A few months ago I posted a photo, and a few asked me to write a tutorial on how I do QAYG. I was glad to see others have posted some of the "sashing method" in tutorials, but this is slightly different. A little easier, but also a little bulker seams. [HR][/HR]Quilt-As-You-Go has been around for some time now, and honestly I’m not sure why it’s taken me so long to pick it up. I love it, and can’t think of doing it any other way. With every multi-block pattern I design now – I try anticipating how best to tackle it block by block, quilting as I go.
If you aren’t familiar with the benefits of QAYG:
- Easy to free-motion quilt on desktop sewing machines. I’d say they are joy to quilt!
- Utilizes smaller pieces of batting – allowing you to use scraps from other projects.
- Less tendancy to get puckers or irregular stretching
- Less likely to be a UFO. Seriously! I find that making and quilting the blocks individually gives me less project fatigue and helps adding variety to the process.
There are some drawbacks:
- The seams can have added bulk because of the batting seam allowance.
- Quilts tend to “shrink” when you quilt them block by block, throwing measurments off.
- Borders… well the borders you still have to man handle the whole quilt in the machine, but at least you are working on the edge (and almost done completing the quilt!)
There’s two ways I’ve seen to go about it. One involves adding a sashing strip between each block and then adding batting strips behind that strip. This can solve some of the seam bulk. If your design is not conducive to adding that sashing strip between everything, then the method below is the way to go.
Ok, so are you ready to get started?
Block it out!
The first thing you need to do is really think about the best way to divide up the quilt into manageable blocks. If the quilt has sashing between the blocks, try to group those with the individual blocks so that they can be quilted together.
In the case of De La Promenade, the pattern maps out what sashings get sewn together. Below is an exploded view of how this quilt will go together.
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So…
1. Block 1 will have the left, right and top sashing sewn on before quilting.
2. Block 2 will have no sashings sewn on.
3. Block 3 will only have the top sashing sewn on.
4. Block 4 will have the top block, sashing and bottom block sewn together before quilting.
5. Block 5… only the top sashing.
6. Block 6 is the same as Block 4.
7. Block 7 is the same as block 5.
8. For the borders, we will deal with those fellas later.
Now you “could” make all the tops and sew the sashings and then do all the quilting at the end, but then… you wouldn’t be “quilting as you go”. I do like to break up the project and quilting each block as it is finished helps.
Let’s quilt a block!
I’m gonna jump right into my Block 5 of this carousel quilt. Small, and super easy to finish up in a day and still have to finish the dishes before Gina gets home.
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I’ve got my top made and the top sashing is already sewn on. Everything is fused down well. I’ve also cut a piece of batting slightly larger than the block.
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Layer the batting under the top and baste it with pins. Notice - no backing fabric!
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This quilt will be hung on a wall, so I am going to free motion quilt around each piece. In some blocks, a couple appliques overlap the seams. So I leave those un-quilted, to be done later with the block is sewn together.
Don’t be like me! I’m kinda bummed I rushed through this tutorial, because I should have done more quilting in the negative space than I did. Now is the time to do it! So loosen up, pick a fun pattern and quilt until you’ve hit your limit.
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When you are done, trim the excess batting to the edge of the fabric. Remember, they shrink, so take a measurement and be sure you aren’t too far off. 1/8” to 1/4” shy of the ideal dimensions is fine.
Put the kettle on because we are going to have a nice cup of tea and admire our day’s work. We have one block done and quilted!
Joining Blocks
We are ready to make the next block.
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The block I am doing is Block 4. It will be sewn to the top of Block 5. Just like with Block 5, I made the quilt top and the three background pieces sewn together. This one does have some overlapping pieces, so watch for those.
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Cut another piece of batting, layer it, and get quilting! When you are pleased with the block, go ahead and trim the excess batting like before.
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Now dry fit these two blocks together. Does the width match? Hopefully they both shrunk the same amount width wise, and you can join these no problem.
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Lay Block 5 face down on Block 4. The quilt is still easy to manage in the machine, so no need to pin your seam – we gonna fly solo for now.
...Continued in next post.