Look, No Pins!

Recently, when making another quilt project for my QSJ blog, I tried out a new way of putting a selvage block together, without pins! It will be available there on July 25, 2010.

I figured adding this portion, to that blog entry would definitely make it a very long read, so here is how I constructed this one block that is a part of that quilt project. You can go check out the finished quilt, later.

 

Square in a Square Book Review

I love using selvages in my projects, and found this selvage block worked perfectly in this quilt design. It is really quite easy, and once you get in some practice there really isn`t any need for pins, however, this may still be an option for you. It worked great for me.

TUTORIAL

To begin, I gathered up my selvages and fusible interfacing. My project needed a 4" block. So, I cut the selvage strips 4 1/2" long and the interfacing into 4 1/2" squares. The fusible interfacing does not require a marked grid. I had this in my supply cabinet, as I had used it for another project.

Selvage strips - 4 1/2" long

 Fusible Interfacing - 4 1/2" squares

Once I had cut enough pieces of selvage strips and interfacing squares, I was ready to fuse the strips onto the interfacing. Then placing the interfacing on the ironing surface, fusible side facing up, I carefully pressed one strip at a time onto the fusible side of the interfacing with my iron. I used a blank selvage strip on both sides, as these were going to be sewn into other blocks.

 Adding Selvages onto Interfacing

 Ironing Carefully

Here, you can see... that I continued with this process until all the blocks I needed, were completed! The back side of the block is now safe to iron, as the fusible side of the interfacing is completely covered with selvage strips.

Front of Block

Back of Block

Now, we are ready to stitch down the selvage strips so they will stay in place when continuing with the quilting process.

I was able to stitch the whole block without stopping or cutting the thread. First, start by sewing down one edge of the selvage, stitching across the bottom of the strip and then continuing back up the next strip, until all the strips have been sewn down. See stitching direction in photo with green lines, below.

Stitching the Rows of Selvage Strips

 Stitching Line shown in Green

Chain-stitching the Blocks

  

When all the selvage strips have been sewn down, it is time to trim the blocks. I needed these blocks to be 4" square and so cut them to that size. They are now ready to use in my quilt project.

Trimming the Block

I was delighted to find another quilt project, for my 2010 quilt challenge, that I could use more of my saved selvages. It is clear to see that once a new technique is learned that we do enjoy, many great ideas will appear...

If you haven`t yet tried making a selvage quilt and wish to see what the excitement is all about, go check out the selvage blog.

 

Hope this tutorial was helpful and I wish you many happy hours of creating your own beautiful quilts!!