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Building a Border for Your Quilt

Whether your quilt is big or small, a lap size or a wall hanging, borders are a fun design element to add. But how do you determine what kind of border is the best for your quilt? I consider the border of my quilt to be its “frame”. Just like a fancy picture frame accents the picture within, a beautiful plain or pieced border should accent the quilt top you worked on for weeks.  But, your quilt might not even need a border. I’ll show you an example of some of mine that didn’t need one. Hopefully this post will help you decide if you need a border and, if so, what kind should you choose for your quilt. Let’s go!

Do I Need a Border?

Your quilt may not need a border. I’ll show you a few of mine where I decided against a border to demonstrate. Generally if your quilt is very busy or has a prominent secondary design that emerges, you may not need a border.
First, my quilt Twinkling Log Cabin:

 
The two different blocks in this quilt each have a lot of pieces and are very busy. You could put a plain border on it to make it larger, but I think it would detract from the design. If you wanted to make this one bigger, make more of the blocks.

Strips & Stars is another of my quilts that I felt did not need a border:


This quilt has some two way secondary design that keeps the eye busy. I think a border, plain or not, would detract from this. If I wanted to make this quilt bigger, I would also just continue to make more blocks to keep the secondary design going.

Types of Borders

Now if you decided to add a border, here are some of your options. They range from easy and plain to pieced to appliqué.

First are plain borders. These borders are the ones quilters generally add to make a quilt bigger. I like them because they create a frame to enhance a design but also do not draw your eye away from the design. I call these “quiet” borders. Here is one example:


The border on Town Square is made of plain black strips to enhance the colorful blocks of this quilt but also not take away from the design.

Another type of plain border is to add two or three plain borders to create a frame for the quilt that almost looks like a picture when it is in a frame with a matte. That’s what I did here in these two quilts:


For Stepping Stones on the left, I used a combination of three strips, two of the same color, to make the “frame”. For Christmas Dreams on the right, I used only two colors. They both work to create an interesting frame.

Next, pieced borders can be just one pieced border or a combination of a pieced border and a plain border. In many cases, I use a plain border to size the quilt top to the size needed so the pieced border I have chosen fits. Here’s two quilts that have a pieced border only:


Both of these quilts above have just pieced borders with no plain border to size up the quilt. For Skylight on the left, I used a scrappy pieced border with pieces of various sizes so I could easily fit the border strips to length and width of the top. 

Luckily with Star Struck on the right I was able to find a size of flying geese units that perfectly fit on all four sides because the quilt top measured to a number divisible by four.

These next quilts needed a plain border to size it for the pieced border to fit. This makes it easy to do pieced borders, you can always get it to fit if you start with the plain one.


With both Sun Catcher and Tree Farm, the center of the quilt top did not measure to a size that would allow my pieced border to fit, so I added a plain strip around the center of each to size them up. This allowed me to use the pieced borders I wanted for each of them.

Getting Creative

Now, here are a few tips on getting creative with your borders. First up, pull out an element from the quilt blocks that make up the top and use that for your pieced border. Here’s an example from three of my quilts:


This creates a continuity between your quilt and the border and, many times, give you the opportunity to use left over fabric.

A second creative border is appliqué. This is a fun way to fill a plain border if you want to. Here’s two of my quilts where I did that:


Here’s one where I used appliqué to fill in the plain border I used to get the pieced border to fit.


Finally, you can have fun with scrappy borders like these below. This is a good way to use up extra fabric and also add some fun to your quilt.


Measuring Your Quilt Top

All this border talk mean nothing if you can’t make it fit. The best way to do that is to measure your quilt accurately. This way you will know if the pieced border will fit with or without a plain border to size it up. Here are the steps:

Step 1: Measure your quilt top vertically in 3 places. On the left, in the middle and on the right. Add those numbers together and divide by 3 for the average. (See diagram below) That will be the length of the border strips for the sides.


Step 2: Attach the side border strips and then measure the quilt top horizontally in 3 places. Through the center and on the right and the left. This will be the length of the border strips for the top and bottom. (see diagram)


Step 3: Add the top and bottom borders:


So that’s all I have for this week. Have fun with the borders on your next quilt, whether you are adding it to make your quilt bigger or just to frame your quilt.

Happy Quilting!
Deanne

Modifying the Size of Your Quilt

Have you ever looked at a pattern in the quilt shop and wondered “can I make this bigger?”. If that’s the case, this blog post is for you! Some patterns have instructions to make different sizes, but not all of them. I will give tips this week on how to make a quilt bigger using different methods. Let’s get started!

Making the Quilt Bigger

Add Blocks:

One of the easiest ways to  make a quilt bigger is to make more blocks, adding additional rows and columns. But an interesting twist to that is to add a completely different alternating block to a one block design quilt. It will serve the purpose of enlarging the size of the quilt and could add some secondary design. Choose an easy block to add, especially if the original quilt block is a complicated design. A simpler block won’t take away from the beauty of the original. Here’s a few examples:


The quilt on the left (above) is one of my one block quilts, Town Square, that is lap quilt size. If you want to make it bigger, you can add an alternating plain block, like I did in the rendering on the right. Town Square, is 68 x 68. By adding the plain block to separate the 25 blocks in the quilt, I have increased the size of the quilt to 92 x 92″.

If you want to make it more interesting, make the alternating block a pieced one, but simple. Here is the same variation but with a snowball style block that also adds a little secondary design.


The simple snowball block added as the alternate block serves to make the quilt bigger but also creates an interesting “criss cross” secondary design. When adding an alternate block, make sure it “plays” well with the original block. Also, if you do not want the quilt to be square, you can add an additional row to the bottom of the quilts. Then it would be 92 x 112″.

Add Sashing:

The next option to make it bigger, although not as big as adding another block, is to add sashing to a quilt that doesn’t have it. Sashing is simply defined as plain strips of fabric separating blocks. That is historically what it was used for, whether it was in a one block style quilt or in a sampler. Sashing can also be pieced to create a secondary design.

