Jenniky

Now we are ready to attach the first unit to the second. Lay the blocks right sides together. At this point just the top layer of the sashing is going to get sewn to the second quilted block using a quarter inch seam. The back piece of folded sashing should be finger pressed out of the way. Make sure all your edges line up.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]353659[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]353661[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH=CONFIG]353662[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]353663[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]353664[/ATTACH]

I actually found that putting a few pins holding the heavier quilted blocks together helped once I took it to the machine. The weight of the quilted squares pulled a bit because I currently do not have my Machine sitting down into a sewing surface.

EEK!!! I didnt take pictures of sewing the seam. Oh well.. Sew a 1/4" quarter inch seam.


Now open the two attach blocks flat with the top side facing up. Lightly press with iron. Now turn the two attached units over and press down the folded back sashing over the raw edges and seams.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]353666[/ATTACH]
Your quilt blocks should be just butting up to each other. If there is a lil overlapping or bunching you can trim a bit to make sure the squares lay flat AND nicely butted up to each other, otherwise you could end up with a lump under your sashing.


OPTIONS: There are two ways to finish the back folding flap. You can hand sew it using a Blind Stitch like you would use on the binding of your quilt or you can machine sew.

It was easier for me to Hand blind stitch the fold closed.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]353677[/ATTACH]

I am going to share with you my attempt at machine stitching the flap closed. I found that the best way for me to gauge where my seam would end up on the front was to pin from the back to front and check where my seam was going to lay in front. Several frogging incidents later I had an acceptable seam showing front and back. (If I continue to practice, I am positive I will get better at the machine seam option.) The straighter your back seam the better results on the front side. Pictured below I almost had a perfect SID when I turned it over to show the front side.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]353670[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]353678[/ATTACH]


Because the sashing is so narrow the batting is fine being held together by two seams. When doing variations of this technique we will discuss other possible applications to your batting to help when you are using a wider sashing.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]353679[/ATTACH]

This is my second row I have completed. The next tutorial post will be on attaching rows. LOL

Jenniky

From an earlier Post.....

Going to share a problem with you that I ran into on my first attempt of attaching squares on my other BOM quilt. One of my squares that I quilted the top squared pulled in some because I forgot lengthen my machine stitch for quilting instead I had been doing PP and I was using smaller stitching. So I figured if I went a head an squared up the block to match the other blocks at 12.5 I would be ok. Now I had about a 1/4 of an inch batting showing all the way around a few places a tad bit more in some. " So Im thinking to myself that the sashing will cover up my goof. Well for the most part it did. However there was still some batting that showed through I ended up pulling out my stitches (frogging) and had to rework my square. So I would recommend before you even start attaching your units if you have any batting showing you trim all of your squares down so they are the same size and there is no batting showing and don't forget to sew less than a 1/4" around the edges to help secure your quilted stitches. Just a thought and experience I wanted to share.

In retrospect I chose to trim down the other blocks of my BOM because trimming an extra 1/4" round all of the blocks did not take away from the pattern of the blocks. I didnt remake the block because If I had with it being my BOM I felt I was losing some nostalgia of doing one block a month with my friends on the QB . In other circumstances though I think it would be a better choice to remake the block instead of trimming down all the other blocks.

rwquilts

Awesome tute Jenniky! You're making it all very understandable for sure!

Jenniky

Thanks Ronda always good to have feedback to know if Im getting the instructions across well.

ssnare

I vote for variations to the method we are doing. Since I am new at this, I do not want to get too confused.

dublb

I too vote ta stay w/the variations of this block. Don't git me wrong I also want ta see the other method, I just want ta follow this method first before we switch gears. I'm lookin' forward ta followin' all the way through.

JeanieG

I also think we should stay with the current method and its variations, then go on to other methods.

k9dancer

Tip: if you are using a vintage machine, use painter's tape instead of any other kind of tape. And remove the painter's tape when you are done. Any tape, left on long enough, will damage the finish on a vintage machine.
If your machine is white plastic, don't worry about it.

Jenniky

Great Tip K9dancer Making a notation to add that to my final Tutorial.

vickig626

Do you do the basting by hand or can I use the machine? I really am not a fan of handwork.