black and white stripes

Hey Everyone, welcome back to Technique Tuesday on Thursday this week.

Quilt as you go is a very popular method of quilting and implies just that quilt as you go. The quilting is done with the piecing through all three layers of the quilt. When the piecing is done the quilting is also complete.

Most times the quilt is made up of several blocks often using enough for a king size quilt. This method of quilting makes it very easy to make a king size quilt manageable with a domestic machine.

My piece that I have created is just one 16 ½″ block of black and white fabrics. To begin I cut my piece of batting and drew lines at 2 ½″ intervals starting from one corner to another. In the end though I really only needed the corner to corner line to start. I used my Trace ‘n Mark pen to draw the lines on the batting.

lines drawn on batting

Lines drawn on batting at 2 ½″ intervals

Next I cut a backing the same size as the batting.

black and white dotted fabrics

Backing cut and on top of batting

I had a whole bunch of pre-cut 2 ½″ strips I had bought years ago for another project and well there they sit in the drawer so I figured why not I’ll use them for this. The first strip I lined up with the line that ran from one corner to the opposite on the batting.

Black strip of fabric on batting from corner to corner

First strip in place from corner to corner

The second strip I placed on top of the first.

White strip on top of black strip

Second strip in place and ready to sew

Using a walking foot or dual feed foot is essential since three layers are under the foot. By using either of these feet the fabric will be fed through evenly and there will be no puckering or shifting. Sew the two pieces of fabric in place with a ¼″ seam.

strips sewn together

Strips sewn together with a ¼″ seam

 

Strips sewn on either side of the black strip. Press towards the fabric on top.

white strips in place on either side of the black strip

Two strips in place

Continue sewing the strips on. I alternated from side to side just to prevent any shifting of the backing. As well I used black thread for piecing so that it would blend in with the backing.

Several strips sewn together on the batting

More strips added

Once all the strips were on I turned it over and trimmed off all of the excess fabric to square up the piece.

Excess fabric from top sticking out from edges

Back side of piece ready to be trimmed

This piece is a stand alone piece so all it needs now is a binding.

black and white stripes squared up

Piece squared up and ready for binding and embellishing

If I were making blocks for a quilt then the finishing would be a bit different but I’ll leave that for another post.

Happy Quilting!

Jen Transparent Signature