Below is my Town Square quilt again with sashing added.


I added 4″ sashing to separate the blocks and the quilt now measures 84 x 84″. You can see in the last picture that I changed the look by making the sashing a light color.

I recommend the width of your sashing be no wider than 1/3 the measurement of your block. The Town Square blocks are 12″ finished, so the widest the sashing should be is 4″ finished.

Here’s a fun thing I have done with sashing to create a secondary design in some of my other quilts.


For Summer Bouquets and Starfire, I jazzed up the sashing by adding dark corner stones and some stitch and flip corners to the sashing strips to create a star design once the quilt top rows were joined. For Starfire, I also added some appliqué in the outer border for more fun.

Here’s some sashing rules of thumb that I follow.

Tip #1: Keep the sashing the same width throughout. Unless you’re going for a “wonky” look. I like to make my sashing a width that is divisible into the block size, but I’m also careful not to make it too wide. If I have 6″ blocks, my sashing is usually no wider than 2″ finished. With a 12″ block, I can go up to a width of 4″ if I like.

Tip #2: Plan ahead if you want plain sashing, sashing with cornerstones or if you want to create a design using the sashing like in my examples above. The main reason for this is to help with picking out fabric that coordinates well with your blocks.

Tip#3: The easiest way to do plain sashing is to have shorter strips joining the blocks into the rows you want and then having longer strips, the length of the rows, to join them together. However, if you are doing corner stones, all your sashing strips will measure the size of your blocks on all sides. Here’s an example of each:


Add Borders:

Finally, borders can be used to make a quilt bigger. They can also serve to use up left over fabric. Of course you can always add a wide, plain border to the quilt to increase the size, but, why not have some fun?


For Reunion, on the left, instead of just adding a plain border to increase the size of the quilt, I added a pieced border with large stars to add to the design while making the quilt bigger. For Constellations on the right, I used leftover fabric to add three borders, a scrappy checkerboard sandwiched between two plain borders.

Of course the easiest way to enlarge a quilt with borders is to just add wider plain borders, especially if you want to make a lap size quilt big enough for a bed. Here’s a mock up of one of Reunion with a wide plain border, leaving everything else the same.


The size of the quilt originally is 72 x 86″. I added a 12″ wide border all around it to make it measure 96 x 110″, large enough to be queen size. The pieced portion of the quilt can be positioned on top of the mattress with the plain borders falling on the sides, bottom, and under the pillows at the top. Have your long arm quilter have fun with this area!

Well, that’s it for this week. Let me know some of your ideas to make your quilts bigger.

Happy Quilting!
Deanne

The Finishing Touch – Binding

You’ve done all the work… cutting fabric, piecing quilt blocks, joining those blocks for a quilt top, and, finally, quilting it. Now what’s left? The binding. Ugh. I both love and hate this part. I love it because it means my quilt is almost done. And I hate it, because to me … it’s boring! Maybe your opinion is different, but I just don’t like this part of the quilting process.

So, I’m doing this post with tips on binding so the task can be handled quickly and smoothly. My tips are how to do binding by the traditional method, machine stitching it to the front of the quilt and then hand stitching it down on the back. There are machine binding techniques out there where the whole thing is done by machine, but I have not tried those yet so I can’t offer any tips there. Let’s get started!

TIPS

There are a few things to decide before you bind your quilt top. These are what I call my “plan ahead” tips. Here they are:

TIP #1 – Color: If you plan for your binding when you are planning and cutting out the quilt project, you will be ahead of the game. At this time you can decide if you want your binding to fade into the background, by matching it with the outer border fabric of the quilt, or for it to work as a frame for the finished quilt top. Below are two of my quilts to show these choices.


In Town Square on the left, I chose to cut the binding from the same fabric as the outer border so it blends in and doesn’t draw attention from the quilt center. For Star Baby on the right, I chose the green binding that serves to “frame” the design of the quilts.

For my quilt, Crisscross Cabin Blooms below, I used the matching binding tip so the feature that people see when they look at this quilt is the appliqué in the border and are not distracted by the binding.


You can also use scrappy binding made from the leftover fabric from your project. It’s a fun way to use up the scraps and add some interest to your quilt. I’ve done this with several of my quilts including Star Dash below:


TIP #2 – Binding Type: The choices are single-fold binding or double-fold binding.

Single-fold binding consists of only a one layer of fabric pieced from strips, whether scrappy or not. The binding is laid right side down on the front of the quilt top, lined up with the raw edges, machine stitched and then turned to the back to hand stitch in place. 

Double-fold binding is a wider strip, usually 2 1/4 to 2 1/2″ wide, that is folded over in half and pressed before attaching it to the front of the quilt. When it is turned to the back to be stitched, there are two layers of fabric over the edge of the quilt. Obviously, double-fold binding is more durable. Since it is, I usually use double-fold on large quilts and table runners that may get used more than a wall hanging. 

In the photo below, the top strip is single-fold. The bottom is double-fold.


TIP #3 – Fabric Needs: Finally, how much fabric do you need for your binding? It’s easy to figure out with some simple math. Using the formula below, you will be able to figure how many strips you need which will help you calculate how much fabric you need.

Here’s the formula:

  1. First figure the perimeter of the quilt by adding up the length of all the sides. For example for a quilt that is 60 x 72″ here is the calculation:   60 + 60 + 72 + 72 = 264
  2. Add 2″ to that measurement to account for the length of the binding used when turning the corners (I figure in 1/2″ per corner): 264 + 2 = 266
  3. Then divide that measurement by the width of fabric to determine how many strips are needed. I use 40″ for my usable width: 266/40 = 6.65.  Round up to the next whole number, so I need 7 strips for this quilt’s binding.
  4. Now multiply the amount of the strips needed by the width of the strips. If I am making double-fold binding and use 2 1/4″ strips, here’s my formula: 7 x 2 1/4″ = 15 3/4″. I round up to the nearest common cut of fabric, so I will need 1/2 yard to make the binding for this quilt. If I was only doing single-fold binding, I would use 1 1/2″ strips so: 7 x 1 1/2″ = 10 1/2, rounding up, I would use 1/3 yard of fabric here.

