How To Assemble A Crazy Quilt - Steps 3 & 4

Steps 3 and 4 in the Crazy Quilt assembly process are both optional.  In the case of my Marie Antoinette quilt, I wanted to sash my blocks with a pretty pink trim..  This has to be done at this point.  If you choose to use trim to sash your blocks, add that now:

I hand sewed the trim on down the seam lines.

Step 4 - Adding Borders

Again, this step is optional.  If you choose to add borders to your crazyquilt, this is how I do it.

First, you'll have to decide on how wide you want your borders.  I wanted 3 inch borders on this quilt and since I'm using 1/2 seam allowances, I cut my fabric strips 4 inches wide.

There are several ways to sew the borders on but I chose the easiest for this quilt.  I added the side borders first and then did the top and bottom borders.

Lay your first border face down on your quilt.  Line up the edges and pin, pin, pin!

Repeat the process on the other side border.  Now you can sew them down.  If you're wondering how to find your 1/4 inch or 1/2 seam allowance when the markings on your sewing machine are covered up by the foundation fabric, what I do is to measure and mark my seam allowance:

I use an air dissolving pen but you can use a pencil if you'd like.  Mark you seam allowance every 2 inches and keep your marks small.

When you have both the side seams sewn down, remove the pins and press your seams.

Next, pin those first 2 borders down onto the foundation fabric, then add your top & bottom border repeating the process:

Again, remove the pins, press your seams and pin those borders down to the foundation fabric:

Trim any excess border fabric and then top stitch the edge of the border to the foundation fabric.  You just want to sew it down along the outer edge.

At this point, I chose to hand sew more of my trim around the seam where the borders meet the quilt blocks:

If there is anything else you would like to sew on to your quilt, now is the time!

In Step 5 & 6, I will show you how to add a sleeve for hanging and how to add the "pretty" back at the same time.

Be sure to see Steps 1 and 2 of my How To Assemble A Crazy Quilt on my Tutorials Page.

How To Assemble A CrazyQuilt - Step 2

I've completed Step 2 of the assembly process on my Marie Antoinette Crazy Quilt.  If there's one coping skill that I've learned with having ADD/ADHD, it's how to break things down into manageable portions!

Assembling any type of quilt can be overwhelming however, when we take the time to look at each step of the process, and focus on only one step at a time, it instantly becomes more "doable".

Step 2

The 2nd step in assembling a crazy quilt is to sew the blocks together.  My crazyquilts are quite heavy due to all the embellishments that I add to them.  To give the quilt stability and to support the weight of the quilt, I sew my quilts down onto yet another foundation.  For this, I use a heavy weight muslin.  This helps to distribute the weight evenly and keeps it from sagging when the quilt is finally hanging on the wall.

So the first part of Step 2 is to sew the blocks vertically into strips:

Again, I leave a 1/2 seam allowance and I also use the Zipper Foot for my sewing machine.  Using the Zipper Foot allows me to get right up to where my beading ends without the pressure foot having to deal with going over the beads along the edge.

So in the case of my Marie quilt, I now have 3 vertical strips consisting of 3 blocks each.  Now we will start sewing it down onto the foundation fabric.

Center the middle strip, right side up, onto your foundation fabric.  Next, line up one of the side strips face down on top of the middle section. 

Pin, pin, pin along the sewing line.  Pin all the layers down onto the foundation fabric.

You will want to pin the opposite side down as well to keep your blocks straight and in place while you sew the first seam.

Now it's time to sew:

When you have everything secured and well pinned, sew that first seam directly down onto the foundation fabric.

When you're done, remove all the pins and flip over your strip:

Repeat the process for each vertical seam making sure to line up your seams and pinning, pinning, pinning!

Once you have your quilt all sewn down to your foundation fabric, make sure everything good and flat.  Pin all the way around the outside of your quilt and then top stitch with your machine along the outside edge.  I use a 1/4 inch seam for this.

This will the hold the entire quilt in place onto your foundation:

So that's it for step 2.  It's really quite easy once you understand how to sew your quilt onto the foundation fabric rather than just sewing the blocks together.

I'll have Step 3 ready soon!  Be sure to see Step 1 of How To Assemble A Crazy Quilt.

ECommerce Help For Small Businesses

For my readers who have a Small Online Business, I thought I'd share real quick, a service that I found to help increase traffic to your site. 

Arcadecache - Affordable SEO help for the Small Online Business Owner.

I was having some trouble with my Search Engine Optimization (SEO).  SEO is learning to work with Tags and Keywords so that your site shows up in the search engines and people can find you!

Anyway, Arcadecache is a very reliable and affordable service.  They are well versed in helping Etsy and Ebay shop owners as well as those who have their own domain like I do. 

If you're not getting much traffic or sales, you might want to try Arcadecache.  I'm quite pleased with the fast and friendly, reliable service that they've given me. And they're quite affordable!!!

Custom Crazyquilting

I had a couple of custom orders that I finished up this week and thought I'd share photos for everyone to enjoy!

First is one of my Crazyquilt Cat Dolls.  The request for a cat doll in seafoam green:

Believe it or not, I don't have a lot of fabrics in seafoam green but at least I had enough for this little kitty doll.  A I don't think there's any color that goes better with seafoam green than pink!

Next, I had a custom order for a cellphone pouch.  The request was for a pouch in pinks, mauves and blue/greens with a hummingbird:

I must say, I think this is one of the prettiest cellphone cases I've made yet!  The trim at the bottom was hand-crocheted by mom.

Ladies, I'll get your orders out in today's mail!  Thank you so much!

How To Assemble A CrazyQuilt - Step 1

Since I'm putting my Marie Antoinette CrazyQuilt together, I thought I would share step by step, the process that I use to assemble my crazyquilts.  I know other crazyquilters have shared their process but I'm sure we all do things a little differently.

How To Assemble A Crazyquilt

Step 1

The first step is to trim and square up the blocks.  I use a self-healing mat and a rotary cutter:

You may be wondering why I have so much extra fabric.  I like to stitch in hoop.  Many crazyquilter's don't but for me, without a hoop, my hand gets tired  Using a hoop also keeps my stitching from distorting the blocks.  The excess foundation fabric is so the block fits in my 12 inch quilters hoop.

I always allow a 1/2 inch seam allowance.  Again, many crazyquilters leave the traditional seam allowance of 1/4 inch. I prefer to leave a 1/2 inch seam for crazyquilts.  The reason for this is due to the variety of fabrics and thicknesses.  A 1/2 seam will lay flat no matter what fabrics are used.

The blocks for my Marie Antoinette quilt are 9 inch blocks.  With a 1/2 inch seam allowance, my blocks are trimmed to 10 inches.

 Now that my blocks are all trimmed up, I will start sewing it together.  Due to the weight of my crazyquilts, I sew my quilts down onto yet another foundation.  I'll show you how in Step 2.