C8's quilt is coming along--a little slower than I would like, but you know, life happens. Anyway, I was able to work on it for a while today and thought it would be a great opportunity to show how to square up your blocks.
Most quilts are made up of blocks and with most of those, the blocks measure the same size. The blocks in this quilt are 9" square. It's important to square up your blocks so you have a nice, even finished product and all of the blocks will fit together well.
It's a good idea to square up as you go. Add a strip and square it up. Add the next strip and square it up. Basically you're evening out all of the rough edges that happen through sewing and pressing. Make sure you have lined up your seams with the grid on your cutting mat and with the lines on your ruler and keep your ruler straight. Cut off as little fabric as possible when you square it up as you go.
When squaring up a finished block, it's best to start in the middle of your block. With my 9" desired size, I find my center and measure 4 1/2" on each side and cut off the extra. With this block it was easy to find the middle seam and I lined that up on a line on my cutting mat grid.
Then I measured 4 1/2" over from the center line and using my ruler and rotary cutter sliced off the extra fabric. That took care of side 1. Then I flipped it over 180 degrees and lined up the opposite side on any inch line on the grid and made a cut 9" over.
Then I do the same to the remaining two sides. I find the center, measure over 4 1/2 inches and using the lines on the grid, cut off the extra in order to make a 9" square block.
You should end up with all of your blocks squared and measuring the exact same. This will help you immensely when it's time to put it all together.
Soon I'll be sewing all of these into rows! It's getting there! 
1 comment:
Okay, now that I see this newer version I am in love with it too! Can't wait to see the finished product. AND - I learned something new on this post, thanks!
Post a Comment