Adding sashing between quilt blocks

So, we have made the 25 blocks for the Shoofly Beginner Quilt and now it is time to sew them all together.

• It would be perfectly OK to combine the blocks without quilt sashing, but I think that this quilt needs sashing.
•  

The hourglass quilt on the left doesn't have sashing as it would break up the design too much.  The jelly roll quilt on the right cannot have sashing as there is just one overall design.

• Quilt sashing can frame the blocks so that the eye sees each block separately.
• It can introduce a new colour, or pick out a colour from the quilt blocks.
• Sashing can provide extra width or length to a quilt if you haven't quite got the size that you wanted.
• It can make a break between 2 blocks so that it is less noticeable if points of triangles or corners of squares don't quite match up.

To me, this last point is really important in a beginner quilt.  Of course we'd all like our points to match up every time, but putting quilt sashing in gives you a little more flexibility if they don't!


I wanted to have 1" sashing between the blocks, so I cut strips of 1.1/2" width to allow for the seams.  Cut 4 strips 12.1/2" long for each row - that's 20 strips as there are 5 rows.  With right sides together, sew 1 strip to the right hand side of a quilt block.




Place a 2nd quilt block to the right of the 1st block and with right sides together sew the left hand side of the block to the right hand side of the sashing.

 Continue until you have a row of 5 blocks, each connected to the one beside it by a strip of sashing.  This will take 4 strips of sashing as you don't want sashing on either end of the row yet.
Do the same for the rest of the blocks, so that you end up with 5 rows, each made up of 5 blocks connected by sashing.


In order to combine the rows, you will need 65" lengths of sashing.  This means sewing 2 strips together - right sides together and 1/4" seam, as usual.
You will need 6 of these and 2 lengths of 67".



With right sides together, pin the length of sashing to each end across the bottom of the 1st row of patchwork blocks.  Find the centre of the strip (by folding it in half) and pin this to the centre of the row of blocks (middle of the 3rd quilt block).  Then pin the rest of the sashing strip in place across the row of blocks. 




Using a 1/4" seam sew the strip to the row of blocks.  I find it easier to sew with the blocks on top and the sashing underneath so that I can keep an eye on which way the seam allowances are facing as I sew.





Sew the 2nd row of patchwork blocks to the bottom of the sashing strip, then add a sashing strip to the bottom of the 2nd row and add the 3rd row of blocks and so on until you have all 25 blocks joined together by sashing, but with no sashing on the outer edges.




Add a 65" sashing strip down each side of the quilt top.  Then add the top and bottom sashing strips.  These will need to be 67" long as they have to reach across the 2 extra sashing strips.





You should now have every patchwork block completely enclosed by a quilt sashing strip.  Your quilt top is now ready for the border.





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rose@ludlowquiltandsew.co.uk
www.ludlowquiltandsew.co.uk