Sashing advice
 

I need some sashing advice. I am new to sashing. I have a quilt top consisting of 25 blocks which are each 17.5" square. It is very loud so I am wanting to use white sashing to separate the blocks. From what I've read, it might be easier to just sash each block individually to avoid it getting out of whack. Any advice on how to sash each block individually? I'm thinking 2.5-3" sashing. I really want to avoid cornerstones as well.

That's how I would do it, and that's how I've done it in the past. For a total of 3" wide sashing, use strips cut at 2". They will finish at 1.5 each side of the block, which will give you 3".

Another thought - with white or light-colored fabrics, the seam lines will be more visible. If you want to disguise this, use a white-on-white or some other kind of print.

A tutorial that may help with the step-by step process.

http://www.synthcom.com/~val/Quilts/...ngSashing.html

Thank u! What order do you do the sashing ? Like right then bottom of block?

I call it an L shape because that's the way I put it on. Doesn't really matter which side is which so long as you do it consistently, so do what makes sense to you -- could be top and right or right and bottom as well as left and bottom. Some fabric designs hide seams but white solid it will show, for me consistency matters. For others, not so much. When I lay out a top, I always number my blocks (alpha across, numbers down) because no matter how careful I am, I always turn something or drop them or something that messes them up. I pin the block number in the upper left corner, again, it doesn't matte where you do it so long as it is consistent.

My most recent project I had to use what I call the "two unwieldy strips" method because I was using a striped fabric and it was important for me that it ran in one direction, so I cut it from the length of the yardage and not across. So not every quilt calls for the same treatment, but if I possibly can, I opt for the L method :)

Thank you Ice blossom for the helpful tips!

Just to clarify, I meant to sew sashing strips on all four sides. Here's one where I sewed 2 sashing strips - one colored strip on all sides, then one black. If you look closely, you can see the seams in the black fabric. Then I sewed the blocks together. It was really easy.

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I think that's a great idea. Square up each block as you finish them. You could also consider using a white or very light batik.

Yes, it lines up much easier when you sash 2 sides of the blocks first!

I use my digital camera so that I don't have to spend a great deal of time marking and numbering rows and columns. I just put my blocks on the design wall in the preferred order and take a picture. I can then put the pic on my laptop or print it out and put it on the wall where I can see it. I can refer to the picture for placement and orientation. I find it easier than all the numbering.

Even when I did have a design wall right next to my sewing machine, it is absolutely amazing how many times I sewed the blocks together on the wrong side or some issue. I think a lot of it is just the style I quilt, it wouldn't make much difference if all my blocks were the same design and same fabrics, but I'm usually alternating blocks or trying to move color through my scraps or some other reason I want to be precise in my layout.

As it is, I have to do my layout on my queen sized bed as my largest work surface, which makes it rather fun to layout a queen sized or larger project!

But with design walls too, I think they work best with consistency, like starting in the top left corner or whatever, helps to keep those blocks from flipping but not as well for me as my labels!

I use this tutorial also. Easy!

This tutorial shows corner stones which the OP does not want. So just make the step two strip long enough to cover the length covered by the two pieces in the tute.

As a newbie quilter, I really appreciate all of your replies. There are some great ideas here! Thank you for taking the time to help me!

Thank you! Your sashing looks beautiful. I'm holi bgg mine stays straight!

Thank you! Your sashing looks beautiful! I'm hoping mine stays straight!

Thank u! I will try that!

Thank u! Using pictures is a great idea! I have a rocketeer too. Its the reason I'm still sewing bc it was the first machine I could use without having issues.

Great idea! Thank you! Hoping to have my quilt layout off the floor before company comes tonight.

Using corner stones makes the math easy and simple, you determine the width of your sashing and make each side the same size as the block. The corner stone/square is square so you just cut that size and add to one piece of the sashing.

So in my last sashed quilts the blocks were what I think of as non-standard sizes. The block finished to 7" (so, 7.5" raw). Although I wanted to have a finished 2" size sashing, I didn't have enough fabric for that but I had plenty to make a 1.5" finished (2" cut) width.

Getting used to designing your own projects can be a little confusing, some of us think better using the rough cuts and others think of the desired finished size + .5" seam allowance. And thank goodness for programs like Electric Quilt but you can do it all by hand and a pad of graph paper.

But basically, you cut the length you need by the width of your sashing. So for a 7" finished block, that meant my rough size for that side was 7.5". My sashing finished at 1.5". Adding that measurement meant I was basically making an 8.5" finished square, so that meant my longer side was cut at 9" inches (8.5" finished + .5" seam).

If you used corner stones, no math needed, just two pieces 7.5 x 2", plus one square 2". Most people use contrast for corner stones, I try to eliminate excess seams if I can but you could be a glutton for punishment and piece in the corners all out of one fabric should you choose.

When I use corner stones, I do it as a strip piecing method and I still put them on like an L. I cut WoF (width of fabric) the size of the sashing, and the same for the size of corner stones and do a race on my sewing machine to see how fast I can get through it... I press and then I cut the unit at one time the desired width. You get much more consistent results and a much better use of time doing it that way instead of cutting a bunch of tiny little squares and putting them on narrow little rectangles. In my opinion any way! The point is there are many ways to do things and we have to figure out the best way for us to do them.

Using the L method will also result in fewer seam matches also.

This is the only one I use now.. So Easy
synthcorn.com