Creating a tidy grid of quilt blocks and sashing is easy with a simple trick using tailor’s chalk and a quilting ruler.
Lining up quilt blocks across sashing can be tricky. Pinning a row of quilt blocks sewn together to the sashing before stitching is necessary, but with some simple tools, you can get a neat and tidy grid.
Line the ruler up with the side seam and the seam along the sashing you are stitching the next row to.
After attaching the sashing to the first row of sewn quilt blocks, square up a ruler with the seam of a quilt block and sashing. Then, make a mark along the sashing with the tailor’s chalk. (Note: you can use whatever temporary pencil or marker you prefer. Heck, you could even stick a pin on the far side of the sashing where the seam is.) You’ll want to mark the seams of all the quilt blocks along the sashing.
It’s now easy to see exactly where to pin the seams on the sashing.
Now, take your next row of sewn quilt blocks and line the seams up with the marks. It’s not as satisfying as nesting seams, but it still feels good that you’re going to get an accurate placement.
I pin both seams and I also put at least one pin in the middle of each block.
Stitch the seam and voilà! A pretty darn accurate grid of quilt blocks!
Those chalk lines will go away in the wash.
I first came across the challenge of lining up quilt blocks when I was a quilt guild member. Another member posed the question to the group because her blocks were always a little offset. I hadn’t made a quilt with sashing at that point, so I listened and the best response was “pin it really well.” The most important pins are the ones at the seams of the second row and the chalk marks, but making those chalk marks are essential. It’s a simple trick and super easy to do with some common tools!
P.S. The quilt shown here is my Frosty the Snowman Quilt which is still in progress…stay tuned!
Add it to your Pinterest board for future reference!
Prepping the cloth and floss for a new cross-stitch pattern makes it easy to jump in and start stitching. Here’s how I do it.
All the supplies for stitching Tiny Modernist’s Cute Crocodile cross-stitch pattern.
This past summer, I was bitten by the cross-stitch bug. When I was around 10-years-old, my mom introduced me to Christmas cross-stitch ornament kits—those little plastic round frames into which I’d pop the image of Santa Claus, or a snowman, or a train that I had painstakingly crisscrossed out with the provided threads. They were fun when I was a kid. But as an adult, I lost interest…until now.
Needing a hand sewing/stitching project, I browsed Pinterest and found a pattern that caught my eye. I was able to order the pattern and all the required embroidery floss and cloth from a single website. (Etsy is also a great place to get fun patterns, but you need to have the ability to print the pattern and must purchase the floss and cloth somewhere.)
Quilting and tailoring tools come in handy for prepping cross-stitch patterns.
Starting a cross-stitch pattern larger than those tiny ornaments can be overwhelming. Fabric! Thread! Find the center! Here’s how I set up my supplies after I have a pattern I want to start making.
First, I get my cloth. There are a lot of different sizes and colors. For now, I like working with 14-count Aida. White and beige are my favorite colors and easy to find. Consulting the pattern, I see how big the finished image is on the particular size of Aida I’m using. Then, I’ve learned to cut 3” extra on all sides. But, I wish pattern makers/writers would say “add 6 inches to the height and width” because a few times I’ve been tempted to just add 3”—and then I’d only have an extra 1.5” on each side. This extra fabric is so that you have finishing options.
I use my quilting ruler and tailor’s chalk to mark the size just on the edges of my larger piece of fabric. I cut the fabric using the weave as a guide.
No need to mark the whole line. Just follow the weave to cut a straight line.
Next, most patterns recommend working from the center out. Cross-stitch patterns generally have markers so you can easily find the center on the chart. I have been folding my fabric in half one way and then in half the other way. Then, I thread a needle with a single strand of black embroidery floss and run it up and down every 10 holes along the two folds. Once I get started and create the center stitches, I go ahead and clip and remove these marking threads so I don’t permanently stitch them into the design. (Ask me how I learned this.)
Simple lines of stitching make it easy to see the vertical and horizontal centers.
For the floss, I like to wind it onto bobbins, marking each bobbin with the corresponding color number. Then, I load them onto the ring. The plastic bobbins and ring were a set! I only put the colors for my current pattern on there.
Bobbins make keeping floss tidy easy.
