Glad to help, Kay! There are lots of great tips in the forum topics!

Franceslovesfabric wrote:
Whoo-hoo!! I'm late coming to the forums, and this post just made it well worth my while to read the old topics! Thank you!!

Kay Ahr in Nevada USA

Sometimes you have to approach a problem/task from the middle not the beginning or the end in order for everything to work out right!
Surprisingly, most thinking works better for me that way too!

Jean in a rather unseasonably cool Windsor, ON

There I was, minding my own business, piecing together the blocks from the Illiana Quilter's shop hop, when I found myself having to rip out a seam where I had gone wonky. You all know that type of seam. Where in the center there are at least 4 seams intersecting, and if you go wonky, you lose that nice crisp point. My machine has a bad habit of pulling to the left at these intersections, no matter how slow I stitch or how much I pin.

Then the light bulb went off (sure hope it was a CFL, as I need to conserve energy! LOL ) Why not just start sewing right there at that intersection, go to the end of the row. Flip, then start again at that intersection. Voila! No wonky points!

What an AHA! moment!

Maggie in E. Central Illinois

I have also heard of late, that pressing the seams open help and is making a comeback.

Vonna in Texas

Whatever it takes, folks!!! If you've ever been in a class with Ricky you may have heard him say to mist it with water and iron (pronounced arrrrrn) the snot out of if!!! LOL!!!
I might recommend using a pressing cloth with the mallet so the intersections don't get too bruised!

Robin, somewhere I saw where they were selling what looked to be a rubber mallet for pounding down those thick seams! I think they recommended hitting it with a shot of steam, whacking it with the hammer, then a shot of steam again!

Maggie in E. Central Illinois

Well, folks, I wish I had seen Margo's tutorial before I finished my kaleidoscope quilt. Lots of pieces coming together in the center and it was quite bumpy, even though I followed all of Ricky's good tips.
My solution - I took a heavy rubber mallet from the workshop and, on a sturdy surface, I pounded the heck out of my center! It's flat, none of the seams or fabrics appear damaged, the quilt is just for hanging on the wall so it won't get a lot of wear and I got a lot of aggression out of the way.
I know this is not the way you're supposed to do it, but it was kind of fun.

So glad to help!

The light came on!! Wow, Margo, those look so neat from the back! I will be fixing mine tonight while I sit and watch some tv. Thanks!

Thanks, Frances! Laura, I hope the tutorials helped!!

Laura,
Search for Margo. Click on her profile. If you click on her website, she has a tutorial for making the pinwheels. When you sew the first two half square triangles press the seams to one side. Sew the next two together and press them the other way. Then sew them together. Then I pulled out the seam threads from the first seam out for the first couple of stitches. Look closely at Margo's picture here: http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2573018540102889971xcBoVK and see how she pressed her seams. I did mine this way and they all lay flat. Good luck.

Frances

I made some pinwheels and pressed my seams to one side, and now that they are sewn together I find all those seams in the middle of the pinwheel cause a bump. What do I do differently to get them to lay flatter?