TIP #4 – Storing the Binding: I recommend that you cut and prepare your binding when cutting out the quilt project. That way, once the quilt has been sandwiched and quilted, the binding is ready.

Once the binding is made, here’s a few ideas on how to store it while you’re finishing the quilt. On the bottom left, I wrapped the binding onto an empty toilet paper tube and secured it. I used a pin but you can also use a rubber band. The photo on the right shows how I folded the binding and then secured it with a large clip. You can also secure this with a rubber band if you prefer.


Tips for Binding the Quilt Top

TIP #1: Prepare the Quilted Item. I recommend cutting away the excess batting and backing from the quilted quilt. Leave a scant 1/8″ (photos below) of the batting and backing. Since the binding is pinned to the top of the quilt using the quilt top edge as a guide, there will be batting and backing that extends out. I do this so when the binding is turned to the back, that scant 1/8″ serves to “stuff” the binding. 


Also, to achieve a full binding, I like to cut my binding strips for double-fold binding 2 1/4″ instead of 2 1/2″. If your binding is too wide when you fold it over to the back it will be empty at the top of the fold and that can make binding look flat.

TIP #2: Tip for Attaching the Binding. I like to start pinning on a straight edge at least 6″ from a corner. (left photo, below) I pin one side at a time for stitching. When I reach the corner while pinning, I measure 1/4″ up from the edge of the quilt top and pin the binding there. So when stitching this side, I stop stitching when I get to the pin. (right photo, below) This makes it easier to fold and turn the binding to start attaching it to the other side. It also helps to achieve a nice mitered corner when the binding is turned.


TIP #3: Binding Stitching. For double-fold binding, when stitching the first side, I start stitching about 1/2″ to 1″ from the beginning. (see photo below) This leaves a little “pocket” so I can tuck in the end of the binding when I get all the way around the quilt. Like I said above, I stop at the pin that marks 1/4″ from the edge to help make a nice mitered corner as I turn the binding to continue onto the next side. For single-fold binding, you can start stitching right at the beginning of the binding since you will not need to tuck the end.


TIP #4: Hand Stitching to the Back. I secure the binding in place with hair clips! I found that these worked great and we had a ton of them that my daughter abandoned at home when she went off to college (great re-cycling tip here). They’ve worked so well that quilting notion companies are now selling these as binding clips based on the hair clip design.


Here’s how I make the mitered corners when turning my binding. (photos below) When I get to the corner, I match up and pin where the two sides of the binding meet as shown in the first photo. Then I stitch up to that corner catching both folded edges. I then stitch up the diagonal “fold” created. As you can see in the last photo, it makes a perfect mitered corner on the front.


That’s it for my favorite tips for binding your quilt. If you’re a beginner, I hope this helps you with your binding skills. If you are experienced, perhaps this is a little refresher. I’m happy to help either way! I did a mini video tutorial on binding a quilt for you visual learners. Hopefully my camera work isn’t too bad. 


That’s it for this week. Feel free to ask any questions below. If you know of any tutorials on machine stitching binding on front and back, feel free to share in the comments in case other readers want to try it.

Happy Quilting!
Deanne

What’s Your Quilting Inspiration?

At times I like to talk about what inspires people to create things,  specifically what inspires people to create quilts.  So I want to share with you how I got started quilting, with a peak at my earliest quilt, and things that keep me inspired. I want to hear from you too! I’ll ask a few questions at the end of this post. Answer them in the comments and I will choose a commenter as a winner of a free pattern for the upcoming holiday season.

Inspiration

Inspiration to start quilting can come from a lot of sources. A family member who quilts, especially a parent or sibling in the same home, is how many people are inspired. Sometimes it can be a aunt/uncle or grandparent that you visited often when growing up. And, of course, there are your friends.

My grandmother was an avid quilter, but she was several states away and we saw her maybe 2 times a year. Also, she passed away when I was 9 years old, so I did not have a lot of time with her. My sisters had no interest in sewing and my mom could barely hem a pair of pants. So sometimes it surprises me that I do what I do.

How did I catch the quilting bug? I actually landed on quilting because I was looking for something to do as a newlywed while my husband played league softball. I saw a catalog from the local community college advertising an adult education quilting class. So I said “why not?”. The fact that I chose a very difficult pattern, the LeMoyne Star, and a queen size quilt for the class was definitely a rookie mistake but it did not deter me. The fact that the class requirement was to construct it all by hand almost did. Here it is (with Addie as a model!)

Those colors! You can definitely tell what year this quilt was made by those 80’s colors. I sure have evolved when it comes to picking fabrics for my quilts. I also tried my hand at hand quilting, however you can tell I didn’t quilt it enough by all the bare spaces. Since the quilt is the first one I ever made, I can’t bring myself to ever give it up no matter how ugly I think it is. The kids used it over the years to cuddle in while watching TV and now Addie seems to like it.

This class hooked me on quilting, but I did buy a sewing machine so I didn’t have to hand piece blocks ever again!

What inspires me today is the large variety of beautiful Civil War reproduction fabrics and paging through books of antique quilts. That fabric is my favorite to use and when I find a new line, it inspires me even more. The antique quilts I find in the books often have many traditional blocks like Log Cabin or Churn Dash. I love looking at these books and dreaming up ways I can put a new “spin” on these blocks.

Here are two examples of quilts where I took traditional blocks and worked them into a new design.

For Rail Fence Blooms on the left I used the traditional rail fence block to create a large center star, including the star points. I added one of my favorite things, floral appliqué, to give it a unique flair. For Wildflower Lane on the right, I took a traditional log cabin block and put it on point to create a hanging garden basket look for the flower appliqués. 

