Some quilt blocks require that small, pieced units be joined together to make a larger block. Oftentimes, there are individual seams that should be aligned and straight within the larger block. These continuous seam lines that need to be lined up will look better if you plan ahead and press them in opposite directions, so their seam allowances fall on alternate sides of the crossing seamline.
Follow these steps to join 2 such units.
Place the 2 units with their right sides together, matching the seam lines. Note that in the photo, the seam allowances are pressed in opposite directions, so that the 2 units to be joined “nest together”.
To keep the 2 units nested, follow this suggestion before you start stitching:
As you stitch, you will approach the cross seam and your presser foot will move onto the thicker area. At this point, the top fabric can be pushed forward, out of position. To prevent this, place a pin on the far side of the seam, close to the seam line. This pin keeps the cross seams aligned and prevents them from separating.
Sew up to, and just beyond, the seamline before you remove the pin.
Finish stitching to join the 2 units.
This is the method described in Piecing the Piece O’ Cake Way by Becky Goldsmith and Linda Jenkins.
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7 Comments
Thanks for the tip, as someone fairly new to quilting, I love seeing detailed “pointers”.
Thanks for the tip, I will try that.
This does work well for me. The problem I can’t solve is with lattice strips as they cannot be paced close together in the same way.
Is there a way to do this so they match up properly?
Thank you. Rita
Is there a way to line up lattice strips so they match up properly?
Thank you. Rita
Thank you for this very clear demonstration!
My problem is when I sew the bottom seam (that is pointing towards the needle, not towards me) then folds over. So when I finish sewing my long seam, I usually have to rip off all those nesting seams, and re-sew the seam coming from the other direction so that the nesting seams lay flat together. How in the wold do I stop that from happening?
Hi all,
Two good questions have come up: one – how do you handle the seams that are underneath and flip the wrong way when sewn? The first thing I would do is pin them down before sewing to prevent the “flip”. Our second photo shows only one pin but using another on the left side of the stitching (closer to the thumb in the photo) would help a lot. However, since occasionally, no matter what, “flips happen” – instead of ripping out the flipped area of the seam, you can try snipping the seam allowance just below the flip and pressing the rest of the seam again in the correct direction.
The other question was regarding nesting seams for lattices. I’m guessing this means when a sashing has cornerstones or “posts” at every corner. The same principle works here, press seams that should match in alternating directions before sewing. However, if you don’t have cornerstones and you mean that your lattice isn’t straight on the quilt top – measure all your blocks before adding sashing. Trim them all to the same average size, Then add your sashing. Also, double check that your seams are a true 1/4″, not even a hair bigger. That will make the sashing/lattice straighter and the blocks truer to size.
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