Next, I get a piece of cardstock paper, fold it in half (so it’s extra sturdy), and punch enough holes in it to hold a couple lengths of each floss. I write the color number above each hole and then I cut two lengths of each floss and simply tie them on. The floss is the length I like to work with. If you take nothing else from this post, do this. I find this is one of the most helpful things I’ve done. It makes starting on the pattern so easy. Sure, at some point I need to cut a new length of floss from the bobbin, but having this card makes accessing it so easy.
A card of pre-cut floss keeps the stitches flowing!
I keep everything in the same project bag: cut fabric, floss card, ring of floss bobbins, pattern, needles, and something to cut with. Bonus items are thread conditioner and needle threader. One unusual thing you see in my photo is nail clippers. Nail clippers are scissors alternatives. If you are unwilling to travel with your “good scissors,” take nail clippers! They trim floss just as easily and are small enough for project bags and traveling!
All the cross-stitch pattern supplies ready to go.
And, here’s a glamour shot of my completed crocodile:
Using an online tutorial, I sewed a travel toiletry roll using a store-bought hand towel and fat quarter of quilting cotton.
I have had The Yellow Birdhouse’s “DIY Toothbrush Travel Wrap” blog post pinned on a Pinterest board for a few years now. With a trip on the calendar, I knew it was time to try it out. All it requires is a store-bought hand towel, a fat quarter of quilting cotton, some ribbon, and of course, thread, and a sewing machine.
I bought some 100% cotton hand towels and dug through my stash for some fat quarter-size pieces of fabric. I also dug through my collection of ribbon and trim to find pieces that would match and be long enough to stitch on as tie closures.
Full disclosure: I didn’t measure anything! After getting the gist of how to make the toiletry roll, I let the hand towel and mini travel toiletries be my guide. It was an exercise in letting go of perfection. I mean, who is going to see this? Function over beauty, I say!
First, using my secondhand embroidery machine, I stitched my name into the fabric. I’m still learning the ins and outs of machine embroidery and try to use it when I can. It’s all practice, as you’ll see from the fact that the embroidery isn’t very visible. And, it’s off-center.
I trimmed the hems off all four sides of the hand towel. Then, I trimmed the fabric to match the size of the towel. I placed the wrong sides together, placed the ribbon in the center on one side so that it would be outside once flipped, and stitched around, leaving 3-4” open so I could flip it to the right side out.
I flipped it, and topstitched around the perimeter, closing up the hole I used to turn it around.
For the next part, I let the toothbrush be the guide. I set the toothbrush on the towel side and folded the bottom up far enough that it would hold the toothbrush. I also folded the top down enough so that it would protect the head of the brush. I clipped together the top and bottom folds down to hold it in place while I stitched each side down.
Now, using a ruler (but not for measuring!) and some tailor’s chalk, I placed each toiletry in, marked with the chalk where I needed to stitch to create a “pocket.” The ruler ensures a straight line. Then, I stitched along the marked line, and repeated this process for each toiletry I wanted this roll to hold. I was sure to leave a little wiggle room with each pocket, because toiletries don’t last forever and surely the next mini-bottle of shampoo will be larger/different shape and that wiggle room will ensure it’ll still slip in!
I’m happy with it! I stitched up a roll for each of my kids. It allows them to keep track of their own toiletries when we go on family trips. If you need a bit more detail on how this travel toiletry roll comes together, head on over to The Yellow Birdhouse’s tutorial here.
My completed Conversation Sampler Quilt by AnneMarie Chany has a homespun, scrappy, Valentine’s Day style created with variety pink-hued fabrics and a tied finish.
Completed Conversation Heart Quilt
At long last, my Conversation Heart Quilt, as I call it, is done! I picked up AnneMarie Chany’s Conversation Sampler Quilt pattern in early 2019, purchased the fabric, sewed about two rows, and then life happened. About six years later, it’s completed and on a bed!
Close-up of rows 6, 7, & 8
The pattern uses a row-by-row construction method. That means, every row is sewn individually and then the rows are sewn together. Each row in this pattern is a different quilt block pattern. One of the appeals of sewing this pattern was the chance to create 12 different quilt blocks. Each block is unique and required different skills.
The instructions are written to create a rainbow within the rows, as seen on the front of the pattern. My vision was to keep the white, but use pink—so it felt more like Valentine’s Day. I also wanted a scrappy, homespun style.
