When I first started quilting the hardest and most frustrating part was 100% hands down getting my seams to meet up. Sometimes my seams STILL don’t meet, and if I am being perfectly honest, most of the time I don’t really care anymore!

Yep, that’s right, I don’t really care that much. I am not selling my quilts. I am not putting them in any quilt shows. I pretty much just quilt for fun. So, tiny imperfections… I just see them, shrug, and let it go.

If it matters to YOU, then there are a few tricks you can do to make your seams meet with perfection.

Tip # 1

First, you will need to iron your fabric. Seriously, when I first started quilting I skipped this part all the time! I hate to iron! HATE IT! But, the simple fact is… if you don’t iron your fabric then you likely won’t get accurate cuts. And honestly, if you skip ironing, your finished quilt will be all wrinkly, and you don’t want that!

Tip # 2

Cut your squares accurately! A hair off here and there means everything! It doesn’t seem like this should be such a big deal. But, if you squares aren’t even, then your sewing won’t be even and if your sewing isn’t even then your squares won’t meet up evenly! Whew that was a lot!

Are you noticing that this is all just a chain of events built upon each other!?

Tip # 3

You will need to sew accurate, and straight, 1/4″ seams! This is so so important! If your seams aren’t accurate and veer to much off course, then your blocks won’t fit together correctly.

Tip #4

Nest your seams.

The term nesting seams really just means aligning the seams of each row so that they not only line up nicely but seem to almost fit together perfectly like a puzzle piece. This is done through a combination of pressing and pinning.

In my opinion this step is much easier to achieve with accuracy than many of the above steps!

When I am finished sewing all my rows together I just iron my odd numbered rows seams to the left. Then I iron my even numbered rows to the right.

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Once my seams are pressed I can pin the seams. This part comes together so nicely. When the seams for each row are pressed in opposite directions it really helps you see when they meet up perfectly to pin.

Then I just pin each seam in my row and sew!

Check out that row of beautiful seams!

Another great thing about nesting your seams is that it helps eliminate some of the extra bulk you can get from your seams if they are all ironed the same direction. This will help your quilt lay a bit flatter!

I hope this helps you get some perfect seams on your patchwork quilts!

Bye for now.