Creative articles about quilting

FAQ about the Sugaridoo BERNINA Quilt Along

13.03.2020 by Irene15 Comment now!6,215

After making the first few rows of the quilt along, some questions have been popping up in the comments below the blog posts, on Facebook and You Tube. So let’s do a FAQ with the most asked questions. When you have a questions that hasn’t been answered yet. Just leave it down in the comments below so we can help you over there.

How long are your rows?

Let’s talk about the length (size) of our rows. Many of you asked if they made the rows correctly, because they didn’t end up the same length.

I completely understand that question! And yes you did follow the pattern correctly if your rows did not end up the exact same length.

Why aren’t all the rows the same size?

Well that mainly had to do with design choices. For some rows in the quilt it was easier to make them a bit too long and then chop them off a little bit on both ends, than to work with very odd strips of 1.793 inch wide. And also, this gives you a bit of wiggle room for when your seams aren’t exactly 1/4 inch.

How long should they be?

In the picture you see my first four rows. They are not all the same size. Let’s discuss the ‘correct’ size of our rows.

On Point & Delta

The foundation paper piecing rows, On Point and Delta, should end up being 70 1/2 inch. That is including seam allowance. That is the total width of our quilt.

Hashtag

The Hashtag row had blocks of 8 1/4 inch wide and strips in between of 1 3/4 inch. This row should end up being 72 1/4 inch long (incl seam allowance).

Tetris

Out Tetris row consists of 41 strips of 1 3/4 inch wide and should also be 72 1/4 inch when finished (incl seam allowance).

Solution: When your row is a bit too long, like with the Hashtag and Tetris, you can just chop of a strip from both ends to make them 70 1/2 inch. Or you can wait until we’ve finished all rows to trim them down to match your shortest row.

If you have a row that ended up too short, just add a little strip of background fabric to both ends to make it the correct length.

I hope this helps! You’re all doing such a great job! Just continue making your rows and it will all turn out just fine in the end I promise

Sashing

The rows in this quilt will be assembled with sashing (thin strips) in between them. For those of you who want to cut those strips on forehand here is some more information about the sashing.

What do we need for sashing?

When you look at the layout of the quilt you see 11 times a thin strip in there. However, 3 of the rows already have the sashing incorporated in the pattern. So we will only need 8 times the sashing:

8 strips of 70 1/2″ long and 1 3/4″ high (including seam allowance)

When using 44″ wide fabric, you should cut 13 or maybe 14 strips to sew together to create 8 sashing strips.

Which rows need sashing?

Some of you asked if they could already add the sashing to the row. Yes you can. But keep in mind that there are a few rows that already include sashing in the design. Those rows are row #6 and row #10.

Row #6 has sashing included on the top of the row, so you only need to add sashing to the bottom of row #6.

Row #10 has sashing included on the top and bottom of the row.

This also means you don’t have to add sashing to the bottom of row #9, the top of row #11 and the bottom of row #5.

Foundation paper piecing

Many of you are trying foundation paper piecing for the very first time. That does bring up some questions. So here I’ll discuss what and why about foundation paper piecing with freezer paper and tea bag paper.

What is tea bag paper and where can I get it?

Tea bag paper is the paper that tea bags are made of. Haha yes, it’s as simple as that 🙂 It is perfect for foundation paper piecing because it is thin and sea through. You can leave it behind your work when your done. I have tea bag paper stocked in the Sugaridoo webshop in quantities of 1, 2, 5 and 10m.

Do I really need tea bag paper?

No. You can also just use normal printing paper, baking paper or any thin kind of paper that you have lying around. A sewing machine can sew through printing paper, so you do have other options than tea bag paper. When you are using something else than tea bag paper or another kind of foundation paper you do need to rip away the paper after you’re done sewing.

Freezer paper or tea bag paper?

For all my foundation paper piecing projects I either use freezer paper or teabag paper. These methods will give you the same result, so basically you can just go with the method you like best. The biggest difference is that you can reuse your freezer paper pattern, but a pattern on teabag paper can only be used once.

When I would only make one block of something, like in the Sugaridoo Sampler, then I would use teabag paper. When I need to make the same block many times, like in the Tree Tree House pattern, then I will transfer the pattern to freezer paper and use that to make multiple blocks.

Giveaway

A very exciting part of a quilt along is of course the giveaway. After our first Mettler thread giveaway we will have a giveaway with row 6 of our QAL and than the big one at the end when the rows of the quilt are assembled. Here are some FAQ’s about that.

How can I enter the giveaways?

The next giveaway will take place with part 6 of the quilt along. When you’ve finished all first sixs rows you can enter to win a bundle of fat quarters handpicked by me in the Sugaridoo studio.

In the blog post and video on part 6 you will find all the details on how to enter. Just make sure that you’re on schedule and have finished the first six parts of the quilt before part 7 is published 😉

I’m making two quilts, can I enter the giveaway twice?

Yes. Each finished quilt top will count as an entry for the giveaway.

I joined the QAL later, can I still participate in the final giveaway when I don’t participate in the half way giveaway?

Yes. The giveaways are separate events and they are not linked to each other.

I want to quilt my quilt in parts, is it OK if I don’t assemble my quilt for the giveaway?

This quilt is indeed pretty big to quilt it in one piece. So I’m going to show you how to quilt it in one piece and in three pieces. To enter the giveaway you can choose to assemble the whole quilt top. Or have it assembled in three pieces (four rows in each piece). These options are both valid for entering the giveaway.