{"id":43987,"date":"2018-10-26T06:54:13","date_gmt":"2018-10-26T13:54:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artquiltmaker.com\/blog\/?p=43987"},"modified":"2018-10-27T11:32:03","modified_gmt":"2018-10-27T18:32:03","slug":"to-nest-or-not-to-nest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artquiltmaker.com\/blog\/2018\/10\/to-nest-or-not-to-nest\/","title":{"rendered":"To Nest or Not to Nest"},"content":{"rendered":"

I got a question about nesting seams from a guild member the other day. She wanted to know whether she should nest seams or not. Nesting seams has a purpose. You don’t just press seams open because the Modern Quilt Guild or someone else says you should.<\/p>\n

Press seams open when you want to reduce bulk. This is often used in garment sewing.<\/p>\n

Nesting seams is used to line up your seams. You will get better and easier<\/em> precision if you use this technique. Caroline of SewCanShe writes on her blog post<\/a> “Nesting your seams will help you get your perpendicular joints matched up and with practice the intersections will be perfect looking…. most of the time. :)” People say they don’t care if their seams are aligned. I care and so I nest seams unless there is so much bulk that it is impossible.<\/p>\n

If you press seams open you are also in danger of developing holes in the quilting process. I press my seams open when I make pieced backs to reduce bulk. When I press my seams open I backstitch at the beginning and end of each seam line to prevent holes.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, like in a Four Patch block, there can be quite a bit of bulk in the areas where the four patches meet. You can ‘pop’ the seam to also reduce bulk. Check out the tutorial<\/a> on how to do this with images illustrating the technique.<\/p>\n

I find it easier to get good precision when I put my quilts together using ‘Chunking’. Check out the tutorial<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Resources<\/strong>:<\/p>\n