Layout Diagram, or as desired.
Play around with the fabric
placement until you have an
arrangement you’re happy with.8
Sew the blocks together in rows,
pressing the seams of odd rows
to the left and even rows to the right.
Then join the rows, nesting the
seams so they match exactly. Press.FINISHING
9
Remove the selvedges from the
backing fabric and trim it to
measure about 32in square (or 36in
for longarm quilting).10
The backing, batting and top
are ready for a longarm machine
as they are. If you’re doing the quilting
by hand or on a domestic machine,
smooth out the backing fabric on the
fl oor or a large table and secure it with
masking tape. Lay the batting on top
and ensure it is free of wrinkles. Lay
the pressed top over the batting and
smooth it out. Baste the layers
together with safety pins (for machine
quilting) or thread (for hand quilting).11
Quilt as desired. Kristin fitted
a walking foot and quilted
parallel wavy lines by using a
decorative serpentine stitch on her
machine. She stretched the stitch
out to 7mm (^99 ⁄ 3232 in) wide with a stitchlength of 3mm (^1 ⁄ 8 in) and used Aurifi l
thread in Muslin (2311).12
Trim the excess batting and
backing fabric^1 ⁄ 4 in outside the
edge of the top.13
Join the binding strips you cut
in Step 2 with diagonal seams
to make one long length, trim the
seams to^1 ⁄ 4 in and press them open.
Fold the binding in half, wrong sides
together and long edges matching,
and press.14
Matching the raw edges,
sew the binding to the edge
of the quilt with a^1 ⁄ 4 in seam
allowance, mitring the corners as
you go and referring to the Binding
Diagrams page 114 for details. Kristin
recommends using a walking foot to
attach the binding.15
Fold the binding over and hand
stitch the folded edge to the back.
Label and date your table topper.08
PROJECTKRISTIN’S
TRIMMING TIP
The secret to perfect half-square
triangle units (HSTs) is to construct
them oversize and then trim them.
I used to think this was too time-
consuming, but have learned the
hard way that it is worth every
second. My secret weapon for
trimming them is the Bloc Loc ruler,
which has a groove that locks into
the seam allowance on the block
and makes trimming a breeze.
I have a 5in ruler, which can trim
blocks 5in or smaller, so you don’t
need to buy a diff erent ruler for
every size of HST you make.KRISTIN’S
QUILTING TIP Add
some fun to your quilting by using
some of the decorative stitches
on your machine. On a practice
sandwich, play around with some
stitches, varying the length and
width to find ones you like. You
could even create a stitch
dictionary, recording the length
and width settings, to refer to later.KRISTIN’S
PROCESS TIP
Slow down! Whether it’s cutting,
piecing or quilting, I have to
remind myself over and over again
that the results are so much better
and more accurate if I just slow
down and enjoy the process.112 HomespunHSP1902_p108-114_Diamond Jubilee PROJECT.indd 112 12/12/2017 12:10:24 PM