Thursday, September 29, 2011

Crosses Quilt Tutorial, Part 2, sewing

Make little number tags (or use an old calendar page) to pin to the first piece of every row.  I take the rows down off the design wall in a stack from top to bottom since that is the way I designed the quilt.
You will be sewing 2 rows at a time and this is the way they need to lay, to the right of your machine.  Why to the right?  Because if you lay them to the left they will eventually be knocked on the floor by your work in progress.

The uneven numbered rows (1,3,5 etc.) will always be at the top and even numbered rows (2,4,6 etc.) will be on the bottom (as in the photo above).  Pick up the first 2 pieces from row 1 and sew.  Pick up the first 2 pieces from row 2 and sew.  Don't take them off your machine.
Snip the thread between the 2 rows and bring row 1 back around to the front of the machine.
Sew piece 3 onto row 1.
Snip the thread between rows 1 and 2 and bring row 2 around to the front of the machine.
Sew piece 3 onto row 2.  Continue in this manner until all of the pieces are sewn in the 2 rows.  Your tags are on the first piece so you will always know which row you are working on.  Seams should be pressed up on uneven numbered rows and down on even numbered rows.  When sewing the rows together there will be one seam that matches about every10" so you can pin at those spots if you are a pinner.
This photo was taken before I took all of the rows off the design wall.  This one has 20 rows across and equal to 29 squares down so it will end up 40" x 58".  You can make it any size you want.  It doesn't matter if it is an even number of rows across or down.  I was done when I ran out of 2.5" strips in the box.  You might have a better plan.

16 comments:

Unknown said...

Love this quilt! Great tutorial! This is one of those quilts that a design wall is a definite must.

MB in MI said...

thankyou soooo much--i'm tryin' this out this weekend!

Anonymous said...

It's gorgeous. I love it.

And a cool way to chain piece that I hadn't seen before. Thank you for showing us that!

judith lockhart said...

Thanks! That is a great tutorial on how to sew this very nice looking quilt!

fiberchick said...

Thank you! Must give this a go soon...

Anonymous said...

Using a calendar for numbering rows, just genius!

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

good explaining - I always take the photo first with a stack of pieces is that I make sure I take a photo first so that I can refer to it now and then to make sure I haven't gotten the color mixed up somehow.
Karen
http://karensquilting.com/blog/

Tina Craig said...

I number the first piece of each row just like you do. I like to sew together more than 2 rows at a time, so I put a numbered piece of tape on the table next to the piles so I don't get mixed up.

hetty said...

Great tutorial! I love the way you sew two rows at the same time. I have already cut some 2 1/2inch strips. I know I shouldn't be starting something new, but I just can't help myself.

Jan said...

Had to read through this twice, but it makes sense now. Great thinking!

Cathi said...

What a great tutorial -- makes sense even to me!

Elaine/Muddling Through said...

I REALLY like this quilt. Thanks for the tutorial. Makes it easier to see where you're going.

Sue said...

My head is spinning. I wonder if I could actually make this. Your tutorial is great, but I'm a little unsure of my own skill at following it. Thank you so much for being so inspiring. :)

Linda at Roscoe's Ma said...

Thank goodness for design walls! Thank you for Part 1 and Part 2 of this tutorial!!

Mishka said...

Gorgeous quilt. I use scraps of freezer paper to iron on my row/block numbers. Works great, and I don't have an extra pin in my way.

Lynne said...

Very helpful - one day I might be that brave!