Part Five

Well, now we're getting to the real fun parts! Now we'll start putting blocks together to build rows.

There are some tricky parts here- for best results, seams have to go in certain directions, so follow closely and don't just run ahead!

Double check just how big you want your quilt to be. Using the measurement for our "standard block", we know that the blocks should be 3 1/2" x 5". There are still seam allowances in there, so our real finished block will be 3" x 4 1/2". Using this measurement (or the measurement for your own particular size block) determine how many blocks you will need to a row to produce the height quilt you want. If you have 13 blocks per row, you will end up with a finished assembly 58 1/2".

Next determine how many rows you need to make the quilt the width you want. Again using our standard block, you can see that you need 16 rows to get 48". Many people are going to want a quilt a bit larger. You can work out your own dimensions. Remember that you can substantially increase the size of a quilt by adding wide borders.

In order to produce our final pattern, you will need to assemble your vertical rows with one extra block each. Knowing this, you can work out just how many blocks you need and make sure you have that many, plus a few in case of problems. (Actually, you should have thrown out the problem blocks at the measure and true step in Part Four, so you probably won't need the extras, but it's good to have them. If you have lots of extras, there is a fun thing to do with them when we're through, but more of that later!)

There is a great desire at this point to just start assembling pieces into units of two, then four, etc. If you are experienced and are comfortable with your knowledge of how many blocks/rows the assembly will have, you can chain stitch away and save some time. If you are a beginner, I think you will be better off to lay your pieces out in the vertical rows you plan, and sew one row at a time, and that is the process I will describe.

Place a block on the sewing machine bed, in front of the needle, good side up and dark strip to the left. Place a second block on top of it, good side down and dark strip to the right. Sew them together with a 1/4" seam. Note that as the piece slides under the needle, the foot passes over the cross seam on the bottom in the "favored" direction, i.e. it flows smoothly without any tendency to lift the seam or flip it over. Continue to join pairs of blocks, then join the pairs to form your row. Obviously, if you have an odd number of blocks in your row, you will have to sew the odd one on last.

Do not iron the seams at this time! However, this is a good time to give the edges of your row a visual check. Look for misalignments at the joining seams. I found several in my rows. These can come from several sources. One of mine was because in the ironing process for the joined strips (light and medium fabrics) the seam had not opened up all the way. I fixed that one by ripping the joining seam, re-ironing the vertical seam and then rejoining the blocks. I had another where something had absolutely gone wrong in the cutting process and I hadn't picked it up in the trim and true stage. I took that block out and replaced it.

When you have all of your rows sewed, check them for uniformity by laying them side by side. I found two that had problems- in the trim and true stage, I had missed trimming the bottom edge of the two vertical strips. Again, I ripped the seams, trimmed them properly and rejoined them.

Incidentally, this kind of problem is normal. Any time you try to set up a production of many of something, there are going to be errors. That's why I advise making too many blocks.

Moving Along.