How to Spin Your Seams - Video Tutorial
Hi Everyone!
I have a brand new video tutorial showing you how to manage the seams of a block by nesting and spinning the seams. By nesting and spinning your seams, you'll have a block that not only looks wonderful but is strong and will quilt easily.
Enjoy!!
Steps for Nesting and Spinning Seams:
1. When joining blocks, start and stop sewing at 1/4” down from the selvage. Backstitch 2-3 stitches at each point.
2. After your row is joined, press seams in alternating directions. One seam goes right, one left, one right, etc. The seams on the next row will alter- nate in the opposite order of the one before it.
3. Join rows with one continuous seam, sewing directly through each intersection.
4. After joining your rows, press the new seams in alternating directions, allowing the seams to “spin” at each intersection.
5. It’s like magic!! Now you have beautifully spun seams, with no bulk at the intersections. This makes your quilt stronger, and easier to quilt.
As always, glue basting makes assembling your block easy and accurate.
Happy Quilting!
~Cristy Fincher
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11 Responses
Elnora
Thank you so much for this amazing video, Cristy! I already commented on YouTube but couldn’t resist posting here, too. I find it easy to spin seams when hand piecing but didn’t have a clue how to do it when machine sewing. Now it’s all clear. Thank you so much!
Joy
After viewing the video, I feel like a newbie quilter and have relearned piecing. You covered all the things including errors, that I was making and did not know how to fix. You are an excellent teacher all the tips were bonus value. I look forward to utilizing these secrets on my next quilt.
Ann
Love your video Christy!
Marlyn
Thank you so much for making this video on spinning your seams. I never was sure how to do it before. The current project is 2" squares made from 3 sections. The centers of each 4-patch is pretty bulky and spinning those seams really makes them lie flatter. Thanks again.
Sharry
Love that full block center and half block lauoyt. Wondering if in the end it will look like a “Trip Around the World” design. Well, not exactly like, of course, because it will be a GB original (which never look exactly like anything else!).
Teresa Moffitt
thank you! Christy! I have just begin working on a fairly large quilt done in hst’s and squared and rectangles and wasn’t happy….as usual…with my accuracy. Determined to get it right, I was cutting accurately and had checked my 1/ r" but still felt that I was a little askew on some blocks! Your glue basting method is the bomb for me! Then I wasn’t sure of my pressing…I knew to nest, but have never spun the blocks before. What a difference! Yes, each little thing takes time, but the entire quilt will take time and I want it to be right, so I will be thinking of you a lot as I use the new to me glue basting method and then press and spin my seams! So excited as I see a finished quilt in the future that I think I am going to really love…not because of the pattern or color as much as because I will be doing it so nicely!! Yay!!
Linda in Atlanta
Oh – and I love the iron! I’m assuming that it lifts itself from the surface when you set it to the side – Rowenta? Model? Do you sell it?
Linda in Atlanta
THanks for the video – I’m working on a quilt that was started in June. I’m too far along to use this technique in the smaller blocks, but as I’m assembling the completed 12" blocks (32 of 40 remaining), I’m going to try it. I’ve been needing a pressing coach – Thanks for stepping in!
My question is this – your technique works perfectly when all the pieces are exactly the same size throughout. The quilt I’m working on has variously sized inner blocks, and I’ve followed the pressing directions in the pattern – but I’m still having problems with bulky corners as the 12" blocks are assembled. I’ve had to adjust as I go to make the seams nest as I can. What problems am I going to have as I long-arm it? This will be my first attempt at long arm quilting. I’ve taken the class, and some time after the new year, I plan to quilt it locally.
Mary Ann Cook
Absolutely love your method. Although, as you say, it takes a little longer than usual, the results are well worth it. When the blocks are perfect, the quilt will be perfect!!
Karen
What an awesome video Cristy! I’m a relatively new sewer. I’ve been trying your glue basting method for a little while and I’m really starting to love it. Your video was so helpful in so many ways. Especially when you made the couple of mistakes. I appreciate you not editing them out. I felt like every time I had a question about something you addressed it. Kinda like you were reading my mind. Now I just have to figure out when the appropriate time is to press in opposite directions. Sorry for my long comment but I do have two questions. 1) I heard what you said about pressing seams open and how that can weaken your stitching but do you every press open? If so, and you’ve glue basted, do you then go back after stitching and pop all of your glue basting open? 2) When you talked about your thread and needles you said that you match your needle to your thread. I’ve not heard of this. I always thought you matched your needle to your fabric. Needles are something I’ve struggled with, which size to use.
Gwen
September 27, 2015
Thank you. I can hardly wait to try this on my next quilts project.