Sewing together a quilt topSewing together a quilt top

What is the next step once you have all the blocks for a quilt made?  Sewing the top together, of course!

For the quilt above, directions on how to assemble its blocks are posted here.

To understand the following steps, please keep in mind that the goal is to sew the blocks together into rows first, and then join the rows to assemble the entire quilt top.  In this article, I’ve documented how I do it to make the process as efficient as possible.

–> I first arrange the quilt blocks on the floor or on a design wall as I want them in the finished quilt, like so:

–> Then I begin pairing the blocks together, flipping the blocks from the second and fourth columns onto the blocks from the first and third columns, like this:

Here all of the blocks are paired:

–> Starting at the top of the first column, I pick up the first pair of blocks and stack them on top of the second set of blocks, then stack the first two pairs on top of the third, and so on.  When I have all of the blocks picked up from the first column, I place them on top of the first pair of blocks of the second column and keep stacking until I’ve picked up all of the pairs: the very first pair will be on the top and the last will be on the bottom.  Arranged this way, I’ll sew along the right edge of the paired blocks.  Once I have them all stacked, I like to place a pin along the side I’ll be sewing, just so they don’t get turned around on the way to the sewing machine.  Hey, it happens!

–> Sitting at the sewing machine, I’ll take the first two blocks that are paired right sides together and ready them for sewing by pinning them where the triangles will match up.  Pin as much as you like, but either 2 or 3 do the trick for me.  Here’s a picture of my pin placement:

–> Sew a 1/4” seam to join the blocks together.

The next picture shows chain piecing, which simply means that once you have completed a seam, instead of clipping threads, just begin another seam.  Units or blocks are chained together with continuous threads.  It’s a great time and thread saver.

–> I continue to sew all of the paired blocks together, chain piecing as I go.

–> Once all pairs are sewn, it’s time to cut the blocks apart from each other.  Unchaining them, if you will.  Will you?

–> To keep them in order, I cut the last blocks from the chain and start a pile in front of me.  Like this:

–> Next, I cut the second-to-last blocks from the chain, and place them on top of the pile I started in the last step.  I continue cutting the blocks from the chain a pair at a time and placing them in an orderly fashion on top of the pile, seams positioned the same way.

Now, before it’s time to press, I’ll revisit my pressing strategy.  Let’s have a look:

I’ve drawn arrows in so that you can see my plan.  The seams of the first row of blocks will all be pressed towards the right.   The second row will all be pressed to the left, and so on.

Why is this important?

I’ll tell you: When the rows are joined together the seam allowances will abut and make the sewing much easier.  It will also help the seam allowances lie flat, reducing bulk which will be important during the quilting process.

–> To press the seams of the first pair of blocks toward the right, I place the blocks on the pressing surface with the block to the right (as per its orientation in the quilt) on the top.

–> Then I set the seam by pressing the iron on the seam as it was sewn.  Like this:

(When you’re setting the seam, don’t actually set the iron down and take a picture… unless you want to) :)

–> Next I open the pair and press into the seam.  The seam allowances will go to the right.  Here’s a picture:

This is where I look to see how good of a job I did matching the triangle points.

Pretty darn good!

Not such a good job with this set of triangles (below), but I can definitely live with it.  Here’s what the back should look like when you peek:

Now, since this is the first set of blocks joined, I’ll start a pile by placing the pair face down next to the ironing board, like this:

Then I’ll go back to the unpressed stack of blocks and ready the next pair for pressing.  They’ll be the first two blocks of the second row, which I want to press to the left.  So, this time, I’ll place the block on the left on top to ready for pressing:

–> Set the seam.  Then open it out to press the seams to the left like this:

A peek to the back will reveal…:

Seams going to the left!  Hooray!

–> To keep everything orderly, I’ll turn this next pair right-side down on top of the pile I started with the first set of blocks.

–> Now I’ll continue to press the pairs of sewn blocks according to the diagram above.  Pressing and stacking, pressing and stacking…

–> After pressing all pairs, I’ll flip the whole stack over so that the first pair I pressed will be at the top, like this:

–> Now I’ll lay the pairs out on the floor (or design wall).  They are already in order, so I’ll lay the first four pairs out in one column and then the other four in the next column, like this:

It’s starting to shape up, isn’t it?

–> Similarly to how I sewed the individual blocks into pairs, I’ll sew the pairs into rows.  I’ll flip the second column of pairs onto the first, like this:

Until they’re all paired, like so:

–> And then I’ll stack them into an orderly pile, keeping the first blocks on top (small pin along the sewing side):

–> And next comes sewing the seams.  I’ll pin to match the triangle points and then chain-piece:

–> After the seams are sewn, I’ll unchain the rows, stacking neatly as I go:

–> Next, I’ll press.  Again, I’ll look at my pressing plan and press accordingly.  First row: the seams all go to the right.  Second row: all seams go to the left.  Third row: right.  Fourth row: left.

–> The block that the seam will be pressed toward goes on the top.  Here I’ll set the seam:

–> And then I’ll open and press into the seam.  Sometimes it’s helpful to hold the fabric up as I’m pressing to make sure the seams go the right way.

–> I’ll set the row aside, turning it face-down and starting another pile of rows (like in the background of the picture below).

–> Then I’ll take the next set and press toward the left, setting the seam first and then opening and pressing into them as follows:

–> This row is done now, so I’ll stack it on top of the first row.

–> I’ll press the 3rd and 4th rows just like the 1st and 2nd, stack them, and then turn the whole stack of rows right-side up and then lay ‘em out.

We’re really getting somewhere now!

–> Next, I’m going to flip the 1st row onto the 2nd row and the 3rd row onto the 4th.  Like this:

–> Next, I’ll stack them, keeping the first row on top and placing a pin (can you see it?) along the side to be sewn:

–> Now I’ll sew a long seam joining the rows together, this requires more pinning to make sure the blocks line up.  This is where the directional pressing comes into play.  Have a look:

I can use my fingers to wiggle the rows until they are locked and nestled together.  I’ll pin on both sides of this block intersection, like this:

–>  I like to secure and pin all of these intersections first and then go back in between the blocks and pin the places where the triangles will join, I’ve started that process here:

And here the pinning is complete:

–> Next, I’ll sew a 1/4” seam to join the 1st and 2nd rows together.  Then I’ll do the same with the 3rd and 4th rows.

–> After the rows are joined, the next step to press.  It does not matter which direction – up or down – to press these seams.

–> The last steps are joining the remaining two sets (of two rows each) together.

Pin, sew, press… and it’s done!

Here’s the complete top:

With this quilt, I decided to personalize it by appliquéing the name “jace” to the top.  I’ll detail those instructions in another tutorial coming soon…