Here’s a few other unique log cabin inspired designs:

Another inspiring block for me is the Churn Dash block. I have used this block in both large and small quilts. In the quilt, above left, I even combined a churn dash with a log cabin design for some extra design fun! Here’s some of my churn dash inspired quilts.

The first two quilts, High Prairie Blooms and Bountiful, have a churn dash block with a star in the center as the principle design. For Star Dash, I had a little fun making the large, center churn dash block scrappy. 

Other Design Inspiration Sources

Other places I have found design inspiration are not related to the quilting world. I find inspiration is interesting things like buildings, sidewalks, windows, etc. Some of these things have inspired the blocks and design for the quilt top center or for the borders. Here’s a few examples.

The design on the right has obvious inspiration for a border. A checkerboard pieced border with a plain border on each side to frame a quilt like I did here in Constellations:

The design on the left inspired a scallop border design for a pattern I designed for a magazine:

Another inspiration was this pattern I saw on some upholstery. It led me to design a pattern with a chevron design, Celebrations:

Design Inspiration from Antique Quilts

Finally, I like to page through books of antique quilts to find inspiration. Some of those inspirations came from album or autograph quilts like this one with this block below. The traditional name for this block is the Album Cross block.

The block above (right) is from an album quilt made in the 1840’s in New York state. Quilts made from these blocks were usually presented to someone who was leaving a community. Friends and family of the person receiving the quilt would write or embroider a message in the block. 

But of course for me, I wanted to find a way to make this block easier… translation, with NO “Y” or set in seams. I hate doing those so I do not like to design quilt patterns with those types of seams. Here is the block I came up with:

To make the block above, I created this unit below, left. And when I made four and stitched them together, I got the look of the vintage Album Cross block (right) without the stress of set in seams.

This group of blocks turned into the table runner on the right in Scrap Basket Duo.

So that’s it for my inspiration that started and sustains my quilting and some of my favorite design inspirations. Let me know in the comments the answers to these questions below and you will be entered into a drawing for my pattern, Wrap it Up.

Here’s the questions:

  1. What inspired you to start quilting?
  2. What block or design inspires you?
  3. Any other things not related to quilting that inspires you?

The drawing will be on Monday, September 21st. ***We have a winner! Congrats, Janet Riley!***

Happy Quilting!
Deanne

Quilt Rulers – Types, Usage, and Care

Since we use rulers every time we quilt, I thought I would talk about rulers I use and share some tips on using rulers and caring for rulers. Most of my rulers are the standard ones every quilter is introduced to when they are beginners. However, I use do use a few that are not standard although I’m not one that goes for the fad rulers. But, if you like those and they help you with certain blocks, great! Let me know if you use an interesting ruler in the comments. I may try it. Let’s get started!

My Rulers

Here are the rulers I use most often and I am sure you all recognize and have them in your collection:

The long 6 1/2 x 24 1/2″ ruler is great for cutting long strips from yardage. I use the 6 1/2 x 12 1/2″ ruler next to it to help square up yardage and also for cutting strips from smaller pieces of fabric like fat 1/4s, fat 1/8s and layer cakes. The 6 1/2 square ruler is used to help square up those smaller fats and also to square up smaller blocks. 

The smallest ruler (upper right) is my 4 1/2″ square that usually lives by my sewing machine as I am piecing units. I use it to measure as I go, something I talked about in my favorite tips blog last week.

I also use these two rulers below for the measuring as I go steps for different size units.

Like I talked about last week, measuring units of a block as you go will lead to accurately pieced blocks that measure the size that’s indicated in the pattern. The success of your quilt relies on your blocks measuring correctly. If a quilt block is supposed to be 12 1/2 x 12 1/2″, for example, measuring the block units as you go will help you with that goal.

My Not So Standard Rulers

Here’s three rulers you may not see used everyday, although the one on the end is being used more and more.

Starting with the one on the far right, that is the Quilt in a Day Triangle Square-up ruler. Let me tell you, the day I discovered this one was a great day. I love making traditional quilt patterns that have a lot of half-square triangle (HST) squares and this ruler helps you trim those to size faster.

The way you use this ruler is to trim the HST while it is still closed (not pressed open). That way, you are only having to trim 2 sides instead of trimming all 4 sides of a pressed open square.

You find the line on the ruler that is size of your HST (including seam allowance). Then place that line on the seam line and trim off the excess fabric. Once you press open the unit, your HST will measure correctly. In my example above, my HST needs to be 1 1/2″ so I find the 1 1/2″ line on the ruler and line that up with the seam.

The other two rulers with all the circles are actually not quilting rulers but they are ones I found in the craft/scrap book area of the store. I like to appliqué, both fabric and wool, and I design a lot of motifs where precise circles are needed. These rulers help with that.

Finally I use these rulers below to measure or square up completed blocks. I have a 9 1/2″, 12 1/2″ and 16 1/2″. Once again, this helps your quilt top go together smoothly and measure correctly by having the blocks measure correctly.

Using the Rulers

Using your quilt rulers also entails reading them correctly. I’m going to use my favorite ruler brand, Creative Grid, to demonstrate what I mean by this. The reason I like these rulers is that they are easy to read no matter which side of the ruler you are working from.

The markings between to 1″ lines are different lengths which I think helps me to read the ruler more quickly and accurately while I am cutting. Notice how the 1/8″ lines are slightly shorter than the 1/4″ lines and the 1/2″ line is longer than both of those. This helps me find odd measurements like 2 3/8″ and 3 3/4″ quickly on the ruler.

I also like that the numbers go in both directions so no matter how the ruler is turned, they are easy to read (photo below):

Notice how the white whole numbers go in one direction and the black half measurement numbers go in the other. This way, I can use the ruler each way depending on what type of measurement I want.

