Last time I explained a little about my dilemma combining my Jacobean Sampler quilt blocks. Even though I was determined to join them into a quilt, I encountered several problems along the way including fraying and the blocks not being square. Once I had discovered where I went wrong, when I originally tried to combine them, I carefully squared them all off properly. The silk dupion on which they had been embroidered had frayed badly. Unpicking my first attempts exacerbated this even more, but I decided to perserve because there are always important lessons to be learn from all our mistakes. We can find solutions to avoid making them in the future. I firmly believe that in sharing my experiences I can prevent some of you experiencing the same issues, encourage you to perserve and assure you we all get it wrong badly sometimes!!! Machine embroidery and quilting are both journeys of discovery so we are all learning along the way.

QUESTION: Am I the only one who finds that once a project goes wrong, it can escalate, going from bad to worse? LOL

As you see here I cut some of my sashing strips in the wrong direction which resulted in more unpicking. You may get away with such mistakes with some fabrics, but not with silk dupion as the weave is so pronounced!

example of sashing

When I was squaring up the blocks I had to be careful that the green backing fabric was well out of the way as this needed to remain uncut! I had a few disasters with my rotary cutter doing this, as the fabric got accidently trimmed. Maybe I should have cut on the other side to avoid this or pinned it well back. (Since then I have discovered online a cutter ruler called Trimmer by George, which would have been ideal – going to check at the Festival of Quilts next week at NEC, Birmingham, UK and if not I will order one online) These cuts were just where the joining seams were going to be stitched, so I paused – – – –  it was time to give up and go for my alternative method of combining the blocks together. I had just enough silk left for all the new front sashings but not sufficient for the back sashings. I had chosen some gold silk dupion for the bindings so that fabric would work well for the back sashing as well.

example of sashing

Starting afresh the backing fabric was trimmed away from each block, except at the outer edges. This far into the project I resorted to only trimming my silk when it was absolutely necessary, to avoid further fraying. I used a method of applying my sashings similar to one I had used for my recent Wall hanging. (Tutorial 12) At this point, in my eagerness to successfully combine everything, I failed to take any photos! So, finding some old stitch outs of these designs enabled me to recreate my process for you.

quilt as you go

For each join between the blocks and also between rows you will need 2 sashing strips, 1 for the front measuring 1.75" wide by the length of the block or row, and another for the back of the same length but 3" wide. The backing sashing needs to be folded over and pressed so you have a neat edge on the back of the quilt to stitch down. A 1" strip of batting is also required. I prefer to cut my strips a little longer than required.

quilt as you go

For this method, the front sashing fabric is applied to the edge of the first quilt block, right sides together using a quarter inch seam. In the photo above I have not turned my work over, however you may find that helpful so you can see exactly where the seam will fall beside the edge of the embroidery on your block!

TIP: Before you stitch a seam, place pins so they protrude outside of edges as shown above, look at both sides of your work to ascertain which side to stitch will give the best results.

Then the backing strip is attached at the back of the block in the same manner matching the unfinished edges, not the folded one. Again if you turn it over you will be able to see where the last seam was stitched. Just stitch over it. Both strips can be added at the same but your positioning may not be quite so accurate. There are a number of guides and special feet for quarter inch seams which will help you stitch these seams perfectly. The feet vary with different manufacturers. As with any new technique, test is out on some scraps of fabric first.

quilt as you go

Once both sashings are sewn in place, the ends that extend beyond the quilt block can be trimmed away using a rotary cutter or scissors.

quilt as you go

Both sashings are then folded back out of the way, and the batting strip is placed up against the seam edge and joined them with an edge joining foot and a bridging/edge joining stitch. Widen the stitch if needed so it catches both sides. This keeps your layers down on a minimum.

quilt as you go

A zig zag stitch will do the job too. It is important that both sides are caught and if any sections get missed just go over them again. Nobody will see if you have to go back over your seam.

quilt as you go

Working on the back of your block pull out the front sashing and attach the second block underneath with another quarter of an inch seam. Make sure your blocks are aligned along their side edges top and bottom. When that seam is done you are almost there.

quilt as you go

The batting will need to be trimmed to fit snugly between the blocks. A few whip stitches are only required on the other side to hold it in place. Some maybe tempted to use a little glue but I would not advise this if you are using silk dupion. The batting needs to be held in place even if you intend to do some simple quilt stitching along the sashing. The back sashing will now fold over the batting and should just extend beyond your stitching. My preference is to hand stitched it in place, although stitching in the ditch on the other side is another option.

quilt as you go

This is how the fronts looked on completion. I was pleased when I was able to finally find a good method to combine all my blocks. It would be better if the hand stitches were eliminated and I am working on that. I like this method and will use it again even though it requires very even stitching along with perfect alignment to get all the sashings the same width.

quilt as you go

QUESTION: Do the seams have to be quarter inch? Not necessarily. I have seen QAYG sashing added with half inch seams. Obviously the widths of the sashing need to be adjusted accordingly and you need sufficient space around the embroidery for this to work. Please leave your thoughts in the comments.

Read the final blog on how the quilt came together and what lessons I learnt overall.

Happy embroidering from Hazel

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