Quilt Seam Press for Mom

[Marion Smith]

Mom's a quilter, and asked if I'd make her a wooden seam press. Nothing fancy she said. HA! Sure mom! I was needing to go to the Woodcraft store anyway, and there's always some neat stuff in the odds n ends crates that they sell by the pound. Here it is. Wood is Ziricote. Polyacrylic gloss finish.

[Stan Calow]

Thanks for sharing. I had not heard of this tool before and now might be interested in making some for quilting friends.

[daryl moses]

I don't know what it is but it sure is nice!! I'm sure your Mom was pleased.

[Steve Nix]

Marion, my wife is also a quilter. Thanks for sharing. Would you post the dementions of the press. The one my wife,bought at a guilt shop, is a little 5 1/2" stick. Lol.

[Marion Smith]

Thanks for the comments and questions! Wow! I made something interesting! lol
Okay, first I'll try and explain what it is. It's a simple tool for quilters mostly. No batteries, no cord, no heat. It is used to hand press seam allowances when assembling the quilt pieces together. Many fabrics shrink when heat is applied like with a hot iron. If you were to cut out all your shapes for say a king size quilt, and then distorted the shapes a bit as you went, you can imagine how askew it could get. Additionally, it's difficult to iron out such small areas with any real accuracy, or without burning ones fingertips working on such small pieces. Lots of what is sold as a quilt press amounts to not much more than a piece of wooden dowel, and small diameter as well. Many of our dear quilters have petite lil hands, or are up in age, and thus have joint issues of varying degrees. I make mine larger in diameter, and with the ends even bigger to allow for easier use and much less fatigue as quilting is something that's done for hours on end at times. Mine are usable on either end, whether you use the flat, or the outside of the diameter. The one end is a straight diameter and has about a 35 degree flat, while the other is a bit tapered and has about a 15 degree flat. This allows for comfortable ergonomic use whether the quilter is sitting or standing at the table. I usually put another flat across both ends, but I didn't on this one. The end to end flat keeps them from rolling off the sewing table and onto the floor. That gravity stuff is EVERYWHERE. If you have a quilter close by, of course, they can be custom made and altered for their hands and style. Making it look cool is just a bonus for when someone asks them where they got that thing, which is usually followed by "I gotta have one too "!!
A durable hard finish is desirable, bare wood that can transfer stains to fabrics is a no-no.
So, there is a qwik seam press tutorial for yas!
Now you can get busy making some for those quilters in your life!

[Marion Smith]

I started with piece that was about 1-1/4" sq x 14" long on this one.
The larger end diameters are 1". The middle diameter is 3/4", tapering to 7/16" right before the steep angle at each end to push on and keep it from sliding in your hand.
IMG_20160229_194453.jpg

[Marion Smith]

I had a special request for a single end press. Poplar/Peruvian Walnut.
seam press ad.jpgseam press ad blank.jpg

[Ralph Lindberg]

Those are a little thinner then the ones my wife makes
https://scontent.fsjc1-3.fna.fbcdn.n...a2&oe=576EEBE7