2015 Technique BOM - Putting the blocks together

Category: Quilts

Once you have all your blocks made, you can put them together to make your finished quilt top.

What you need to make this project

Materials
1.5 yards Sashing fabric (optional)
1.5" border fabric (optional)

Quick Shop

Start by collecting all of your blocks. For our quilt, we used 12 blocks.

You’ll want to square up your blocks. Each block should be 12.5″ square. Place each block on your mat, and center it to trim off any excess.

square up blocks

If your blocks are too small, you have a couple options. The first is to square up all the blocks to the size of your smallest block. So if your smallest block is 12″ x 12.25″, you would square up this block to 12″x12″, and then all your other blocks to 12″x12″.

Your second option is to add a 2″ border to all the blocks, then trim the border down, to make 14″ or 14.5″ blocks.

Your third option, if the blocks are 1/8″ or less off, is to trim them to 12.5″ where they are too large, and to gently pull the fabric as you stitch the blocks together, to stretch it to the right size. This option can lead to puckers in your quilt.

Lay out your blocks in the order you’d like them to be in the finished quilt. The quilt is 4 rows, of 3 blocks each.

If you are not adding sashings to your quilt, just stitch the blocks together into rows of 3.

stitching blocks together

Press the seams to one side, alternating which direction with each row.

press seams

Then stitch the rows together.

farifield-Baby-Sampler-Quilt

If you’d like to add sashing to your quilt (this is one way to make the quilt a little larger), Start by cutting your sashing pieces. If you squared your blocks to 12.5″, you will need:
8 pieces: 2.5″x12.5″
5 pieces: 2.5″x44.5″
2 pieces: 25″x58.5″

Stitch your rows together, adding a sashing piece between each block.

sashing and blocks

sashing on one side

sew onto next block

Press seams, with the seam allowance going towards the sashing.

press seams towards center

Add a 44.5″ piece to the bottom of each row, and the top of the top row. Then stitch the rows together.

Add the final pieces on each side.

To add borders, measure the top and bottom of the quilt, add these numbers together and divide by 2. This is the length of your top and bottom borders. Cut your borders 4.5″ wide. Pin in place by pinning on each end, in the middle, then in quarters, and distributing the fabric evenly.

Repeat for the side borders.

Repeat with a second 6.5″ border if you would like the quilt even larger.

farifield-baby-sample-quilt-lulu-roses