Next, I  can use these ruler to find the center of a piece of fabric or block by using the markings on the ruler. Those intersecting white lines and the circle where they meet is the exact center of this ruler shown below. This comes in handy when squaring up blocks or when you are fussy cutting a piece of fabric:

Cutting & Safety

These two things go hand in hand. If you are cutting correctly you will reduce the chance of having a cutting accident. Ruin less fabric and protect those fingers from the rotary cutter.

Besides the general safety of closing and locking your rotary cutter when it’s not in use and using safety gloves, these other tips should help keep you from damaging your fabric or injuring yourself.

Fabric Saver: Always line up the ruler with the edge of your fabric and double check that your ruler is placed correctly. Also make sure it’s not crooked. To help with that use some painter’s tape on the ruler’s measurement line, especially if you are cutting a lot of strips.

It’s a good idea to use the same brand of ruler, if you need to switch between sizes, for all the pieces you’re cutting. Different brands of rulers can have lines of different thickness. Even if they are off by less than 1/16 of an inch, it could cause a problem when you are piecing.

Safety & Accuracy: Keeping the ruler from shifting while you are cutting is also a safety and accuracy step. A shifting ruler could send your rotary cutter “off course” and headed for an unprotected hand as well as waste a piece of fabric. Even pressure from your hand holding the ruler keeps it from shifting.

“Tent” your hand as shown in the photos above with your pinkie on the edge to keep the ruler from moving. If you place your hand flat on the ruler, you may inadvertently push the ruler forward. Tenting your hand makes the pressure your are exerting go down instead of forward. When you are cutting a long strip, you may want to stop briefly and move your hand up the ruler so you can keep the pressure even through the entire cutting of the strip.

Another tip is to make sure your rotary cutter is straight and hugging the edge of your ruler all the way through the cut you are making. You want your rotary cutter straight like in the photo on the left, not slanted like the photo on the right (photos below):

Storage & Care:

Finally, storage and care are important for your rulers. Rulers are expensive and you want to avoid having to replace them as much as possible. Here are some tips:

  • Clean your rulers periodically by dusting with a soft cloth. Do not use anything abrasive like paper towels that can scratch the ruler surface and make the markings harder to read. Also don’t use any cleaning solution with bleach or ammonia. If you need to use a cleaning solution, use those that are meant for plexiglass.
  • Store your rulers, like your cutting mat, away from direct sunlight and not in areas of your home with extreme temperature changes.
  • Finally, make sure to store your rulers securely. If you drop them or they fall from a storage area, they will chip or break. You can hang them on a peg board, from  hooks on a wall or put them in a ruler holder on your table. 

Here’s my rulers on the peg board:

That’s it for this week. Pull out your rulers and have some fun!

Happy Quilting,
Deanne

My Favorite Quilting Tips

Time to review some of my favorite tips. I call these my top ten tips for a relaxing and fun quilting experience. This is a great end of summer post to get ready for fall and winter quilting. If there are other interesting quilting topics you would like me to cover, let me know in the comments. Let’s get started!

Tip #1 – The Pattern. Always read through the instructions to make sure you understand the steps and to find all the cutting instructions. Most patterns have all the cutting instructions up front before any assembly instructions, but some do not. It’s a good idea to be completely familiar with the pattern before you begin cutting and sewing. Here’s how one of my patterns looks:

Reading the pattern prior to beginning will help you with the second tip in my top ten tips.

Tip #2 – The Fabric Purchase. Most patterns will give you fabric amounts that allow for pre-washing and cutting errors. I know I add in some extra when I write my patterns for just that reason. But, if you are not sure that is the case with a designer’s pattern, add a little extra for your comfort. You may end up with a little left over, but you can then start your strip collection for your next scrap quilt!

From the pattern example above, if a lot of the pieces are cut from 2 1/2″ strips, I’ll add on at least an extra 2 1/2″ from what the pattern says I need to account for cutting errors, etc. If you don’t mind a little extra fabric to build a stash, consider just adding an additional 1/8 yard onto yardage requirements.

Tip #3 – Cutting the Fabric. Whether you pre-wash or not, always press your fabrics prior to cutting to remove creases, especially the ones created when the fabric is rolled onto the bolt. Then, cut the largest pieces from the fabric and work your way down.

So, looking at the pattern cutting instructions above, from the tan print #1, I would cut the 6 7/8″ squares first and then move down to the 6 1/2″ squares and on down the list. Keep in mind, not all patterns are written like mine. If you have one that doesn’t have the pieces listed largest to smallest, pull out a piece of paper and make your own cutting list for each fabric.

Tip #4 – Organization. They key to having a fun quilting experience while you are piecing blocks is to keep all the pieces you cut organized so you are not hunting around looking for block pieces. I like to use masking or painters tape with the letter (or other designation) from the pattern that helps me keep stacks of fabric separated and organized. The stacks in the photo below are sorted and stacked by which blocks they make.

Tip #5 – Accurate 1/4″ Seam Allowance. You can’t have success piecing blocks and quilts if you do not start out with an accurate 1/4″ seam allowance. Most experienced quilters among us already know this. But did you know that thread thickness and other things can effect your seam? Prior to starting a project, especially if you are using a new thread, take some scrap fabric and sew a seam. When you are done, measure it and make sure it’s a 1/4″ seam.

Whether you have a 1/4″ foot or you use the marking on your throat plate (center photo), always measure your scrap seam and make necessary adjustments.

Tip #6 – Measure as You Go! This goes along with accurate seams. Measure the units you stitch together as you go. Most blocks are made up of several pieced units that then need to be pieced together to make a block. In order for your block to measure correctly, all those units need to measure correctly first.

I keep a wood pressing tool and smaller rulers by my machine for this purpose.

Tip #7 – Un-sewing. None of us like to do this… but we all have to at some point. I like to remove stitches with a small scissors and by clipping threads at a few places along the seam. This is a good way to do it if you don’t like using a seam ripper, which I feel can be a little aggressive, especially on bias seams. I’ve put holes in fabric with a seam ripper!

