What I Learned

Since my last post, I've had several questions about my method of putting the quilt together.  Here's a quick list of tips that I found to be super helpful.

1.  Once you have your blocks pieced, and have laid them out just the way you want them, take a picture!  I took a quick pic on my phone, and referenced it when piecing the blocks together.  It helped ensure that I didn't sewing any of those little houses upside down!

2.  Press as you go, and then press again.  If you want a crisp quilt with blocks that line up in the end, be sure to carefully watch your seam allowances and press them well.  I used a 1/4" seam allowance, which is pretty standard.  Here is a good tutorial for learning to line up all those blocks.

3.  I used Dritz Adhesive Spray to make my quilt "sandwich".  Here is a great tutorial on this method by A Quilt is Nice.  This eliminated the need to pin it all together, saving loads of time.  Everything held together extremely well while I quilted, and my needle didn't gunk up at all.

4.  After quilting, I trimmed all of the edges to the same size, and then did a quick straight stitch all along the very perimeter of my quilt.  This keeps everything secure when you get ready to bind.

5.  I used a walking foot to stitch my binding onto the top of my quilt.  This helped keep the bias binding from stretching.

6.  To secure the binding to the back, I used a simple whip-stitch.

And that's it!  Sounds simple huh?  Now what should I quilt next?