Sew What--Vicki's Quilting Blog: QAYG with SASHING

There is NO hand sewing involved with QAYG using sashing strips. It can all be done with machine sewing.

The first step is to make your blocks. Piece your block, sandwich it, and quilt it. Since you will be adding a sashing strip, you can quilt right to the edges of your sandwiched quilt square. You will need to have 2 sets of blocks, and 2 sets of sashing strips, one for each side. These could be the same fabrics, or different. It's fun to use different fabrics on both sides. You can make a reversible quilt this way. Here are my blocks for this project.

Front Back

2. Audition sashing strips for both sides. Designate one side as your "front."

3. Cut your sashing strips.

--Widths should be 1 3/4" for the front strips (orange in my case), and 1 1/8" for the back strips (black for me).

--Lengths will be whatever the length of your blocks and rows will be.

4. Fold you front sashing strip (the wider one) in half lengthwise, wrong sides together, and press. This folded edge will give you a finished edge after it is sewed and folded over.

5. Align the raw edges of BOTH sashing strips to the top of your first block, one on each side. Make sure your front sashing strip is right sides together with the front of the block, and the back sashing strip is right sides together with the back of your block. Pin in place. Sew a quarter inch seam through all layers.

When finished sewing, fold the sashing strips up and press the seams. The back sashing strip should be slightly longer (taller?!) than the front sashing strip at this point.

7. Now we will attach the second block to these sashing strips. We will start with the back sashing strip.

Align ONLY the top of the back sashing strip to the top edge of the second block, front sides together. Fold the front sashing strip (the one with with fold) out of the way. Pin it if necessary. You don't want it caught in the seam as you sew the back sashing strip to the second block. Sew the back sashing and the second block with a quarter inch seam.

The back of your block should have a finished look. Press the seam.

You can see the quarter inch seam you just sewed (I used orange thread so you can see it better.) The quarter inch seams of both blocks should just butt up against each other with no gaps or overlaps. When you fold the front sashing strip over the seam, the folded finished edge of the sashing should extend just past the seamline on the 2nd block, about an 8th of an inch.

Fold the top sashing strip over the seam, covering the quarter inch seam allowance line. Pin in place by pinning the ditch on the back side, just catching the edge of the top strip. You can also pin from the top, pinning just inside the edge of the sashing, and catch the ditch on the backside. Either way works.

You can sew this from either side. If you sew from the orange sashing side (the "front"), again, sew just to the inside of the pins. You can see your edge and I found that my sewing line is straighter and more even when I sewed on the front. However, the sewing line on the back may not be in the ditch as neatly as you wish. If you sew from the black sashing side (the "back"), sew just to the inside of your ditch on the sashing to be sure you catch the sashing on both side. Use a top-matching thread in your needle (black), and a back-matching thread in your bobbin (orange). Or a neutral thread in both, or an "invisible" thread. There is a learning curve to this, and I would recommend a practice square or 2 or 3 or 4....

After you have finished sewing the blocks together with sashing in rows, sew the rows together in the exact same way.

My father always told me, "Learn from the mistakes of others, you cannot possibly make them all yourself." With that in mind, I will share 2 mistakes I made. It's obvious what you should learn from them!