Squaring Up a Quilt - Tutorial

Okay, time to 'fess up. How many of you go through the process of squaring up your quilts? I'll admit that I didn't think about it for the longest time. All the methods I had seen seemed like they required a ridiculous amount of floor space and the ability to block the quilt, like you would a new knit.

Squaring up a quilt really isn't that hard, but it is a step that slows you down when all you want to do is get that binding on and see what you quilt is going to be. It always helps to stay as square as possible along the way. Check each block as you go, and fudge seams if necessary when putting tops together. If you are using borders there is also a way to help bring a skewed quilt into square or ensure it stays square, but that's another tutorial!

I've always done my best to stay as square as possible during construction, but the evolution of my design aesthetic now sees the majority of my quilts finished without borders and not necessarily square blocks. That same evolution has led me to the following technique. See if it works for you.

You don't need any special tools to do this. Your sewing machine, thread, a large table top, self-healing cutting mat, rotary cutter, and a ruler at least 12 inches square.

Before you get started decide on how much extra batting, if at all, you want your binding to contain. I cut a quarter inch from the edge of my quilt top. My binding is then attached flush with the quilt top's edge with a quarter inch seam allowance. Folded over I can then hand sew the binding and it perfectly covers the seam from attaching the binding. If you want a less substantial binding then you could cut closer to the top's edge and use a smaller binding.

Here's how I do it.

1. Set your machine to a zig zag stitch that is small in width but long in stitch length. Stitch around the entire perimeter of your quilt, through all three layers. This essentially turns your quilt a solid piece of fabric, reducing the potential for movement when you attach your binding.

Ensure you stay as close to the edge as possible. If you have a walking foot, use it. I have an even feed foot on my machine and that's what I use. Oh, and take it from me, ensure that you have a throat plate in your machine that can accommodate a zig zag stitch! I nearly lost an eye when my needle broke. This stitch will be entirely hidden by your binding.

2. With your quilt supported on the table (if it hangs over the weight may pull you out of square as you cut) get ready to cut. The whole quilt doesn't have to lay flat, so don't worry about having a giant table. As long as your cutting edge and about 12-20 inches to the side of that edge stays flat.

3. Start in one corner. Line up the corner of the quilt top with the corner of the ruler, a quarter inch in from the edge. This is where the actual process of squaring begins. From the corner you will want to keep the quarter inch markings in line with your quilt top's edge. To do this you may need to pull the quilt into square. Hold the ruler down firmly but not so hard that you can't pull the fabric with your cutting hand. I find that my thumb holds the ruler more firmly, and thus holds the quilt in place, and that I can move the fabric near the top of my ruler. (see picture below). Pull the quilt, holding on to the batting and backing fabric until it is in line with the quarter in marks. You may have to pull the inside of the quilt in, rather than the edge out. Just go slow and pull as necessary. When you have it lined up with your ruler, cut it for the length of the ruler only.

This is what it looks like.

From the first cut, move your ruler up. Overlap up the cut edge by a few inches with the ruler, keeping the cut edge and the ruler's edge in line together. Then line-up your quilt top's edge with the quarter inch mark.

As you finish one cut, move the ruler up the edge of the quilt (keeping the quilt on your cutting mat). Constantly realign the quilt top's edge with that quarter inch mark. Pull the fabric as necessary to bring the quilt top's edge into alignment. Always hold the ruler firmly as you cut.

Continue around the edge of the quilt until you get to the next corner.

4. When you get to the corners ensure your quilt top edge lines up in the same way as the edge you are currently cutting. In other words, you should be cutting your vertical edge, As you approach the corner - at least 8 inches out - line up your ruler on the current corner as you did the first one. Square your top, or horizontal, edge by pulling into alignment prior to finishing the vertical cuts. Cut both sides of the corner at the same time.

Turn the quilt and continue around all edges and corners.

This technique has worked very well for me. And when all is said and done, it doesn't take more than a half hour to do a large quilt.

Once you have it all squared away attach your preferred binding. I'll show you that in my next tutorial.

Multi-Pieced Binding Tutorial

In reality, almost all bindings are pieced - unless you are doing a miniature or baby quilt. I wanted to offer you my technique (far from being unique) for a pieced binding and inspire you to do some multi-fabric bindings to finish your quilts.

Binding on a quilt is like hair. A bad haircut can ruin an incredible outfit, making your quilt look like the equivalent of an 80s yearbook photo. Okay, the clothes weren't great then either. But the right haircut will make you look just so fabulous, even if you are wearing two pairs of slouchy socks and a sweater tied over your shoulders.

Multi-fabric bindings aren't right for every quilt, but they are right for so many. Scrappy quilts, fat-quarter quilts, charm quilts, stack and whacks, and generally any quilt that uses more than 6-8 fabrics are prime candidates for multi-fabric bindings. Even a traditionally pieced quilt can be jazzed up with a multi-fabric binding. Generally, I take some of the fabrics that are used in the quilt, cut random length strips, sew them together, and attach to the quilt. Sometimes I get more formal and do the corners, for example, in one colour and the rest of the length in another.

A couple of notes on my technique. This is not for bias-cut bindings. A bias binding has its place (although it is rare on a quilt I make), but mixing bias cut and straight-grain cut fabric in the binding will just create a complicated mess for you. Secondly, this creates a double thickness of fabric on the edge of your quilt, a double-fold binding. You will not notice a difference, but it provides some added strength for wear and tear.

