Sashing and Cornerstones (cont'd from August 14, 2014)

When I last blogged, I had decided to wait for a clear sign from Grandma Wier as to which approach to take with her quilt blocks: sashings and cornerstones or simply sewing the blocks together, which would make a secondary design. Well, I’m in luck as my best friend turns out to be a medium of sorts. When we talked Saturday morning, in addition to telling me I “over think things”, she claimed to have communed with my Grandma Wier and her message for me was to use my best judgment and Just Do It! as she was off to a quilting bee with her friends and didn’t have time to mess around with “signs”. According to Sally, before she left she also made a few derogatory comments about Sally’s quilting. LOL! I do take after my Grandma Wier: we’re both quilters and I’ve made similar comments!

The next step in assembling the quilt top was to square up the blocks. This took some time because I had to make sure the design was centered before trimming the excess background fabric. During this process I discovered that the appliqué on each of the blocks varied from ¼” to a substantial difference. Two of the blocks were larger than the others by almost 1-1/2” in width and length making them unusable.

I’d planned to use all of the blocks in the quilt, but this little problem meant that rather than make a 4x4 block quilt, I needed to reduce the size to a 3x4 block quilt. Not really an issue, because I prefer rectangular to square quilts and it’s still a very nice size at 56”x74”. Also, that leaves me with a few blocks for throw pillows…my own mini quilts made by my grandmother. However, this also meant the idea of a secondary design wouldn’t work, because the 3-piece fan corner designs wouldn’t align properly. So you see, problem solved! I had to go with the sashing approach to disguise the variances in the blocks. As it turns out, Grandma Wier did communicate directly with me.

Once that decision was made, the rest was easy. I cut the fabric I’d purchased on Friday from the Sewing Cottage and assembled the blocks in rows and then the rows into the quilt top and Wahlah!, a completed top ready to be quilted! This next week I’ll make another trip to the Sewing Cottage to buy a backing and I’ll be ready to quilt. I’m happy with the fabrics I chose to complete the top and the size is perfect! Here’s what the project looks like at this stage.

To be continued…