Quilting As I Go: Part Deux

Couple of weeks ago I started showing you how I was using the QAYG process on the Crooked Cabins quilt (here is the link to that post). In that post I got as far as step one, quilting the blocks. I promised to show you the next steps, so here we are.

First you start with your delicious pile of quilted blocks.

Following your top layout, start sewing your quilted blocks together. Right sides together and sew with a 1/2" seam allowance.

 

This of course is more than our regular 1/4", but you need a little extra room so that you can iron the seams flat open to help reduce bulk.  

Trimming the ends of each seam is also important too help cut down on bulk as you join multiple blocks together.

Continue to join all of your blocks until you your top is complete. You wind up with a fully quilted quilt top with a back that looks like this.
Following your favorite technique, baste your quilted top to the backing fabric. I typically pin baste, but on this particular night I was feeling all frisky and pulled out the spray baste. Wild I know. But it worked!

 

If you do pin baste you should think ahead about where the next quilting lines will fall because the next step is to attach the top to the back by quilting in the ditch between the quilted blocks.

So not all of your quilting will shown on the back, but you will see the block outlines.

Once your quilting in the ditch is all done, square up your top and bind, again using your fave method. And your quilt is done!! Of course a nice picture of my finished quilt would be good at this point right? Sure would, and it has actually been off on location for it's photo shoot. But this quilt is going in the mail to it's new owner, so want to save the reveal until it is in their hot little hands. UPDATE - The quilt has landed, so you can click here to see the finished quilt :)

So, that is QYAG. I really liked the process and for sure will be doing it again. A couple of things I learned trying this process:

1. If you are following a pattern, make sure to take into account the 1/2" seam allowance you are going to need to sew your finished blocks together. I did not do this. Overall it did not affect the pattern, but the finished size quilt ended up being a mite smaller :)

2. This method of quilting is great for a "plain even-sized blocks sewn together in a column" quilt top. if it is anything else, you need to do some pre-planning.

Take my project as an example, I had various sized log cabins and negative space in the pattern. The Log cabins blocks were fine, I quilted those by echoing the shape of the cabins in the quilting. But then when I got to the negative space I had to treat each area of the negative space like a stand alone block as well. In terms of how to quilt those individual pieces, this took some thought. At first I was all like "I will quilt log cabins in the white spaces to echo the log cabin blocks". Sure, this is a good idea, but a lot of the pieces were triangles, and quilting squares in them ended up looking ridiculous. So after some quality time with my seam ripper. I decided to just mirror each shape with the quilting.

I cannot say that I was 100% happy with my solution, but after it was all washed and fluffy, I quite like the result.

3. Light backing fabric is not the friend of QYAG. Why you ask ? The seams show through!

You see the issue I ran into after I had pieced a lovely back? After a quick consult with a quilty friend who quashed my "But it adds more texture to the back", I found a darker colored fabric, re basted, and quilted in the ditch. The seams are now hidden, and all you see is the stitch in the ditch quilting lines.

So, have you tried this method, or is it on your "to try" list? Would love to hear anything you have learned about this process.

Stay tuned for the finished quilt :)
Adrienne

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