Tip #7 – Un-sewing. None of us like to do this… but we all have to at some point. I like to remove stitches with a small scissors and by clipping threads at a few places along the seam. This is a good way to do it if you don’t like using a seam ripper, which I feel can be a little aggressive, especially on bias seams. I’ve put holes in fabric with a seam ripper!

The unit on the left was stitched without back stitching. Notice how I can pull the seam apart quite easily. This can cause trouble when you are joining units and are trying to nest seams. If one of the seams is pulling apart, you will also have trouble aligning seams for the block you are stitching. The unit on the right shows the strength of backstitching.

Tip #9 – Don’t Skip Pinning. If you want seams to align, blocks to measure correctly and crisp points, etc. I recommend you never skip pinning the pieces you are getting ready to stitch. The pins keep the two pieces you are joining from shifting as they are fed through the machine. 

Here’s how to pin units where you want seams to align (photos below): The first thing you want to do is align and pin the seams for the units you are joining and then pin the ends of the units. Yes it takes a minute, but if you stitch without pins you will have unaligned seams that ruin the look of your block. Then you will have to rip out stitches and start over, wasting precious quilting time.

The pinning also works great in helping to align diagonal seams, like when you are joining half-square triangle squares.

Align those diagonal seams first as shown in the photo on the left. Next, pin that seam before pinning the rest of the HST units together. As you can see in the last photo, the diagonal seams are aligned perfectly and come to an even point 1/4″ up from the edge.

Tip #10 – Quilt Layout. This is the last of my favorite tips here, but certainly not the last of the vast amount of quilting tips. I recommend having a design wall or a large floor space to lay out the quilt blocks so you can shift the pieces around and get the layout you like prior to stitching rows together. This will save you from having to use tip #7! Here’s my wall:

Those numbered pins (on the right) help me keep block rows organized so I don’t sew them together in the wrong order. I just took regular pins, wrapped some washi tape around the top, and wrote a number on each. You can make as many as you want.

So that’s it for this week. Hopefully you already practice a lot of the tips I have shared above. I know following these has saved me lots of headaches! Like I said above, I’m always looking for topics you are interested in. Let me know in the comments if you have any suggestions.

Happy Quilting!
Deanne

Block of the Week – Block 9

Welcome back to block of the week! We have reached the end of the sew along with this block. I can’t believe the time has flown so fast. If you are just joining in, you can find the last post for block 8 here and then find the previous weeks with the links in each post from each week.

I call this week’s block Pinwheel Star. It’s a relatively simple block so you can make as many as you want in a large variety of colors. Several of these blocks alone would make a charming quilt! While we’re on the subject of color, I will be sharing tips on color for the tips of the week section. Let’s get started!

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Block of the Week – Block 9

Here it is:

Find the free block pattern instructions here: 2026 BOW Block 9.

Now here is the block with the dark background:

Tips of the Week – Color

Whether you are shopping your stash or going to the quilt shop, here are some tips for choosing what colors of fabric you want for your latest project.

Tip #1: Look at the quilt photo on the cover of the pattern or the quilt displayed in the shop. If you like the colors, use that as your guide. But you may not get those exact fabrics unless the quilt shop has kits made up, so be prepared to choose others.

Tip #2:  Before heading to the quilt shop, first look through your stash to see what you have that will work with the pattern and “audition” them by laying them out like this:

By laying the fabrics out like this, you can see if they all “play” together well. Stand back and look at your collection and see if a fabric stands out like a sore thumb. You can then remove that one and replace it with another. Do that until you like your collection.

Tip #3: Make a few sample blocks with scraps from your stash in the color combinations you are considering for your blocks. These do not have to be the exact fabrics you use in your quilt, but similar colors. Here’s a few examples of samples I made before moving on to my actual project:

By doing this, I can see what colors I want, or don’t want, in my blocks.

Tip #4: If you need to get fabric from the quilt shop, you can audition fabrics by stacking bolts or fat quarters of the fabrics in a well lit area. I like to use fat quarters for this step because they are easier to handle and look at as they’re laid out. Just make sure there is a corresponding bolt of fabric available (since you may need more than a fat quarter) before you choose one for your “audition”.

Tip #5: Choose a fabric that you really like. Then take that around the quilt shop with you to match it to the other fabrics you need. You do not  have to stay in the same line of fabrics for them to look good together. To help, look at the selvage of the fabric you have chosen. You will often see something like this:

Those dots on the selvage are the colors that went into making this piece of fabric. You can take that piece of fabric around the shop and use those dots to find a green, orange, red and blue that will go well with this fabric. This is often used by quilters when they’ve chosen a “focus” fabric. That’s the fabric they build from to create the color scheme for their whole quilt. Here are three of my choices:

Tip #6: Another way to find new color combinations is to copy or draw a picture of the quilt block that makes up the quilt and use colored pencils to decide on a color way you prefer.

So that’s it for my color tips. If you make test blocks, you can use those to make a fun sampler for a gift or use just one block to make a small table mat. Then they won’t be laying around in your UFO stash!

Quilt Block History

The Pinwheel Star block is also referred to by a few other names: Constellations, Walking Star and Spinning Stars (named by Nancy Page). The base of this block is the center pinwheel design so here’s a bit of history on that classic block.

Versions of this block appeared in the early 1800s. There is a quilt in the Smithsonian that dates back to about 1812 that has blocks made from several pinwheels arranged in a nine-patch design.

The pinwheel was a simple and practical pattern that was used by pioneer women to make quilts for beds and curtains for windows. These blocks were probably popular because they could be easily made with scraps from the fabrics the women saved from old clothing. The pinwheel pattern gained wide popularity in the mid 19th century in the west as those women moved there with their families. Finally, during the depression in the early 20th century, this was a simple block design used often to make quilts from feed sacks.

So that’s a wrap on my 2026 Block of the Week sew along. I hope you enjoyed making the blocks, my tips, and also learning a bit of quilt block history on the side.

