I am in the process of making a donation quilt for my church. I am trying to match up 2 strips of a fabric made of small squares of neckerchief scarves. (Purchased) I have them matched beautifully on the front but I have NO idea how to keep them matched while I turn right sides together to actually SEW them together. Any ideas??? It sounded simple until I got it home and found the squares are offset and have NO line in common. I just thought I would cut down the length 1/4 inch off the line .... and sew them together..... WRONG. I have even thought about invisible thread but this quilt is supposed to be tied. I feel so STUPID that I didn't notice it at the store!

easy to not see until strips are cut --- but I think it will be interesting to see how many people will click this thread simply because of the title! lol.

Well, I'm not.

Perhaps you could iron the seam of one at the right spot and then lay it on top of the other lined up then place a couple spots of glue in the seam allowance to keep them lined up until you sew it.

Would it work to pick the seams or lines of the scrafs and pin them. Then when sewing stretch them a little so they line up? I would do each square individually -lots of pins.

Maybe turn one piece around and sew it to the other side?

I bet you can tell I'm new to quilting.

I have re-read your post several times and do not understand the question. You say you have them matched on the front, but no idea how to keep them matched while you turn right sides together. How can you have them matched on the front before you sew together?

If you have several blocks sewn together into 2 different strips and you are trying to sew these strips together and can't match the seams, the easiest away to put them together is to offset the seams--don't try and match the seams... With charity quilts the person receiving it does not know that the pattern they received is not the pattern it was suppose to be.....

WEll I had to see if I was smarter but nope no clue! Have you ever played the game Are you smarter than a 5th grader? Oh my gosh I wasn't!!

The fabric is the squares of scarf. I bought a 6 yards of it. I am trying to make a double bed quilt for a donation project for my church. I folded and matched the design from the front.

Is it possible to sew a thin strip of what ever color between the two and not have to match up the squares?

This sounds good to me but then I may not be reading your situation right either. lol

Are you wanting to seam it where it's pinned now? What if you pressed the top layer where you have it folded? Then mark the bottom layer with a disappearing pen, or bast along that line. Then you can lay the fabric right sides together, and match the ironed fold with the pen marks/basting line. Pin well. I think it will be very difficult to get it exact.

Or --- are you matching two lengths of the fabric? Can you determine how many inches in from the salvage one fabric needs to be to make the match? Also, it looks like you might have a few points that you can match. The edge of the hexagon with the leaves looks like it should match, as well as the squares in the gingham section. I've never used a glue as someone suggested in a previous post, but that might work, or use pins. Reminds me of matching plaids when sewing.

If I'm not understanding your problem, just ignore my ramblings.

Good Luck

I wasn't kidding. ALL advice is welcome!

Hmmm, I'm a little confused. Can you just top stitch it? If not sandwiched why can't you put right side together and sew? Sorry, don't think I'm much help.

You have it matched and folded. Press the seam good. Really good. Then pin it carefully as you open it flat. You then stitch on the ironed line.

I hope this makes sense. I have done it many times and it usually works.

You can also baste it first to make sure it lines up right.

I have gotten a lot of good advice and I thank all of you! I love this board. You can ALWAYS get the help you need. I also remembered the advice given someone else.... don't expect perfection. No one but God is perfect. I was so caught up in the MATCHING that I almost forgot the joy of giving. THANKS. :-D

Im lost.. :-(

Oh, no. We can't have that! She is trying to splice two pieces of fabric together so that they look like one. She has lined up the fabric and now wants to stitch them. However, turning them to stitch can get them out of alignment.

My suggestion was to line it up (which she has done) and press really good, Then open gently and place a pin to hold the fabrics in place. Pin generously to keep in place, and sew on the cease made by the ironing.

Clear as mud?

That should work.

As I was posting last night I knew I had seen this issue addressed before. Finally remembered that I saw it in directions for making wide curtains. There's a discussion here --- http://www.alternative-windows.com/matching-fabric.htm.

You might also consider piecing your fabric as shown here ---http://sewing.about.com/od/beddingan...bedspread.htm. I think this is standard bedspread construction. I probably would not worry about matching these seams, I've seen bedspreads where the fabric does not match across these seams.

No, I'm not smarter than a fifth grader - oops - no I'm not smarter than you! LOL

I'm just going to toss out an idea. Hand baste 1/8 inch seam. That way you can keep checking alignment. If it's where you want it, then do your 1/4" seam. Then remove your hand basting.

Another thought, just trim off a couple of inches and make it look like the rest of it where the corners don't meet?

My DMIL gave us a cheater cloth quilt a while back. The center was the width of the fabric, then she divided the fabric in half length wise and added to each side of the center using piping to divide the fabric. Then she took it to a long arm quilter and had a meandering stitch over all of it. It's really pretty.

You could use a narrow blind hem stitch on the front so that the straight part of the blind stitch was on the underneath fabric, and the zigzag part of the stitch was on the top which you have matched to the bottom. Then press it, and carefully turn it over, open and stitch along the fold with a regular straight stitch. The blind stitch would be just about invisible on the top, but if it mattered, you could snip them.

You are too funny! & Correct........

:lol: :lol: :lol:

me too :?