i died and went to heaven

i died...i mean dyed and went to fabric heaven

long time ago, i tried my first fabric dying experiments and well, they were my first, so not exactly the prettiest. so i cut up all my rejects into 4 1/2" squares, sewed them into 9patches. i made a couple, then lost interest. since i'm trying to finish some of my UFOs, this one was in the pile.

i finished making the required 9patches and dyed some yardage for the borders and sashing. i cheated tho, i bought liquid RIT dye......in navy blue. guess someone at the factory is color blind. it came out purple....*shrug* oh well....

i realized during the piecing that i had a good tip to share. it's how i get my seams to line up across the sashing without having to use cornerstones.
sew a strip between your blocks as normal, then just like when attaching a border, measure your length for the long sash and pin mark the centers. sew and press towards the sashing. on the wrong side of the sashing, use a ruler to mark the seam of the sash between the blocks on the raw edge of the long sash piece..

Line the lines of the ruler to the seams to keep everything straight.
i use a chalk pencil to mark the lines.

line the chalk lines to the pieced seams of the rows of blocks with sashing strips. pin really good so the fabric won't shift.

ta-dah, the sashing lines up across the long sashing without having to piece in cornerstones and it's nice and square.

i'll be back later with some quilting to share!

12 comments:

  1. GREAT tip! You can be sure I'll remember this one...

    Lovely quilt... quite cheerful and spirit-lifting!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great idea. I love the dyed fabrics in that quilt too.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your top is to die for. Seriously, very nice job! It must be very satisfying to see fabric you have created morph into a finished product. You aren't planning on taking up weaving are you?

    I need to try your tip. This is something I always struggle with, and it's good to have a solution. Many thanks!

    matent: the place when the womenfolk go to give birth.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I kinda do the same thing except I dont cut my sashing/borders until I have marked the seam lines first, then cut the fabric and the borders/sashing are exactly the same length. Plus I only have to mark once instead of each time.Love the colors of you quilt.

    ReplyDelete
  5. It looks neat with that color of sashing! Great tip on marking with chalk!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great quilt. Now I know what to do with all that fabric I dyed a long time ago.
    The way you mark is exactly what I've been doing for over 20 years and it's always worked for me so I've taught it to everyone I teach.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oj, what a nice quilt! And i think the purple colour looks very nice!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Why didn't I think of that? Thanks Shannon!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi again. Yeah I'm still lurking around just not chit-chatting much. But I had to stop back in and tell you again how much I appreciate you sharing your tips. I think I've learned more from you in just these last couple of years than I learned from the 5 years prior. Thanks Shannon.

    ReplyDelete
  10. used your tutorial for sashing w no cornerblocks xoxo love it THANKS!!!

    ReplyDelete

thanks so much for taking the time to comment, they feed my blog. i do my best to reply to each and every one! you can bet your comments are ALWAYS read and appreciated.