Feel free to share some of your finished quilts whether you turn it into a sampler or just use one block to make a bigger quilt. You can share your photos by email to: snugglesquilts@hotmail.com.

Happy Quilting!
Deanne

Block of the Week – Block 8

Welcome back to block of the week! We’re onto block 8 so only one more block pattern after this one. If you’re new to my block of the week posts, here’s a link to last week’s post and from there you can work your way back to week 1.

I have named this week’s block Diamond Star because of the diamond pattern surrounding the center star that emerges when the block is pieced together. This block is a little more involved than last week’s block, but the units that make it up are all ones you have made before, like flying geese and HSTs. Since this block is one that has interesting movement, I thought I would review some tips on secondary design. Time to get started!

Block of the Week – Block 8

I made this block in two different backgrounds again. You can choose to do it that way or just make it with the background you prefer. Here’s Diamond Star:

Find the free instructions for this block here: 2026 BOW Block 8.

Now here is the same block with the dark background:

Tip of the Week

Now on to the tip of the week. Secondary design. Have you ever looked at a quilt or a quilt block and saw more than one design emerge? That’s secondary design. Sometimes it’s intentional and sometimes the designer just gets lucky and two blocks they decide to place next to each other combine to make another design.

My block above has interesting movement with the diamond design. If you put several of these blocks together, here’s the look you would get:

See how the diamond portion of the blocks create an interesting crisscross pattern? That’s the easy way to create secondary design with this block.

Look what happens when I change some color placement in the block. First, here’s the block:

Look at how the block changes just by moving where your colors are in the block. They’re the same colors by just in different places. Now here’s a quilt with them:

Now the diamond design is more prominent. Cool! Now look what happens when I add another element to the block. On each corner, I add a stitch & flip corner:

Now here is the modified block in a quilt:

The stitch & flip corner on the blocks creates another design that looks like another star block.

Other Ways to Create Secondary Design:

 Tip 1: The most common way is with two distinct blocks in a quilt. Generally, you choose one block with movement and one block that is more static. I did that with my Strips & Stars quilt. Here are the blocks:

The star block on the left has a different kind of movement than the log cabin block in the center. When you put those two blocks together in a quilt, alternating between them and flipping every other the log cabin block in the rows, you get a unique, dark stripe design that runs diagonally. Here’s the full quilt:

Also, where the star blocks touch, the checkerboard corners create another secondary design crisscrossing across the quilt. I love these types of blocks that create several secondary designs.

Tip 2: Create that secondary design with sashing. You can do this with one block quilts. The sashing will build off an element in the blocks of the quilt or it will just create a design all on it’s own. Here’s those examples side by side:

For the quilt on the left, Open Windows, there is a stitch and flip corner on two sides of the block that, when combined with the sashing and cornerstones, creates a monkey wrench design. For the quilt on the right, Summer Bouquets, the stars are created solely within the sashing.

Tip 3: Use the border for secondary design. This can be quiet like the quilt on the left or more prominent like the quilt on the right.

For Homestead Trail on the left, there is a subtle nine-patch in the sashing that continues into the border to create a frame. For Twilight Desert on the right, the border is created with flying geese with multi-colored centers for an creative, colorful border.

Fun times, huh?

Quilt Block History

Here’s a bit of history on the block that influenced mine. I saw this block, Dutch Rose, and like it immediately. I simplified the outer portion so it created the “diamond” shape. Here are the two blocks side by side:

I removed some of the intricate piecing in the 4 corners to make my block simpler to piece and to create the diamond design.

The Dutch Rose is a block design from the 19th century. Some other  names it’s known by are Carpenter’s Wheel, Carpenter’s Star and Double Star. The design is based on intricate mosaic patchwork designs brought over to America by Dutch and English settlers. They eventually simplified some of the designs to arrive at the Dutch Rose block.

This design was re-named “Pennsylvania Dutch Rose” during the 1930s quilting revival by  Nancy Cabot for the Chicago Tribune who was also using an alias for her needlecraft columns, just like Nancy Page from last week. This editor’s name was Loretta Leitner Rising. Her column began in 1932 and readers could receive a full pattern and instructions for  five cents by sending in a self-addressed envelope into the newspaper. She only participated in this column until 1938 but stayed with the newspaper writing under her own name. Like the Nancy Page columnist, she often gave new names to traditional blocks to appeal to the quilters of the day.

So that’s it for this week and I’ll see you next week for the last block.

Happy Quilting!
Deanne

Block of the Week – Block 7

Welcome back to my Block of the Week posts. It’s time for block 7. If you are just joining in on the fun, these block patterns are free to download. If you want to download the patterns from previous weeks, here is the link to last week’s post. From there you can get to the previous weeks.

I call this week’s block Secret Star. It’s based on a block called Laurel Wreath (I will cover a little of the block history later in this post). We’re back to using a background fabric and two color prints. This one has fewer pieces than last week’s block and is easier to piece. Since many of the blocks we’ve done in this BOW sew along have bias seams, I thought I would cover some facts and tips on fabric bias and working with those seams for this week’s tips. Let’s get started!

Block of the Week – Block 7

The bulk of this block is created with flying geese and half-square triangle squares. I once again made one block with a light background and one with a dark background. Here is the block:

Find the pattern instructions to make this block here: 2026 BOW Block 7.

Now here is my block with a dark background fabric:

Tip of the Week

We’ve been dealing with bias seams in a lot of these blocks, so I thought it would be a good idea to review facts about fabrics and tips on working with bias seams as opposed to straight seams.

Fabric Grain & Bias

To understand the difference between a bias (diagonal) seam and a straight seam and why they behave differently, you need to know about fabric grain and bias. This may be a review for experienced sewers and quilters, but it never hurts to see it again.

The lengthwise grain of the fabric runs parallel to the selvage and is the most stable grain of the fabric.

