Let’s Get Back To Work

Seems like forever since I had the chance to work on Miss L’s quilt. Last time I worked on it I had just finished the assembly of the sixty blocks. Dividing them and sorting them into rows was the next step. The quilt has nine rows. Five of the rows have seven blocks and the other four have six blocks plus two filler pieces.

Sorting Blocks

After making certain my working surface was clean and free of debris I began the process of laying out the blocks. As I arranged them I tried to make sure I didn’t place blocks with similar colors/patterns next to one another. I find it helpful to take photos with my i pad of the arrangements as I work. The photos make it much easier to spot the blocks that need moving. After seven attempts I finally arrived at one that I believe has met my goal.

Be Careful

Once I was satisfied with the block arrangement I carefully stacked them into rows and placed a pin in the top block of each row to help me remember, as I sewed, that it should always be at the very top edge. The neatly stacked blocks were then moved to my sewing machine, making certain to keep everything in the proper order. At this point nothing was stopping me from sewing them together so time to get started.

Press, Press, Press

Careful pressing is just as essential as an accurate 1/4″ seam. With garments it’s Ok to glide your iron along the fabric smoothing out all the wrinkles. With quilting a lift and press technique is preferred. Sliding your iron along quilt seams opens up the possibility of stretching or distorting the quilt pieces. If they get distorted they won’t fit properly and your quilt block won’t turn out. I set and pressed open all of the seams, then re-stacked the quilt rows into a pile.

Run A Row of Basting Stitches

Next I added a row of basting stitches just inside the 1/4″ seam line. This row of stitching keeps my seams from flipping closed as the rows are stitched together. This added measure doesn’t eliminate the need for pinning pieces together.

Let’s Finish the Quilt Top

Once the preventive basting was done I sewed the nine rows together, set and pressed their seams open, then laid the quilt top out to take a few photos. Here’s a peek.

Miss L’s finished quilt top is now ready for quilting. I will share a follow-up post when I’m ready for that step.

Thank You!

Thanks for reading my post. See you next time.

Cindy Anderson