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!