The line I’m pointing to in the left photo (above) is showing the lengthwise grain. In the second photo, notice how there’s not much stretch to the fabric when I pull on opposite sides of the piece of fabric. It’s a good idea to cut in this direction for long pieces needed for the project like border strips, if possible.

The crosswise grain is a little less stable than the lengthwise grain. It’s perpendicular to the selvage (the line my finger is pointing to below). As you can see in the next photo, there is a little more stretch to the fabric in this direction, but not by much.

Finally, the bias of the fabric is at the 45 degree angle from the selvage. This is where the fabric is the least stable.

It’s important to remember this because any seams that are diagonal are in the bias direction of the fabric. Any seam sewn on the bias must be handled with care when pressing it or ripping it out so the fabric is not stretched out of shape. Once fabric is stretched on the bias, it can and likely will remain distorted.

Tips for Stitching and Handling Bias Seams

Tip #1: Pinning is extra important with these seams. Pinning keeps the pieces being joined with the bias seam from shifting. If the pieces shift in stitching, your units will not measure accurately and you’ll have to re-do these pieces.

Tip #2: Because bias seams are stitched in the direction where the fabric grain is the most pliable, do not pull the unit through your machine as you are stitching. This is a good rule for any seam, but especially bias seams because the fabric can be stretched severely out of shape by doing this and then your unit will not measure correctly. 

Tip #3: When pressing pieced units, whether with straight seams and bias seams, you should take care not to stress the seam. For units with bias seams, it’s extra important not to run the iron back and forth on the seam because this can stretch that area out of shape more than with a straight seam.

Tip #4: If you have to “un-sew” a bias seam, do it very carefully because that can also stretch this area of the fabric out of shape and fray it beyond use. This is a fabric saving tip because you won’t have to cut into more fabric to replace misshapen pieces.

A Little Block History

My block is a variation on a block from 1931 called Laurel Wreath. Here’s a drawing of that block with my block to the right of it:

As you can see, I just flipped the geese units and turned the center square into a square in a square unit using stitch and flip corners. 

This block was re-published by Nancy Page in 1938 under the name North Carolina. Nancy Page was a columnist from around 1928 through 1945. This was actually a pseudonym she used to publish the quilt patterns she wrote about. Her real name was Florence LaGanke Harris, which also appeared along with her pen name when the column was published. She was a dietician and a food writer. Eventually she ended up at the Cleveland Plain Dealer as a home economics editor. She herself was not a quilter, although she collected antique quilts. She was tapped to write the column because of a quilting revival going at the time.

Her columns consisted of block patterns, color choice, quilting design and finishing for a quilt. She basically created a fictional “quilt club” where she shared the progress in making the blocks. Some block patterns that were published were actually sent in by readers of her column. The quilt column ended up being syndicated to over 400 newspapers.

That’s it for this week. Enjoy making the block!

Happy Quilting!
Deanne

Block of the Week – Block 5

We’re on to week 5 of my 2026 BOW sew along. I hope you are enjoying making the blocks and the tips I am sharing. This week’s block is called Four-Patch Star, which is my interpretation of a block I saw in an antique quilt. This is an easy to piece block because I know last week’s block was a bit harder to piece and I think you deserve a break!

If you are just joining the sew along, this block pattern is free, along with the first 4 blocks shared in previous weeks. Click the link above for last week’s post and from there you should be able to continue on back to the first post. Like the previous weeks, I make two blocks, one with a light background and one with a dark background. Choose which way you want to go or make them both. Let’s get started!

Block of the Week – Block 5

This block is simple to piece and only has a few HSTs and flying geese. Here is Four-Patch Star:

Find the free pattern for Four-Patch Star here: 2026 BOW Block 5.

Here’s the version of this block with the dark background:

Tip of the Week

My tip this week is aligning seams. As you can see with this block, there are a lot of seams to align to get the look of the block. My example below involves piecing a nine-patch block, but the same concept can be applied to the four-patch piecing you will do with this pattern.

The key to successful alignment of seams is simple. Pinning! I don’t care how short the seam is. I pin all the time because unpinned areas can lead to uneven pieces. There can be small shifts among the two pieces you are sewing that will cause your seam to be off. And if an initial seam is off in a unit, then trying to align seams when you are joining it to another unit will be frustrating. Here’s an example:

The squares I did not pin are on the left (where I’m pointing). It’s only a little off, but if all your pieces are like that you can see how that would cause problems in aligning seams.

For aligning seams in two units you are joining, line those up first and pin, then pin the ends (photos below).

The second photo (right) shows how I lay one unit on top of the other and then I peel back the top unit a bit to make sure the seams are aligned, then I pin at the seams first before pinning the rest of the unit. After pinning and sewing, you can see how the seams line up.

Follow these aligning and pinning steps when joining units with seams and your seams will line up nicely. Practice it regularly and it will be easier each time.

A Bit of History

My Four-Patch Star is a spin on the traditional 16-patch blocks, sometimes referred to as a St. Louis 16 Patch. It’s a very basic block made up of 16 of the same size squares in at least two different colors and pieced into 4 rows of 4 squares each. If you look at the center of this block, you will see the 16 “patches”.

My 16-patch is made by joining 4 four-patch units for the center of the block. Adding the “star points” made from flying geese, turns this into a star block. 

The only basis I can find for the name  St. Louis 16-Patch is that the women in St. Louis named it for the geographic area they settled in, similar to the naming of the Ohio Star or the Alabama Beauty blocks. 

As far as the four-patch block history, it’s one of the oldest and simplest quilt block designs dating to the late 18th century. It was created mostly out of necessity to use up fabric scraps that were available to make a quilt. Pioneer women cut squares from old clothes and sewed four of them into a block. By making several of these blocks from their scraps they could quickly assemble a quilt for use. Quilts at that time were mainly for use and not display.

So that’s it for this week. Come back next week for block 6. Let me know if you have any thoughts or questions about the block, tips or the history in the comments below.

Happy Quilting!
Deanne