Originally Posted by kwhite
Ok all is not lost. Actually this can be a happy accident if you make lemonade out of it. How is that for globbing together a bunch of sayings?? What I would do at this point is to put a backing material onto the back and take a fabric I like that will be either bold if you like that or subtle and make 1.5 inch strips. Fold them in half right side out and sew 1/4 inch making a tube. Then I would take one tube and lay it onto one row of blocks lining up the raw edges and sew the 1/4 inch through the strip, the block, the batting and the backing all the way from one side of the quilt to the other. Then fold the strip over to cover the "seam" and onto the block opposite it. Sew it down making a "sashing" between all of the blocks. Do all of the seams vertically and horizontally. It will be beautiful and quilted too.
I have a couple concerns about giving this project to a beginner. This would be trying to learn so many steps at once without any experience. This quilt will be big and awkward and maybe not very securely layered to machine quilt. The other concern is trying to cover the raw edges with a 1/4" strip will at best only cover 1/8". I'd be afraid to use it or wash it in case it frayed .
I could be fun to try on a small project that didn't get much use.
I was thinking 1/4" finished strip, after reading all the comments. I apologize. I see your idea would be 1/2" wide finished, one side folded over the other top stitched, that should secure it down.