Friday, February 25, 2011

Happy Quilting Quilt-A-Long Corner Instructions

I have to apologize for getting this post up so late.  I meant to post it earlier this morning but it has been one of those mornings :)  And then when I got to it I had a near panic attack because I thought all the yardage was off.  After 20 minutes, I saw where I was making the mental error, double checked the yardage in all the sizes and realized everything was still good. (although, some of you might have a 1/4" extra, sorry :)   Whoo, that was scary!!

So, here it is . . the next step in the Happy Quilting Quilt-A-Long.  I will give everyone a bit of time to get this step done as it is a bit labor intensive :)  Don't forget to post your pictures on flickr of your progress, it is so fun to see how everyone is doing :)


We'll start today with cutting out our "corner" pieces, we have been referring to them as Sashing pieces so far.  The chart below will let you know how many strips you need to cut and how many squares from those strips depending on the size quilt you are making.  It is there for reference :)



Start by grabbing your piece of yardage that you will be using for sashing.  Line it up along the 0 horizontal line on your mat.  make sure that it is aligned all along the bottom line.  Now go ahead and cut a nice straight edge to work with.  I like to cut along the 35" line on my mat :)


Now, from your nice straight edge, count over 13" inches on your mat.  Lay your ruler along the horizontal line making sure to match up along the top and the bottom of the mat.  Count again and make sure you have 13".  Always best to measure twice and cut once :)  Once you are lined up cut along the edge of your ruler.


You now have a 13" strip.  I cut one strip at a time because of how wide they are.  So go ahead and set your remaining yardage aside for a minute.  Now we are going to be working horizontally.  Measure up 6 1/2" inches from the folded bottom. (13" when unfolded) Align your ruler along the horizontal 6 1/2" line.  Now I know what your saying, I don't have a 6 1/2" line :)  No worries, see the next picture.


To cut along a horizontal 1/2" line simply align the 1/2" line on your ruler along the inch line.  In our case the 6" line.  This makes the edge of your ruler along the desired 1/2" line, in our case the 6 1/2" line.  Make sure to align this along both right and left side of your strip and then cut along the 6 1/2" line edge.


Now, without moving your fabric, measure up 13".  This will put you on the 19 1/2" line.  Once again, line up your ruler the same way you did in the last step.  When you are all lined up, cut along the horizontal edge.


Lastly, and this is just personal preference, I like to have my scraps ready to use so I quickly trim off the selvage so that my excess scrap piece at the top is selvage free :)  Now go ahead and repeat cutting your 13" strips and squares for as many as you need.  (see the reference chart :)  Make sure to press your squares that were along the fold line.


So, now you are ready to cut your squares.  This will be just like when we sliced the 16 patch blocks.  Align your ruler diagonal across the block.  Make sure to intersect both corners.  Cut along the edge of your ruler.


Now, without moving your block, align your ruler along the opposite diagonal.  Once again, make sure to intersect both corners.  Once aligned, cut along the edge of your ruler.


You will end up with 4 triangles out of each squares.  Continue cutting all of your squares in this manner.  Once they are all cut you can set your triangles aside.


Okay, so those charms that you set aside, go ahead and grab them now.  Now it's time for a little marking.  Go ahead and grab a pen.  Align your ruler diagonal from corner to opposite corner on the wrong side of a charm square.  Draw a line.


Now, measure over 1/2" from your drawn line.  Align the 1/2" mark on your ruler along the first drawn line.  When aligned, go ahead and draw a second line.

Side note ***  This  step is not part of the quilt but keeps from having useless scraps.  I like my scraps to have a purpose.  So if you feel the same way about your scraps, mark this second line, if you don't care about having extra leftovers, go ahead and ignore it.  (You can see further down for a better idea of how your scraps will be used in the end.)


Your charm square should look like this.  Go ahead and repeat this process for all of your charm squares.


