Wednesday, September 5, 2012

QAYG - Step By Step: 12 Photos

As promised, here is a step-by-step series of 12 photos showing the method I used to connect my quilted pieces. The first steps of the actual quilting process can't be shown b/c I began this project so many years ago. lol. This post is about connecting quilted pieces, not the process of FMQing.

STEP 1: Quilt your blocks &/or sections as desired. If machine quilting, you can quilt all the way to the EDGE with this method.

Disclaimer: A couple of pics are a tad blurry... sorry. I didn't get a manicure before taking these pics... bad planning. lol. Most of the directions are explained in TEXT on the pics themselves.  Picture of finished quilt to follow in a day or so... it is getting its binding on! Here we go. . .

PUTTING IT TOGETHER: To connect quilted blocks -sections -borders, etc, it helps to TRUE-UP the edges first. Now CUT your fabric SASHING Strips. Mine are 1.125" and 1.75" b/c I am using 1/4" seam allowances. The 'extra' 1/8" inch in the narrow strip allows for the loft in the batting - adjust this if you use a thick batt.
 

 
Below is a slightly better pic showing the sashing edges lined up to be sewn:
 

Sew with a 1/4" s.a. & use a WALKING FOOT - this really helps!



Lay the next piece to be connected Right Side UP next to the section that has the sashings sewn to it. This will help you NOT sew something upside down. Ask me how I know this!

Align raw edges and sew with a 1/4" s.a..  The layers above are [in order]: Border RS down, 1 1/8" sashing strip RS down - sew this seam... again, use a WALKING FOOT and let the left edge of your WFoot ride on TOP of the previous seam - it really helps to sew it this way.



Seam allowances are meeting, so it looks good so far. If they overlap, you will need to frog-stitch & use smaller s.a..  If there is a very SMALL gap, a tiny sliver of batting scrap can be inserted.

The pic above is showing the folded edge of the sashing strip on the Right Side of quilt. I did it this way in case I decided to machine down the folded edge. You may use fabrics for your sashings that complement or offer new design elements to your quilt... it's up to you. If you use matching fabrics as I'm doing on the outside border, then the sashing strip can almost "disappear". Quilter's choice.

That's it. This is a very straight forward method. Nothing fancy. Don't need special tools. Do what you need to do in order to achieve a perfect 1/4" seam allowance... this is important.
 
Thank you for being so patient and waiting for me to write this up. If you find an error, or if a step is not clear, please email me - thank you.
 
I'm going to finally sew that binding on this thang. . . what are YOU going to do today?  Until next time. . . I'm going to sew!

Quilty Hugs,

5 comments:

Sheila said...

I want to try this. Thanks for the tutorial : )

Connie Kresin Campbell said...

Great tutorial Cyn and your quilt was beautiful! I have done this and will be doing it again in December for my scrap challenge quilt.

sew.darn.quilt said...

Wonderful tutorial, Thank you for sharing this with us. Now I must find a new project to try this on =)

Peg - Happy In Quilting said...

I love the QAYG method Cyn your instructions are perfect thank you...

Deb A said...

Thank you, thank you, thank you! Now I have a great tutorial on how to put my QSAB block together! I might have to just put a couple together soon and test it out. I may even test it out on something sooner too!