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Sashing and Borders

I have had a request to talk about sashing and borders.

Sashing is the term used for the strips of co-ordinating fabric seperating blocks.  Imagine you have constructed 9 blocks and they are nicely squared up to 12 ½”.  Lay them out in the order you find attractive.  

• Cut 2 strips of fabric 3" wide by 37 ½” long then divide into 3 equal 12 ½” x 3" = 6 sashing strips.
• Lay the sashing inbetween each block in rows 1 to 3.  Join using ¼” seams. Press well.
• Cut 2 strips 3 " x 41 ¾”.  Lay one strip in between row 1 and 2 and the other inbetween rows 2 and 3.  Join using ¼” seams. Press well.

Borders is the term used for the strips of fabric bordering or framing the quilt.  These can either be plain or made up of smaller blocks. To make sure the borders fit, measure the width of the quilt through the centre.  For the purpose of this exercise it should measure the same as the last measurement for the sashing i.e. 41¾”.   Borders are normally a little wider than the sashing.  This is because when quilting, the borders will be quilted a little denser than the rest of the quilt, therefore creating weight around the edges of the quilt.  Make sure you have squared up your quilt before adding the borders. 

• Cut 2 strips of fabric (normally the same as the sashing) 4" x  41¾” and attach one to the top and one to the bottom of the quilt, easing the quilt into each border.  Press seam towards the outside edge.
• Measure the quilt from the top to the bottom but through the centre of the quilt, not the edge (if you measure along the edge, the fabric could have stretched giving a false measurement).  
• Cut 2 strips 4" x 48 ½”.  Attach one strip to each side, easing the quilt in as you go. 
• Press seam to outer edge of quilt. 

  Good luck and let me know if it works for you.

Linda
Happy quiltin'
                     
 

A little help with Blog

Can anyone tell me how I can upload a PDF file to Blog? 

Chinese Coin Quilt

Here we are again on Sunday night - how does the weekend go so quick ?   I am sure we have all said this many times before. 

The last few weeks have been very busy, I have have started a new part-time job, my youngest grandson has turned one, Easter came and went and I have been trying to get to grips with my new english quilting machine and frame.  I have managed to quilt two baby quilts and a child's quilt, all for local charities. 

This quilt is all made from scraps ready to go to my friend who is raising funds for a playground in her village.  

What do you think? The quilt is chinese coin with sashing in between each stack with added borders with a cornerstone.  The binding is a scrappy binding.  Here's hoping it will raise a nice chunk of funds.

 I will be teaching this method on Tuesday and will add it as my first tutorial!  Well, here goes .....

Happy stitching.

I have not blogged for a while as my lovely grandchildren shared a flu-like virus with me that lasted over a week! Therefore, not much sewing has been done, but I've got some exciting news - my new english quilting frame is ready to be picked up - one more week to go and I shall be in seventh heaven. The machine arrived last week and, get this, it sat in the box for 4 days until I felt well enough to unpack it! I am so looking forward to the next stage of my quilting journey - hopefully I will have a few more followers soon. Happy quilting.

Quilts update No2

Got a little finger happy and posted the last post before I'd finished updating!  It's been a long week at work so you'll have to forgive me.

Progress is coming on with my Scrap Quilt Challenge.  I have spent a couple of evenings hand stitching and it has grown quite well.  I think the appliqued border I am planning will be taking longer than the scrappy centre.   What do you think so far?





Lets see what I can achieve this weekend in the stitchshed....... bye for now

Linda

Quilts update

This week has seen me finish the dinosaur quilt for my grandson who is 5 and loves it to bits!

It was a printed centre panel with matching fabric borders from www.equilter.com check out the website. I quilted an all-over meander pattern and here is the finished product.

 

A selection of quilts, large and small made by me.

I set myself a challenge this year - to use up as much of my stash as I can including the offcuts or leftovers from other quilts.  Therefore, my next quilt will be known as the "scrap quilt challenge".  This quilt will be constructed of 2 1/2" squares in the centre and I plan to add an appliqued border.  This quilt will be handstitched from start to finish so let's see how long it takes!  



First view of my scrap quilt challenge...



I have started already and this is how far I have got. Once you get started it just grows and grows. 

I have also been very busy this week and finished my lap quilt for the first of my two charities this year. The charities will raffle the quilts to raise funds for their cause.  The first is Bury parish council raising money for a childrens playground in their village and the second is the residents activities fund for Hilton Park (Nursing home). 

The quilt reminds me of a picnic come summer table cloth so I am going to call it the picnic quilt. Here are a few photos of the finished product.  What do you think?

 Well, bye for now - happy quilting in this cold weather.  





Here we are in 2012 - we have successfully moved house and spent the past five months renovating and building a new studio for my sewing.  It has a good situation in the garden just across the patio and sits in the sunshine most of the day - how exciting........!

I have had quite a break from quilting as we have been really busy.  I think I have worn myself and DH out with all the work! Anyway new year, new start.   I have about three quilts on the go ready to be quilted so I must get busy and start layering them up.  

Bye for now - happy quilting.....