Sash-ing a four letter word!
 

I am doing a small quilt and using sashing for the first time. I thought I cut out the sashing perfectly, I squared up my blocks perfectly and when I sewed the sashing on... It looks wonky. Can anyone give me tips on how to have it look even? I looked for a tutorial here but came up empty. I found one Youtube tutorial but it didn't make sense to me. I will appreciate your tips and advice.

well, if the sashing is going onto the sides of your blocks, it should fit. match center and ends. pin if necessary and sew. If you are doing long sashings cut the size of a row of blocks, you actually do the same. match centers, ends and pin, pin, pin. then sew. perhaps starching your fabric might help and don't pull it as you go. this should help you prevent it from getting wonky. Good luck.

Are you using cornerstones? I find it difficult to line up my rows without them, although I know it's possible!
Here's a couple of tutorials from the board:
http://www.quiltingboard.com/tutoria...es-t43921.html
...
http://www.quiltingboard.com/tutoria...s-t182922.html

Boy, am I glad to know that I'm not the only one that has had this problem. Good luck to you.
margee

The tutorial was very helpful. I think I will do cornerstones next time, this has been stressful and quilting should be fun. Thanks to all for your responses and margee, I am also glad that I am not the only one with the problem. I think I will go downstairs and try again.

I prefer to you sashing strip cut to the lengthwise grain of the fabric.. It helps it from going wonky.

i agree with the cornerstones making it easier to match up sashing

If I am not using cornerstones, I take the time to mark my distances on the long piece of sashing. I found that my sewing machine could disort the upper fabric quite a bit over six feet or so. Now, I mark the size of the block, the width of the sashing, the size of the next block etc, pin pin pin and double check that everything lies flat before starting to sew.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSBUVro0wFc
This helped me.judy j

Here is a very good sashing tutorial without cornerstone, use your own measurenents
http://www.ohfransson.com/oh_fransso...-top.html#more

I don't use cornerstones and have a simple technique for getting sashing to line up perfectly.

(1) Sew the short strips between blocks to form rows. (2) Add a long sashing strip to the bottom of the first row. (3) Before adding the next row, turn that first strip to the wrongside. Use a ruler and pencil to extend the seam lines all the way through that long sashing strip. These pencil lines become your "virtual" seam lines to match up with the next row. (4) Pin the second row to the long sashing strip, matching seam lines with virtual seam lines. When you sew, ease or stretch as necessary to make sure the real and virtual seam lines match. (5) Repeat with subsequent rows.

This is very simple to do, fast, and ensures that your blocks and sashing do not end up wonky!

Edit: The pencil lines replace the seam lines created by cornerstones. Cornerstones are another way to get blocks to line up correctly, but they do change the look of the quilt. When you just want sashing, the pencil method is the way to go.

This is very true. I made several scrappy 9 patch quilts using simple sashing. I've got another one put together, but this time using sashing and cornerstones, and I think when it's all said and done, I'm not going to like it quite as much as the unbroken line of color of simple sashing.

I go about sashing completely differently. I sash each block individually, then sew the blocks together. So if I want my sashing to finish at 3" wide, I'll cut it at 2" (finished width divided by 2, then add seam allowances) and sew it on all four sides of the block. Then sew the blocks together, matching seams, and I end up with a 3" sashing where all my blocks are lined up perfectly.

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I made a quilt that was all squares, very geometric. The sashing was all one color, but the blocks had to line up perfectly. I finally wound up making the sashing & cornerstones out of the same fabric. Kind of dumb, but it did keep everything in line.

Here's another helpful video. ENJOY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Sa-H...fe54epWO1aXRme

I have not used sashing in my quilts because I am worried they will be incorrect. I am interested in these tips too.

Thanks for the wonderful tips. I have struggled with sashing and this really gives me some good pointers on getting things to line up. I learn so much from this site.

I do it the way Tartan does it and it seems to work for me. Hope you are able to find help with your problem.

Great advice! I discovered this and the need for the pencil/ruler markings when making my little chicken attic windows quilt and adding a long row of sashing. Without those seam "extensions" in pencil, your quilt can certainly get crooked or wonky.

Judith Ann thanks for sharing the video. I'm working on a quilt that will require sashing and this will be a life saver. Usually avoid making something that has sashing and can't use cornerstones.

For some reason I have never been a cornerstone fan, so when I lay down a row to pin for sewing, I visually see how each row is doing by looking "backwards". Don't just pin end to end and expect the current block to align with the previous block. Check to see how they look while they are laying right side to right side, before you pin/sew. Make adjustments as necessary. You can take a lot of that wonkiness out by fiddling with the row and visually seeing where the block should be moved to come into alignment.

Crafty Gemini has a great, pain free way to add sashing on You tube