Start cutting out the squares from your clothes. |
Pick the spot that you want to be your square and place the glass over it. That is another reason the glass is nice for this step, you can see exactly what you will end up with. |
Cut around the piece of glass. |
Pin the front of the square to the back. Not all squares will need pins. Some will just be one piece of fabric, but I wanted to show this example |
If you cut a good square and pin when necessary, the sewing part will be much easier (trust me!) |
If you have details that will be close to the seam (such as bows), pin them in so they don't get hidden in your stitching. Allow for 1/4" seam. |
Start arranging them. Pick a spot safe from meddling kiddos and curious pets. |
It's a "put this here, move it there" kind of process. |
There! Got it! At this point, I take a picture of the quilt laid out for reference. Sometimes I get the order mixed up and it's nice to be able to look at the photo as a guide. Then just stack them in order to be ready for the next step-sewing! |
Then place the right sides together |
Sew the seam with a 1/4" allowance. Never mind the toy phone. It's not crucial to this step. |
Fold out and you have your first seam! Yay! |
Repeat this step until you have your first row sewn together. |
Keep sewing in the same method until you have all your rows done. I try to stack them in order, but it never fails that they get switched around which is why the photo you took will come in handy. |
Now you are ready to lay out your rows. It's very similar to sewing those first two squares, just on a bigger scale. |
Fold the top to the bottom and get ready to pin, pin, pin. |
Start pinning the bottom of the top row to the top of the next row down. Make sure you have the pins on the correct side to be sewn so you don't sew a row upside-down. |
When I sew, I always have company. I highly recommend having your crew near. Makes it all the more fun! |
Now you have two rows sewn together. Keep repeating the "fold, pin, sew" process until you have everything sewn together. |
Tah-Dah!!! |
You can't really see where I sewed, but it was on the zig-zag. I hope that makes sense? |
Now it's time to put it all together with the back and the batting. First lay out your batting. |
Put your quilt on top of the backing. You will be sewing this all together inside out (with an opening) and you will turn it right side-out when finished. |
Pin all the way around your quilt. Don't be stingy with the pins! It will help you a ton. Try not to stretch the quilt as you pin, it changes the shape. |
(Sorry for the terrible picture!) Start sewing around your quilt. Start where you want your opening to be and make sure to stop about 5 1/2" before you get all the way around. |
Can you see where the opening is? I used black thread. |
Trim the batting and backing. |
Now to turn it right side out! Yay! Just keep pulling and tugging as carefully as you can and with a little work............ |
Voila!!! |
Now it's time to tie the quilt. Pick a good, comfortable spot. I like the dining table. |
Pass the floss through the front at the corner of the square |
Bring it up through the back and cut it off |
If your squares don't match up perfectly, this is where you can correct that. See how these don't meet up? Just put your floss at the points you want to bring together. |
Then tie nice and tight and there you go! All the differences in material for these quilts make it hard to make them perfect. |
Last step! It's now time to stitch your opening closed. You will be using a blind stitch. If you don't know what that is, here's a good video tutorial |
Make sure you pinned it good for a nice even line and start sewing it closed. |