Sashing Help

[Elliegirl]

I'm going to add sashing to a twin size quilt I'm making. I just watched a video by Fons & Porter on adding sashing on the sides of the blocks by using short strips. However, the video did not cover adding sashing on the top/bottom of the block once you have the sashing on the side. I'm guessing you just add strips to the top/bottom going to the edges of the sashing. Am I correct?

[LynneLeavell]

Yes. You measure across the middle to get the size of sashing you need for the top and bottom.

[lourixe]

The reason why you only add sashing strips to the top and one side of the blocks is, when you put the blocks together, the bottom of the first block is sewn to the sashing strip that is on top of the block which is underneath. If all the blocks had sashing all around, there would be double sashing between them.
This is an image I found while googleing for you:

Only the blocks at the end of the rows have a sashing on both sides, and the blocks in the last row have sashing in top and bottom.

[Quiltlover]

Just a cautionary note, don't do what I did. I was in a hurry to finish mine and did not double check for EXACT measurements and some blocks that I made later on to make a bigger quilt were not the exact measurement of the first ones. Well, those blocks did not match up when I added the sashing and corner blocks. I still have to go back and redo the ones that were a bit off. Your sashing and corner blocks HAVE to line up just right or you have a mess when you try to join everything.
Brenda in Alabama

[Sharyn J]

lourixe's diagram is how I do my sashing most of the time. I like to sew two rows together at a time, therefore using sets. This method can be used with or without cornerstones. Just measure the width of the block from the middle. (I add a hair so I can square each block nicely at the corners.

When you sew your rows together, don't be afraid of pins. Mark or pin the vertical sash lines so everything lines up. You can even baste just the join area for sashing with a long machine basting stitch to make sure that everything lines up nicely. If good, proceed to attach the row; if not, pick out the baste thread, re-align and check it. Once it's good, proceed to attach. This is the easiest method and prevents a lot of ripping. If you need to re-align, you only need to remove a few threads.

Here's the method posted above: Adding Sashing The Easy Way

[JCY]

"Adding Sashing the Easy Way" is how I do it. Works great. JCY

[Elliegirl]

Just a cautionary note, don't do what I did. I was in a hurry to finish mine and did not double check for EXACT measurements and some blocks that I made later on to make a bigger quilt were not the exact measurement of the first ones. Well, those blocks did not match up when I added the sashing and corner blocks. I still have to go back and redo the ones that were a bit off. Your sashing and corner blocks HAVE to line up just right or you have a mess when you try to join everything.
Brenda in Alabama

I was ready to tackle this until I read your post. It's actually a DNP. I had to make it into a DNP because there were a lot of uneven sizes of the blocks on the original 9P. So I tried the ol' hide the mistakes in the DNP!!

[Elliegirl]

lourixe's diagram is how I do my sashing most of the time. I like to sew two rows together at a time, therefore using sets. This method can be used with or without cornerstones. Just measure the width of the block from the middle. (I add a hair so I can square each block nicely at the corners.

When you sew your rows together, don't be afraid of pins. Mark or pin the vertical sash lines so everything lines up. You can even baste just the join area for sashing with a long machine basting stitch to make sure that everything lines up nicely. If good, proceed to attach the row; if not, pick out the baste thread, re-align and check it. Once it's good, proceed to attach. This is the easiest method and prevents a lot of ripping. If you need to re-align, you only need to remove a few threads.

Here's the method posted above: Adding Sashing The Easy Way

This looks wonderful and fairly easy to do!

[MartinaG]

I generally sew just the strips to each side of the blocks, then I make a sashing strip with corner blocks for the bottom and top rows. That works well for me.