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Now You Can Travel and Not Give Up Any Quilting Time Have you ever taken a long car trip, gone on a cruise, or had a bunch of appointments and wished that you had a portable quilting project? Now you can learn how to make a quilt one block at a time while you are traveling, waiting, or just because you want to make it that way. |
Tips for Easy Quilt as You Go Projects
Many quilters love Quilt as You Go projects. In a quilt as you go project, you piece and then quilt one block at a time (instead of sewing the quilt top together then quilting it).
As a result, you finish individual blocks which will be connected to each other to become a quilt.
Because you work on one block at a time:
- There is much less bulk to work with as you are layering and quilting the quilt. That means you can machine quilt easily on your home sewing machine without worrying about stuffing your big quilt through the opening in your machine
- It is easy to take with you for appointments, while you travel, or just to pick up and work on for a minute or two
- You get a great feeling of accomplishment each time you complete a block and watch your stack of finished blocks get taller each day
- The time between finishing the blocks and finishing your quilt is less
- The size of your quilt is completely flexible - you can change your mind halfway through making the quilt, and either add blocks or end the quilt smaller than you originally planned
There are a couple of things you need to keep in mind:
- You need to plan ahead a little more. When you layer and quilt your blocks, you need to know how much extra batting and backing to have to your quilt blocks can be attached easily
- It takes a little extra batting and backing. It seems to be easiest to layer your block, having the batting and backing extending beyond the block as you do your quilting (as shown in the picture above) and then trim the excess off as you attach the blocks
- Your quilting designs typically will be contained within the block, not extending across the sashing and/or into a neighboring block. It is possible to add that type of quilting after your project is put together, but typically, the quilting is within the block.
- The backing of your quilt will show seams between the blocks where you attach one block to the next block. If you use a print or floral fabric, your seams are less likely to show.
There is quite a bit of flexibility in your quilt construction. Your blocks can have:
- sashing between the blocks
- no sashing between the blocks
- quilting after they are pieced
- pieced as a crazy quilt - where you add one piece at a time and sew it directly onto the foundation (batting and backing)
- trim covering the seams that attach them
- just plain seams where they are attached to each other
Before you begin your project, it is a good idea to consider:
- What kind of fabric you will use for your backing. If you use a print, your seams are less likely to show, and you may be able to do all of the stitching on the machine.
- Which method you will use to sew the blocks together so you have enough fabric around the outside of your block – without wasting any fabric. If you are adding sashing, you will need enough batting and backing.
Step-by-Step for one method of Quilt as You Go
Happy Quilting!
Penny Halgren
©2009, Penny Halgren
Penny is a quilter of more than 27 years who seeks to interest new
quilters and provide them with the resources necessary to create
beautiful quilts.
This article courtesy of http://www.How-To-Quilt.com. You may freely reprint this article on your website or in your newsletter provided this courtesy notice and the author name and URL remain intact.
