QAYG tutorial

There are many ways to Quilt As You Go (QAYG). I often use the first way I learned with slight modifications. I like this method because no machine stitching shows and I do not have to use a sashing.

Start by quilting your pieces BUT do not quilt within about 1" of any edges to be joined. 

1. Working with the first piece, I usually lightly press  the edge that I am going to join.

2. Trim the backing and batting even with the edge that is going to be joined.

3. Fold back the top of the quilt and the backing and pin leaving the batting which will be trimmed.

Top of quilt pinned away from batting.

Back of quilt pinned away from batting.

 4. Carefully trim 1/2" off of the batting. Do NOT cut the top or the backing of the quilt.

Be careful - do NOT cut thru the top or the backing.

When you take the pins out, the top and the back will cover the batting.

5. Working with the second piece, lightly press the edge that is to be joined.

6. Fold the backing back under the batting away from the edge

Lift the batting then fold the backing back under the quilt.

and pin to hold it.

Pin the backing back onto itself.

When it is pinned, the backing should be at least an inch under the edge of the top of the quilt.

The backing is pinned and held back at least an inch from the edge of the top.

7. With the backing pinned out of the way, carefully trim the batting even with the top. Do NOT cut through the backing.

Cut just the batting even with the top. The backing is pinned out of the way.

 8. Unpin the backing, smooth it out, and

trim the backing 1/2" from the edge of the top of the quilt.

 9. On both pieces to be joined, fold back and pin the batting and the backing out of the way so the tops can be joined.

Fold back the backing on piece one and pin out of the way.

Fold back the batting and the backing on piece two and pin out of the way.

 10. Place right sides of the tops together

The pins are holding the batting and backing away from the edge.

and pin often.

Only the tops of the quilt are pinned together to be sewn. The backing and batting are pinned out of the way.

 Stitch a 1/4" seam. 

Carefully sew the seam.

11. When the seam is sewn, check to be sure it is okay. Now is the time to make any adjustments or corrections.

Check both sides of the seam and the right side to be sure everything is fine.

 Then lightly press the seam open.

Press seam open.

12. Remove the pins that were holding the batting and backing out of the way.

Remove pins holding backing and batting out of the way.

 And lightly press the batting and backing flat.

Lightly press the batting and backing flat.

Lightly press the batting and backing flat.

13. Place the quilt with the backing side on top. Fold back the backing to see the batting. The two pieces of batting should just meet. Baste the pieces together sewing through JUST the batting.

Take a long stitch on the right side of the batting.

Take a long stitch on the left side of the batting.

Sorry I turned the camera. 

14. Unfold the backing over the batting.

 Fold under 1/2" on the longer side, 

The ruler is upside down - your eyes are fine!

pin it on top of the other side and press.

Back of quilt almost done!

Stitch this seam with a blind hem stitch being careful to catch only the backing and not the top of the quilt.

15. All that is left to do is to finish the quilting on the top of the quilt. 

I know this seems long but it really is easy!

Checkered Border Tutorial

A checkered border may look like you need to cut a few hundred tiny squares and sew them together but there is an easier way!

My border is using 1 1/4" squares in lights and darks.

Photo of pattern picture

I am using the background fabric for my light squares and a charm pack for my dark or colored squares. I am cutting 1 1/4" strips from the background scraps (you may cut them wider and trim after sewing) Then I'm cutting each strip to a length of about 5 1/4" (the approximate length of my charm squares). You could use strips the width of the fabric for both the light and the colored squares. I'm using charm squares to get a wide variety of color.

charm squares and background fabric strips

Sew one strip to each charm square right sides together, matching the long side of the light strip to one side of the charm square. Use 1/4" seams throughout. Press the seams toward the dark which will be the charm square. 

Strip sewn to charm square. Seam pressed toward charm square.

Now trim each piece. Both the background strip and the charm square strip should be 1" from seam. Also be sure the ends are even.

Cut 1 inch from seam

Strip after cutting

Trim ends even

Sew a few of these trimmed pieces together. I sewed 8 of these pieces together (a total of 16 strips) because I thought that was easy to work with. You may want to use a different number. A rule I follow is the longer the strips, the less I sew together. So if my strips are the width of the fabric, I would only sew 4 - 6 together for a block.

Be sure to alternate dark strips and light strips

Block of 16 strips

Carefully press the seams to the darker fabric. 

Press seams towards the darker fabric

 Keep the finished piece straight. You may want to use Best Press (my preference) or a spray starch.

Use Best Press or starch

Now, going across the stripes, cut 1 1/4" strips. 

Carefully line up ruler

Strips cut

Assemble the border, alternating strips that have different fabrics. 

Layout strips for the checkered border

If you put two of the same strips together or it you use a small number of fabrics, this can still look random. Just turn some of the strips.

Same 2 strips next to each other! 

When you sew the pieces together for the border, the seams will nest nicely together if you pressed correctly.

A Neat New Block!

While at Quilt Camp this year, I learned a new block. No one knows who first thought of this so I'm sorry that I can't give that person credit.

Start with 4 squares. You can use any size squares - I am using charm squares which are 5" squares. The four squares need to be different colors.

Sew the 4 squares into a 4-patch and press well.

Now for the cutting. Use 20% of the size of the original square so for a 5" square, use 1". For a 10" square, use 2".  My original square was 5", so I will be using 1". If you use a different number, the finished block will have different size pieces but it will work. 

Carefully cut 1" from each seam.

To cut the other side of the seam, move around the cutting table or move the cutting mat. This piece is upside down because I moved to the other side of my cutting table.

Now carefully cut 1" from the crosswise seam. When you are through with the cutting, you will have 9 pieces.

I have numbered them so I can easily refer to them.

Exchange the middle top and the middle bottom pieces - so swap pieces 2 and 8. Don't turn the pieces.

Exchange the middle side pieces - so swap pieces 4 and 6. Don't turn the pieces.

Rotate the middle piece twice - so turn piece 5 twice. The little blue square that was in the upper left will now be in the lower right.

Sew these 9 pieces together as a 9-patch, being careful to keep the pieces in the correct orientation. Press well. Square up the block to 8" or perhaps 8 1/2" if your squares were exactly 5" and your 1/4" seams are perfect. That's it!

What happens if you mix up some of the pieces - nothing really. The block will still look scrappy. If you want to keep the block with a pattern, follow the above steps. 

You can see the pattern below. Look at the red corner square and the other red pieces (arrows are pointing at the other pieces). Can you see the same pattern for the blue? 

The block is neat alone but you can put some together. Sorry the reds and greens aren't showing up in the right color in this photo!

Or you might put some blocks together with sashing. You might be able to see the safety pins - this piece is ready to be quilted.

Doesn't it look neat?! Everyone at camp loved it!