Once you are all marked you are ready to start pinning.  So grab your sashing triangles, your marked charm squares and your pins :)


Align your charm square on top of your sashing triangle with right sides together as shown below.  Make sure that the second drawn line is on top of the first. (not below).


Pin your two pieces together.  I like to put 1 pin in the top and 2 in the bottom.  You want them to be marginally close to the line but also far enough away that you can sew along the line without having to remove the pins as you go.  Continue this process with all of your triangles and charms.


Now you are ready to sew.  Begin by feeding your first set through your machine.  You will be sewing directly on the first drawn line (the one from corner to corner.)  Continue to chain stitch all of your sets.  When completed clip the threads between your sets.


Now you are ready to sew the second line.  This is just like the first.  You will feed the first piece through sewing directly on that line.  Then continue to chain stitch all of your pieces, sewing directly on that line.    (Once again, if you are not worrying about the scraps, you can just skip this step.)


Once all your pieces are sewn go ahead and clip the threads between pieces.  Now, we are going to go ahead and cut between those 2 sewn lines.  I just use my scissors as these are seams on the back and I am not worried about them being perfect.  but you are welcome to use a ruler and mat to give a perfect 1/4" seam.  (if you didn't use the second line you probably want to do that so your scrappy triangles are cut straight.)


So now you have two pieces like this.  All that is left is a little pressing :)


This time, I don't press open.  There is not so much a worry of bulk out here so I like to press away from the sashing and towards the print :)  Do this for both pieces.


Now, just clip your little tail ends on your HST and wham. You have your corner piece ready and a cute left-over HST ready for a matching project :)  Repeat this process with all of your triangle sets :)


As most of you know, the possibilities are limitless of what you can do with HST's.  Depending on the size of your project, you can use the leftover HST's to make a pillow, a smaller blanket, a wall hanging, etc, etc, etc. Here is a flickr group dedicated to HST's.  It will help to give you a few ideas of what to do with those scrappy pieces, and I will be giving a few ideas as well when we get closer to the end :)

So that is it for today :) Have fun this weekend and  Happy Quilting!!!
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11 comments:

  1. Are the numbers right for the 3 x 4 quilt? Would it be 12 disappearing, 12 sashing, 48 corner?

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  2. Sorry, I forgot to change the heading on one of the columns. It is 4 sashing rows (so 4 13" strips) which you will get 12 sashing squares (13 x 13) out of which will then be cut into 48 corners. Sorry for the confusion :)

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  3. Oy! Ok well I'll see you again in a couple of weeks. Ha Ha. I did tell you I'm the world's slowest cutter right?

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  4. Thanks for clearing that up - if I would have read instead of skimmed it probably would have made sense too ...

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  5. This is the funnest quilt pattern I have ever made! I love stitching bias seams, don't ask me why!

    Your instructions and pictures are fabulous. You have a real knack for teaching.

    www.busyhandsquilts.blogspot.com

    Mrs. Hearts

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  6. yippee skippee this is so fun!
    Thanks for your effort is making things clear for us all!

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  7. I am having so much fun with this quilt, I only started last Monday and I'm caught up, but now I have to wait for my sashing fabric :o(

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  8. When I read this I was afraid of this step, but your directions were perfect, and I finished with no problems. Thanks!

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  9. I am getting caught up on this step. I have my pieces cut and pinned.. and I am just finishing the marking so I can sew and press. Quick question, should I still have a few charms left over? I can't remember if I cut extra or it's possible when I did this last night I didn't count correctly. Loving how the quilt is looking and already thinking I may need to make another in a different color scheme!

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  10. Thank you so much for the tutorial :)

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  11. Finally getting to catch up on this! I'm doing 4 x 5 - so it says I should cut 6 13" strips and 20 13" squares. Following the cutting instructions, I'm getting 3 squares per strip, at 6 strips that's 18 squares. Am I doing something wrong? Thanks! Sorry to be asking questions MONTHS after the QA!

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Thank you so much for your sweet comments. I just love hearing from you!!
Have a Happy Quilting Day :)

Melissa