

with pins, especially at the seam junction.

Now sew the two rows together, securing

the seams in place (ensuring the seam

allowances remain flat while stitching).

Press the new seam (the one that you’ve

created between the rows) open to finish.

Piece squares into rows. Press the seams for

the rows in opposite directions (to the left in

the top row, to the right in the bottom row).

Keep on adding more rows of patchwork

in this way. With your new nesting seams

skills, the front of your patchwork should

look neat and flat and the back will have

neatly stitched down seams – like this!

W

hen it comes to pressing the
seams of your patchwork,
there are all sorts of tricks
you can try to achieve that perfectly
smooth finish. Nesting seams are one
of our favourite methods to use.
Some quilters like to press their seams
open, others like to press to the side.

Whatever you choose, you’ll find you get

the best results if your seams are pressed

and sewn so they fit together smoothly.

One option is to go for nesting seams.

We’re here to help you get perfectly pieced

rows of patchwork every time – just follow

our tried-and-tested, step-by-step guide

below to get professional-looking results.

Quilt project instructions often tell you to

sew your seams in opposite directions, so

they’ll ‘nest’ together neatly once joined up.

Sewing is a whole lot easier (on you as

well as your machine!) if you avoid having

many bulky seams on top of each other –

especially when it comes the quilting

stage, and it’s easy when you know how.

USE THIS NIFTY TRICK FOR NEATER

JOINS AS YOU SEW

Ne sting sea ms

1 2

4

Pin units

together

Wrong

side

opposite directions ¼in seam

allowance

Wrong

side

3