Show and Tell Tuesday....Quilt Dilemma Tutorial

I've posted this post before and it was popular so I thought I would re-share it...because, well...it's just valuable stuff! ;)

 

Here's the dilemma...

You've just finished laying out all your quilt squares on the floor in a beautiful pattern they should be arranged in and you're asking yourself..."how do I pick them up and take them to the sewing machine without picking one up at a time, going to the sewing machine, sewing one block, going back to the quilt, picking up one block, and repeating the process about 145 times", because did I happen to mention it is King size ;)

Here's your solution.

Number Flower Head Pins with a Sharpie Pen numbering them according to how many rows you have. If you have 12 rows, then you need 12 pins.

I keep these pins at hand all the time. Not only are they are great pin, they are perfect for this process.

Next...

Lay out your quilt in the arrangement it should be in.

 Stack each row. Do this by starting with block number one on top and going across the row adding number two to the bottom, number three, and so on.

You will end up with a stack of blocks for each row. First block of the row is on top and the last block of the row is on the bottom and the rest in between in order.

Take a Flower Head Pin with the correct row number on it and pin it on the Right hand side with the flower head right side up. This tells me the row number, which edge is the top, and the side I will sew down.

What I love about this method is no matter how much time goes by between stacking and pinning to when I finally sew them...I always can go back to my row and know exactly how I will be sewing the rows.

Next...

When you are ready to sew, take a row and transfer the pin from the right side to the upper left corner, and pin to only the top block. The pin will stay there until the quilt top is sewn together.

Next...

Take block number one and block number two and lay them side by side, flip block number two onto block number one (so that they are pretty to pretty) and sew down the right side. Repeat the process with the remaining blocks in the row, but remember DO NOT twist the blocks or your arrangement could be jeopardized.

Sew all rows together, press each row with an iron so that seams oppose each other...example:

press one row towards your pin, the next row away from the pin, and so on.

Sew rows together to make your quilt top.

Isn't that much easier than picking up one block at a time and taking it to your sewing machine?