How To Sash a Quilt Together

Sashing separates and unifies quilt blocks.

Traditional quilts are composed of quilt blocks sewn together to create a quilt top. The blocks are usually made from a patchwork or appliqué design involving several different fabrics. The quilt blocks can be a series of the same design or a variety of patterns of the same finished block size. To unify the completed quilt, strips of fabric known as "sashing" often are used to frame each block with one fabric. Sashing is usually 2 inches wide but can be cut to any width desired.

Things You'll Need

• Iron
• Ironing board
• Sashing fabric
• Self-healing cutting board
• Rotary cutter
• Plastic ruler
• Quilt blocks
• Straight pins
• Sewing machine or needle and thread

Instructions

1. Use an iron to press the sashing fabric smooth and remove wrinkles and fold lines.

2. Fold the sashing fabric in half and then in half again lengthwise. Position the fold at the bottom of the self-healing cutting mat.

3. Position the ruler 2 1/2 inches from the left measurement line on the mat. Run the rotary cutter along the rule edge to create long strips of sashing.

4. Measure the height of the quilt block and cut one piece of sashing to the height with the rotary cutter. Pin the sashing to the right edge of the quilt block, right sides of the fabric facing each other, and sew with a 1/4-inch straight-stitch seam.

5. Measure the width of the block and cut a piece of sashing to the measurement. Sew the sashing to the bottom edge of the quilt block. Repeat Step 4 to sew sashing strips to the right and bottom edges of each quilt block.

6. Sew the sashed blocks together with 1/4-inch seams. Measure the height and width of the joined blocks and cut a 2 1/2-inch border of sashing to the measurements. Stitch the border sashing to the edges to complete the sashed quilt top.

References

• "Donna Kooler's Encyclopedia of Quilting"; Donna Kooler; 2010
• "200 Quilt Blocks"; Davina Thomas; 2005