Preparing to Quilt As You Go: Meadow Mystery Quilt

Hello Friends and Welcome Back!

Last week, the blog took an unexpected break. I turned my ankle and ended up with a fractured bone in my foot. I spent the week getting it assessed, x-rayed, and now I'm hobbling around in an air cast, so I didn't find time to update the blog.

Though it isn't an ideal situation, all the time resting has given me lots of opportunity to work on some of my hand sewing projects and plan how to progress on many of the others!

I ended up deciding that what I really want to do is work towards completing some of my ongoing projects by exploring the quilt as you go technique!

Quilt As You Go

The quilt as you go (qayg) technique is the process of quilting blocks individually, then assembling the quilted blocks into a full quilt. The smaller size of the blocks compared to a full sized quilt makes them easier to manoeuvre through a domestic sewing machine, so this process really appeals to me and might work better with my creative process than the traditional method of full top quilting!

I'm excited to give it a try!

However, before I can get started, I need to decide which assembly method I want to use. The method I choose will effect the way I go about quilting my blocks, and each has it's own benefits and quirks. I did some research last year, so I don't have sources anymore, but here's what I remember;

Qayg Without Backing

For this method, baste the pieced blocks onto batting and quilt just the two layers together. Trim them to size, then sew blocks together with the seam allowance on the batting side of the block. Press seams open. Finally, baste the quilted top onto a large piece of backing fabric and quilt around the outside edge of each block.

This method seems to be a really common one. It allows the quilt to have a whole cloth backing, but doesn't show the detailed quilting on the back. It also requires the full bulk of the quilt to be run through the sewing machine.

Qayg With Sashing

This next method works for quilts that include sashing as a part of the pieced design on the quilt top.

Baste the pieced block, batting, and backing fabric together, then quilt through all three layers. Once all blocks are pieced, sew a sashing strip to both the front and back of one block along the same edge. Sew the other side of the sashing to the next block, adding more batting as required by the width of the sashing strip. Continue until the quilt is fully assembled. '

Since sashing is required for this method, it can only be used for quilts with sashing in the design. If you don't want sashing for your quilt, you'll need to use a different method.

Qayg Without Sashing

For quilts that don't include sashing, there are other possible techniques.

For this one, cut the batting to the finished size of the block and backing to the unfinished size of the block. Baste the pieced block, batting, and backing together so the batting is centred with an even gap around all sides. Quilt through all the layers but only to the edges of the batting, leaving the seam allowances around the edge of the block unquilted. Sew the blocks together so the seam allowance is on the back of the quilt, then fold the raw edges under and sew in place to finish the edge. Repeat until the quilt is fully pieced.

This method allows blocks to be sewn without sashing and, from the front of the quilt, looks the most like traditional full top quilting. However, due to the way blocks are aligned, there may be some gaps in the quilted motif. But this can be taken into account choosing a quilting design and would therefore not be noticeable.

Qayg With Folded Edges

All the methods above can be done by machine, byt hand, or using a mix of both methods, however, this last technique is meant only for hand sewing. Because of this, it's not very common and tutorials are more difficult to find.

For a hand sewn, folded edge finish, begin by basting the the seam allowance of the pieced block to the back, then layer the block with batting and backing fabric. Quilt through all three layers right to the folded edge of the block, being sure to catch the folded seam allowance. To join blocks together, place them right sides together and whip stitch through just the pieced blocks. Trim away excess batting so the blocks lay flat side by side. Fold over the seam allowance on the backing and sew in place. Repeat with all blocks to finish the quilt.

Honestly, I'm not even sure this is a method I've come across in my research at all, not to say that it isn't out there somewhere. It's largely inspired by EPP, which I've really been enjoying recently!

The Right Technique for the Project

Knowing what techniques are available, I now need to select which one I'll use for my project!

The quilt I'm most inspired to get finished is the Meadow Mystery quilt that was last year's guild BoM project. Though it wasn't on the list of projects I'd hoped to work on this Winter, finishing Simply Woven left me with exactly the supplies I needed to finish it!

The pattern was designed by Cheryl Brickey of Meadow Mist Designs as her 2016/17 mystery quilt along. As usual, I've made my own alterations to the pattern, so mine will look a little different than her original design. And though I'm making some changes, I'm not planning to incorporate sashing into the design.

With that in mind, I've already ruled out the sashing method for qayg. I also don't like the without backing method since I want the quilting to be visible on both sides of the finished quilt. And though I am able to do some machine sewing with my broken foot, hand sewing is more appealing to me at the moment, so I've decided on the folded edge method, which involves lots of handwork!

I've planned out a design for the quilt backing using the five colours featured on the quilt top, and will be using the remaining fabric for those backing pieces as much as possible. Even with those remnants, I'll need to buy more fabrics for the quilt backing, so a visit to the quilt store is in order!

However, I won't need to buy any thread for this project since the variegated browns used for Simply Woven are perfect for this quilt as well!

I've already gotten started on quilting a few of the blocks using the backing fabric I have available and am excited to see how they turn out!

Friends, I am so excited to finally get back into quilt as you go! I feel like this technique is going to totally change the way I approach quiltmaking in the future and will allow me to finish even more projects!

If you have any tips for me regarding qayg, questions about my progress, or stories of your own experiments, please leave them in the comments below! You can also share stories and photos with me on Instagram by tagging me @v.a.fibre.arts!

I'll be sharing more progress on this and my other projects again next week, so please visit me again then! I'm excited to see how my blocks begin to come together!