I usually move a machine close to my design wall. Then I take down vertical rows one and two making sure I don't rotate the piles. Row 1 goes to the left side of my machine and row 2 to the right side. I add one from the right pile on top of one from the left pile and chain stitch them all together. Always leave your beginning tail of thread on where you started and you will always know where the top left corner is.
Then I go back and take down row 3 from top to bottom and put it to the right of my machine, open out the first 2 pieces at the top of my sewn section and now sew piece 3 onto all of the one and twos. I continue adding rows this way.
Here are pictures from each side of my machine as the fifth piece is being added to each row.
Here are the rest of the pieces waiting to be taken down to sew.
When you finish all of your pieces they are all attached together and you don't have to make any decisions the second time about which piece is the beginning of the row and which is at the end because they are all attached to each other. Now I press the seams in opposing directions on the rows and then sew the cross seams.
And the top is done, just as I had it on the design wall. You may remember these blocks if you have been reading my blog for awhile. If you go to LABELS on the right column of this screen and click on CRAZY PIECING and scroll down to Sept. you will see where I tried a bunch of different layouts.
I finally decided it was time to sew them together and had to make 2 final blocks to get the color to flow the way I liked it. I have named it Rainbow River. Than name just came into mind as I came down the basement stairs and saw it on the far wall. NOW I have to finish it. This top is 48" x 66".
Some close up shots of the blocks.
It is cold and sunny today. We're supposed to go down into the deep freeze tonight again. 
17 comments:
What a glorious blast of colors this morning ~ and I REALLY like the name you chose!!!
[When I'm ready to stitch a top together, I (1) put a safety pin in the left hand block for each horizontal row; work my way across the first row, pinning each seam in place; stitch the seams in that row; and then put the row back on the design wall with the safety pinned block to the left. As soon as row 2 is stitched together, I attach it to row 1... and so on down to the bottom.]
Have a great weekend!!
Rainbow River is a perfect name! I do my row piecing the same as you. It helps me to keep everything in order.
Wow, your quilt is beautiful and bright! I like your idea about sewing the rows together. I will have to try that! Right now I use the safety pin method like Julie mentioned above
I agree with the ladies above ~ Rainbow River is a perfect name for your glorious quilt top.
For those of us that only quilt from time to time your FREE lesson today is priceless. I do not know of any one who shares their talents and procedures like you always do. THANK YOU AGAIN
J~MT
I love the color in this one. What a beautiful, colorful quilt to start the morning with.
This is so cheerful! Rainbow River is a great name too.
We have the sun shining today, a foot of snow, temp just above freezing, and it RAINED this morning! Yikes, the roads are skating rinks. I'm staying home with my sewing machine, and using your exuberance as my motivation!
Rainbow River looks the perfect antidote to snow & ice!
How lovely it is, you have the flow just right!
Now, if I just had a design wall...
Wandaful quilt tops arrived today~ They are prettier than the photo's if that is possible, because you always capture the truest color I have seen capturing fabrics. I am so pleased you are selling some of your quilt tops on your blog shop. Now I have some UFO's to complete. (*._,*) Thanks again~
I love rainbow river!!
Doesn't the quilt get awfully heavy the way you sew it together? I do chunks of rows (3 or 4, then a new chunk of 3 or 4), so that I don't have very much time on the machine when I have to deal with the bulk and weight of the whole quilt. That just happens when I sew the chunks together.
Beautiful quilt, so colorful. I love all the bright, colorful quilts I am seeing on blogs. I love every one. And yours is fantastic. I like the way you keep your rows organized. Thanks for sharing.
Hmmm... I used that method once. It must have been a dozen years ago, now. I can certainly see the advantages; there might also be some disadvantages for a slowpoke like me who is often assembling a face over the course of months, instead of minutes like you seem to.
By the way, this piece is so incredibly magnificent that it's almost unsporting of you to use it in a tutorial! Talk about "making it look easy"....
I will have to try that method next time I assemble a quilt. I usually do the row thing and mark the top left of each row with a pin or more pins to indicate the row. With your method, you would always have everything in order.
Brilliant!
What a fabulous sea of color- Thanks for the inspiration- I have a quilt that I have kind of stalled out on right now and your technique advice is helping me to get moving on it again.
regards from a Western Canadian quilter,
Anna
The fabrics and color placement in this quilt are striking! Great name too.
I LOVE it! It is totally my kind of quilt. Matter of fact I love alot of quilts on your site. Thanks so much for sharing.
Thumb up!! I don t know how to make the emoji here. This is the perfect antidote to gray basement walls.
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