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Final Quilt Top - Finishing the Farm Girl Vintage Sew Along
Farm Girl Vintage Sew Along - Sewing the Top Together
Last post we finished up by having all of our sashing and border pieces cut and ready. How nice it was to have everything prepared, because the quilt top sewed together so much faster than I anticipated.
There are quite a few tips and hints in our final* installment of the Featherweight Shop Farm Girl Vintage Sew Along, so grab a cup of coffee or tea and let's finish this!
* I just dropped off the quilt top yesterday to have it quilted, but as soon as I finish the scalloped border with bias binding, I will do a special post showing how this was accomplished. A few of you asked about this technique, and I am taking photos of the process for a future tutorial.
Psssst! If you're just joining us and want to get in on the fun, you can always start at the beginning of our series at your own pace. Grab some Lori Holt fabric and accessories, as well as the two featured books here!
The first thing I did was place all my blocks in a sequence that coordinated for color, design and pattern. I didn't want all the bold red colors congregating in one area, so spacing them out was important. Furthermore, making sure that all the star-type blocks were sporadically placed around the quilt made the pictorial blocks more balanced. Lori's quilt was a perfect guide and foundation with which to begin the layout process. My quilt has 16 additional blocks, but it was enjoyable to choose a final spot for each one. Handling each block again allowed me to reminisce all the sewing months these past couple of years and the fun sew alongs our shop staff has enjoyed together. Aiming for matching points and a final 6 1/2" block size, there has been a lot to learn as intricate piecing skills were honed and improved.
The Sew Handy Stickers were helpful again when sewing the sashing pieces to the blocks in consecutive order. One row at a time, I would stack the blocks alphabetically, working from left to right.
Some of my blocks were just a teensy bit off in size compared to the more accurately cut sashing strips. If the difference was slight, say about 1/16 of an inch, there was a little trick I was able to use to make sure the seam finished even.
Whichever was the slightly longer piece (block or section), I placed on the bottom - the side that touches the feed dogs, before sewing together. With the way the machine feeds the fabric on the bottom fabric compared to the top fabric (the one under the presser foot), the little bit of extra length gets absorbed or eased as the feed dogs feed the underneath side of the fabric. This is illustrated in the photos below.
My fabric piece is slightly longer on the bottom, but look how evenly the two pieces sew together as it is eased into the seam at the end.
See? Ending the seam with the edges aligned.
Sashing pieces align to the blocks!
When I finished sewing each row, I placed them in line again to eliminate mixup with the quilt layout.
I was hoping I could find enough scraps for all the cornerstone pieces so that I would not have any repeat prints. Mission accomplished! This quilt has definitely helped me build up a stash of fabulous vintage-styled prints.
Chain-piecing the long sashing rows was efficient and fast.
Again, I placed the sashing row pieces to double-checked color placement and to coordinate with the block rows. I repositioned them as needed before sewing all the sashing rows together.
Pressing the cornerstone seams in the opposite direction of the vertical sashing pieces on the blocks will help them conform to one another more easily when sewn.
Adding the first inner border...
It was starting to come together and I was very eager to get to the finish line!
There were lots and lots of little red and white flying geese to sew. In order to make the stacks more attainable, I would sew 10 units at a time until completion.
The handy corner clipper ruler is still the most used ruler in my ruler repertoire!
More chain piecing for flying geese sewing efficiency.
Every little bit counts, so make sure to square up each unit after sewing each piece. The Itty Bitty Eights ruler is essential for squaring up small unit pieces.
More shaving off little bits!
So many little flying geese...
Yaaaaay! We are down to the very last border!
Before sewing the yellow border, I had decided a long time ago to make an attempt at a scalloped border with bias binding. That is still the plan, but it took some time and adjustment to determine the best avenue with which to achieve this technique.
Notice first that I made the final yellow border quite a bit wider than the pattern called for. This was not necessary as per the long-arm quilter, but I wanted to alert you as to why it looks considerably more wide than the original quilt design... (A lot of it will get trimmed away in the final binding process.)
The final yellow border will end up close to the original design width, even with the scallops.
HERE IT IS! Two years in the making!
Taking pictures was a bit challenging with my shadow showing up in all the photographs outside! LOL!
What about you!? Are you adding more or different blocks to your Farm Girl Vintage quilt? Let us know how they represent you and feel free to post pictures in the comments below. Or join us on the Facebook group to share and enjoy more Featherweight Fellowship online!
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