Here's how I do it.

1. Cut your strips of fabric. The length of the strip will depend on the size of the quilt. To maximize the effect you want at least 2 or 3 fabrics per side. My go-to width of binding strip is 2 and 3/4 inches. This gives a broad enough binding that wraps around the edge of the quilt easily.

*Do not use bias cut fabric*

2. Iron your strips in half lengthwise.

3. Now it is time to join all your strips. Open up the fabric, place your two fabric ends, right sides together, at right angles to each other.

Pin close to the top left corner and bottom right corner.

Draw a line from the outside corner to the outside corner. Do not draw your line from the top left corner to the inside corner, that won't get you anywhere but two randomly sewn together strips. Sew along your line.

After a few tries you won't need to draw the line. Just sew one strip to the other and so on.

The key is to not get your strips twisted.

4. Once all your strips are sewn together cut off the extra fabric triangle. Press the seams to one side. Repress the strips in half where two strips meet.

5. Attach your binding in your preferred method. With this method I sew the binding on my quilt, one side at a time. Each corner is mitred. Then I fold over the binding and sew down by hand, covering the sewn line.

It will be out of order, but the next tutorial will be on squaring up a quilt. Then I will tackle the way I mitre binding corners (I don't do continuous bindings), hand sewing the binding down, and creating a hanging sleeve.

Circle Tutorial

In case you hadn't noticed, I have a bit of a fixation with circles. In the last two years I’ve made 4 circle quilts. In that time I’ve figured out an easy, reliable way to make even circles – circles that are actually round, that are easy to appliqué, and that don’t have points or tucks.

To get to this point I’ve tried a number of methods: dryer sheets, cardboard templates, plastic templates, aluminum foil, and fusible appliqué. I was never satisfied with any of these. It was either difficult to keep the fabric in place when drawing up the circle (with cardboard and plastic templates), the circles had points or tucks (with all methods but fusible appliqué, determining the center of the circle wasn’t always easy, or you had to use a satin or decorative stitch to finish things off neatly (with fusible appliqué).

There is nothing wrong with any of these methods and I’ve heard that people have success with them, but I sure wasn’t one of them.

Here is my nearly full proof method for creating and attaching perfect circles. This method works for machine or hand appliqué.

Supplies:
Freezer paper
Compass (remember these from elementary school?)
Pen
Iron and ironing board
Fabric
Pins
Sewing machine or hand appliqué supplies (needles and thread)

Circle basics:
The diameter of the circle is the distance from one side to the other. This is how big your circle is.
The radius is half the diameter, or the distance from the center to any one point on the edge.
The circumference is measurement of the outside edge of the circle.

Creating the Circle

Determine the size of circle you want.

1. Using the compass, draw a circle the desired size on the rough side of the freezer paper. Make sure the point of the circle is noticeable or re-mark it with a pen.

2. Cut out the circle right on the drawn line. Take care to use long, even cuts in order to minimize any sharp edges or points on the drawn circle. This is your freezer paper template.
3. Place your circle fabric wrong side up on an ironing board. Ensuring that you have roughly a ½ inch seam allowance, iron the freezer paper smooth side down to the fabric.
4. Cut out the circle of fabric, with the freezer paper template as a guide, with roughly a ½ inch seam allowance.

I use my machine for the next step because it is faster, but this can also be easily done by hand. If you do this step by hand, try to take small basting stitches. The larger your stitch length, by hand, the greater the chance for points on the finished edge.

5. Sew a basting stitch about a ¼ inch from the edge of the freezer paper template all the way around the circle. Leave the ends of your thread a few inches long. Do not backstitch or sew over the ends, you want these free.
6. Gently tug on the loose ends of thread. Short tugs seem to work better. This will draw your fabric edges over the freezer paper template, creating a turned over edge. You may have to work the gather a little, but provided you don’t pull sharply or too hard the threads will hold and you will get a pretty smooth edge.

7. Steam iron the gathered edge. Some people may choose to use starch at this time, but I’ll admit I never have. A hot iron does a good job of holding the edge well.

If you are attaching the circle right away, the freezer paper template can be removed after the following step. If you are waiting to attach the circle, keep the freezer paper attached until ready to use.

Attaching the Circle

The following steps apply if you are attaching the circle in the center of a square block or precise design. If you are doing this as part of a relatively random design, then simply remove the freezer paper prior to appliqué, pin, and sew.

1. Place a pin through the center of the freezer paper template (fabric and template should still be attached). This provides an extra mark for the center of the circle.

2. Remove pin and freezer paper, taking care not to rip the paper. If pin mark is still visible in fabric, replace pin. If it is not visible, then place template over circle to mark center again. Pull template off, leaving the pin in place (it’s okay if the template rips at this time, it’s easy to make more).

3. Mark the center of your block or design (where the center of the circle will go.

4. Place the circle, with the pin still marking the center, directly over the marked spot. Line up the mark and center point, then complete pinning.
5. Appliqué as desired.

I use my machine to appliqué most of the time – a small blanket stitch in a coordinating thread. You could hand appliqué, use invisible thread, or do a decorative stitch. I would not recommend a satin stitch at this point – you have a seam allowance so there would be a lot of fabric under the stitching.