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This is my bonus tutorial tutorial to show one way of sewing 2 prequilted units together of my Grandma's Kitchen quilt.
BONUS Tutorial
My bonus is how to cover the seam when sewing two prequilted units together. This is often called 'Quilt as You Go' or QAYG. There are a lot of ways to think about this and accomplish it. I'm showing one very super easy way that works very well for this project.
I went with the simple method as there is no sashing for this project and the rows don't line up a certain way to the one below. So it's a perfect quilt go simple!.
I decided to quilt all my pieces right out to the edge. I know I mentioned to leave some space, but let me tell you why I changed my mind.
If your quilting designs for a section is continuous across it, that means you'd have to figure how how to 'not quilt' parts to do after the 2 sections are attached. Then once attached you'd have all this bulk to rotate in your quilt.
I decided that I didn't need that kind of precision for this quilt and I would just quilt out to the edges.
- This photo is the TOP TWO sections, and that is the BOTTOM EDGE, you can see the dress is going the correct direction.
- TRIM away the backing AND the batting even to the quilt top. Do on the BOTTOM edge and BOTH SIDE Edges.
This is the 2nd unit, which is the 3rd & 4th of my Grandma's Kitchen. You might be sewing single rows. You might be sewing on a border, It's all the same process. It's a row of some width.
This tutorial is to show you one way to cover the seam. I'll be using the backing of the 2nd unit to cover the seam.
- On the TOP EDGE, Trim the batting even with the top
- Then trim the backing leaving 1" which will be used to cover the seam where we attach the two pre-quilted units.
PITFALL/Solution - What if I didn't leave enough backing? You can cut a 1.5" strip, press under 2 sides, then applique that over the seam. It means sewing on 2 edges instead of one.
This is what you have and you are ready now to sew these 2 sections together
I did a video for you
Let me know if the video helped explain it
Next is to line up the 2 sections and sew the seam
I did another video on that
The steps
- Place the top section onto the middle section, right sides together
- Mark center point on both sections with a pin
- Line up the ends & center point, pin together
- Check for points, and pin so you know where it is so you don't chop off points
- After the 2 sections are pined, sew together with the TOP section facing you so you don't catch the 1" backing in your seam
Covering the seams and I did another video
- PRESS the seam allowance to the towards the TOP section so you can use the 1" backing on the Middle section to cover the seam
- I use steam and really compress the seam. I have a thin batting so when this is washed you'll never notice it
- Flip over and press from the front too
- Turn under the 1" backing by 1/4" and Hand stitch to the top section.
- I glue baste it so I don't have to deal with pins
PITFALL/Solution - So the bulk REALLY Matter? If you have a thick batting it might. Or maybe you really want to have it less bulky. In that case do the following
- Press the seam open to spread the bulk to both sides
- trim away a bit of batting
- AND then use a separate strip to over the seam instead of using the backing of a section.
And there is how i do it!
This post got VERY long. Let me know if the videos were helpful in the comments below
Additional Resources
- Jera's book -
- Carolyn's Book, she has two.
One more Assignment coming for ideas to quilt the 3rd section
- I will also share more photos of the blocks quilted in section two. This post got too long to do it all.
What Do I need again?
- Purchase a copy of my book 'Teach Me to Machine Quilt' ... A Physical Copy .. or a Kindle Version .. or a PDF from my publisher's website
- A Quilt Top or a Quilt Panel
- Batting
- Backing fabric
- Thread
- Basting Spray or Pins with a Kwik Klip
ALL the Posts incase you missed one
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