I clear a space on my living room floor and put a large foldable cutting board on the floor. A sheet, quilt batting or blanket would also work. Another alternative is to hang a flannel sheet or quilt batting on the wall. In my sewing room I have a Fons & Porter design wall, which is a large gridded flannel curtain with grommets along the top. I hook these onto clear Command hooks stuck on to a picture rail. Quilt blocks will ‘stick’ to the flannel so you can arrange your design vertically.
I move my blocks around and take photos with my phone so I can look at a range of layout options. This also keeps a record of my final arrangement should I suddenly need to tidy away. It helps to sketch out your layout complete with sashing and border options so you can clearly see how many different fabric pieces are needed. Some quilters do this digitally using computer programmes or on a tablet using an app like Touchdraw for this but a quick sketch by hand is just as helpful.
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Cutting Sashing
You will need to work out how many sashing strips and corner stones you need. I am using 1 1/2” wide sashing (1” finished) between the blocks and I am not adding a border. Sashing strips can be cut cross-grain (selvedge to selvedge) or you can cut vertical strips on the lengthways grain, following the selvedge.
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The TIP section from the Log Cabin blocks post explains the effect of cutting strips cross grain or lengthways. As I am using scraps, I have cut my strips in both directions according to the different sizes of fabric I was working with. The cutting directions below are for the sashing and cornerstones design in the first diagram above.
Sashing fabric – 1/2 metre (or use assorted scraps) – Cut seventeen 1 1/2” x 12 1/2” rectangles
Corner stones fabric – Fat eighth (or more for fussy cutting) – Cut six 1 1/2” squares. For fussy cutting, see this post on the economy square block
Cutting Borders
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If you wish to add a border, wait until the sashing has been added and your quilt top is pieced together so you can measure it accurately. As with sashing, borders can be cut on the cross grain or lengthways grain. Firstly measure across the top of your quilt for the length of your top and bottom borders – the width is up to you! Then measure the side edge of your quilt and add on the width of your top and bottom borders subtracting 1” that will be taken up in seam allowances when these are added (calculation based on ¼” seams).
Sewing Sashing
I work in rows. First I sew the vertical sashing strips to the blocks in the top row. Press the sashing away from the blocks. I then sew the horizontal sashing/cornerstones row that will fit between the first rows of blocks, pressing the sashing seam allowance away from the corner stones. Join below the top row, pressing seam away from the sashed blocks.
Repeat so all rows of the quilt are sewn with sashing and corner stones. You can then sew your block rows and your sashing/cornerstone rows together. Because of the way the seams are pressed, the seam allowances will nest together. See the nine-patch tutorial for a full explanation of seam nesting. Press open the seams that join the rows.
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