Conversation Heart Quilt pattern plus my fabric pull
I purchased fat quarters of fabric in an array of pink hues and prints. Plus, I pulled a few pink fabrics from my stash. Overall, I used about 20 different pink fabrics for the contrast in the blocks. The binding is made with leftover pink fabric. The white and navy fabrics I purchased new. The backing is a new flat sheet. For the blanket stitch on the Orange Peel blocks, tying, and quilting, I used about 20 different hues of pink embroidery floss.
Close-up of the backing on the Conversation Heart Quilt
To finish the quilt, I put ties all throughout the blocks and did a single line of big-stitch quilting around the outer border. First, I have limitations for machine quilting, both with my own machine (it’s a basic model) and my budget to pay for longarm quilting by a professional. Second, tying is just a lovely way to create a homespun aesthetic. It’s just not as polished as machine quilting and really highlights the hand of the maker. Third, I wanted this quilt DONE, so I wasn’t going to hand quilt it. Especially with all those seams! (Seams create an obstacle to any kind of quilting.)
The resulting quilt achieves my vision and I’m pleased as punch with it! The colors exude a Valentine’s Day vibe (although this quilt is destined to be used year-round). The variety of pink fabrics used in both the blocks and binding create a scrappy style, as if the quilt was made with leftover material from different projects. The ties bring it all together with texture and a homespun feel.
Close-up of tie and single line of quilting
Since I have completed this quilt, I have seen it on the bed and thought, “that is a really nice quilt!” And, you know what? Isn’t that the purpose of creating—to make something that delights ourselves?
The Details:
+ Pattern is “Conversation Sampler Quilt Pattern” by AnneMarie Chany
+ Measures 76” square
+ Approximately 20 different pink fabrics
+ Approximately 20 different shades of pink embroidery floss
+ Finished with ties and a single line of hand quilting along the border
After sewing a baby-size quilt top with Maeberry Square’s Desert Series Quilt Pattern, I added borders with leftover fabric to create a twin-size quilt.
Completed Desert Sun & Then Some Quilt
Several years ago, I signed up to test Maeberry Square’s One Block | Three Designs Desert Series Pattern. Unfortunately, it looks like the shop is taking a break. You may remember this quilt from here. It’s a fun pattern and I love the colors. But, I’m a big-quilt kind of person. The top was only baby-size and I don’t have any babies to make quilts for! The top had been waiting patiently while I figured out what to do.
Center was tied with six-strand embroidery floss.
Finally, inspiration struck in the form of leftover fabric from some pillowcases I made. I decided to just add borders of fabric until I had a large enough quilt. To me, a quilt needs to be long enough to cover your shoulders and wrap around your feet while you’re fully stretched out. In the past, I’ve made a throw-size quilt and found it distinctly unsatisfying to use for a couch nap because either my feet were uncovered, or my shoulders were.
Close up of big-stitch quilting in borders
I gathered my leftover pillowcase fabric along with leftover fabric from the original quilt, too. With some mathing, I just kept cutting strips out of the fabric and sewing them on as borders. It has a vaguely Courthouse Steps quilt block kind of vibe. Once I had sewn all the leftover fabric on, I decided it was big enough. (To be honest, it could be bigger, but it passes my shoulder-to-toes test.)
It’s a leftover quilt because it was completed with materials leftover from a few different quilts.
With newly purchased batting and fabric, I basted the quilt and set about tying the quilt within the “Desert Sun” center. The embroidery floss I used was leftover from my Down the Rabbit Hole Quilt. Then, using the same floss, I did big stitch hand quilting in the borders.
Glamour shot of the quilting on the back
The binding was a quilting miracle! I used leftover binding I had made for a previous quilt project. And, you know what? It was the exact amount I needed for this quilt. I mean, it was exactly—I clipped off maybe 2” of extra binding. If there was ever a sign that this quilt was meant to be, this was it.
The leftover binding was the exact amount needed for this quilt.
And, that’s it! I finished an unfinished quilt top that was (to me) an unusable size in a size that is perfect for the bed that it is currently on. It’s a great feeling to clear out a project bin…and to start scheming about the next project!
T-Bud Co. Creative 