Tag Archives: HowTo

200+ Squares in 2 minutes

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Nothing makes one feel more terrifically accomplished than finishing a quilt.  With that being said, I try to finish as many quilts as possible, as quickly as possible. But if you’re a quilter, you know it takes time…sometimes a lot of it, depending on how complicated the pattern.  In quilting, as it is w/other things in life, (no examples come to mind at the moment) after doing it for a while, you start looking for faster, more efficient ways of doing things. Hence, this blog post.

Every month at QA we have a “sew and tell”.  One night a sister quilter brought in a bag she’d made. It was love at first sight! I immediately ordered the pattern from a local quilt shop, In Stitches.

I finally got around to looking at the pattern last night and saw that it called for 208, 2.5″ squares. That’s a lot of squares! And if you’re not a quilter or just maybe new to quilting, it seems like it would take forever to cut 208 squares, but it doesn’t have to! I knew I could do it in about 2 mins and here’s how.

First I dug out 13 -2.5″ x 40″ strips from my 2.5″ strip drawer. I knew this would come in handy!

Next, I layered 2 strips on top of each other then aligned several rows on cutting mat. Each 40″ strip is folded in half and layered on top of another.

I then cut off the selvage and commenced to cutting 2.5″ sections (each cut yields 4 squares per row) and…

Voilà!

This method works well for rectangles too!


A Thread for Life
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by Grace you have been saved…For it is by Grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. Eph 2:4-5; 8

Basting a Quilt on Carpet

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Basting a quilt is the process of preparing it for quilting. It includes layering the backing, batting and quilt top and then pinning it together through all 3 layers, to make a quilt sandwich.  It’s usually done on a hard floor by taping down the backing. But what if you have carpet?  Don’t despair! Basting on carpet is possible…I do it all the time! Here’s how.

First, lay the right side of the backing on the carpet and smooth out any wrinkles.  Remember, backing and batting should be bigger than quilt top, at least 2-3″ on every side.  Once smoothed out, start pinning around the perimeter to keep it in place, every 8 – 10″.

I use T- pins.

T-pins should be inserted at an angle away from the center of the quilt backing, around the perimeter.

Once the backing is secured, layer on the batting.

Next layer on quilt top, right side facing up and start pinning.

I use curved safety pins. I think they work best whether pinning on hard floor or carpet.

 I was taught to pin from the center out, which I did for a long time, but now I pin from one end to the other.  Also, I used to pin about a closed hands width apart (4″), now I pin about an open hand width apart (8″).

So this is how I baste my quilts.  Occasionally I do pin to the carpet, but surprisingly it doesn’t happen often.

A Thread for Life
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 2 Cor 13:14