Stitches from the Tub: The Nine Seam Quilt

Many times when I am quilting I want to make something with lots of triangles, flying geese or a peaky & spike bloke as Doreen Speckmann used to call them. I can happily spend hours cutting out shapes that take me hours to put together.

But sometimes, I need to make a quilt top that just gets me back into the mood of sewing. This quilt top had been sitting in the back of my brain for a while. The panel had been at the store http://www.boltsinthebathtub.com/ and every time I saw it, it was telling me it could be a beautifully simple quilt.

Do you have fabric like that? You’re not sure what to do with it, but you know it has to go home with you. Or you see it and it is instant fabric lust.

The panel in all it’s simplicity.

So I finally listened, so now I get to share it with all of you. I am not kidding when I say nine seams for the top of the quilt is all you need.

Seam one: Two panels sewn together to reduce excess solid
blue between blocks of the panels.

Seams two through five: Sew on borders. Stopping a quarter
inch from the end of the quilt top. I love how my #37 foot has
a notch a quarter inch in front of the needle. No guessing.

Seams six through nine: mark 45 degree angle on corners
and sew mitered seams.

Pin along the seam line.

I press the border out and the quilt top in. That way I can slide my needle right into the grove and stitch without catching any fabric in the corner.

Press seam open to make sure the corner matches and the seam
lies flat. Then I trim the seam to 3/8”.

Quilt top is done.

Now it’s time for some fabulous quilting. Luckily I have my friend Vickie at Vickie’s Quilt Studio. I love to piece, but quilting the layers together not so much. I like to say that I quilt by hand ….....I write the check to others.

After quilting, trim

and bind. This is actually one of my favorite parts. I often bind numerous tops at one time. I know many of you dislike this part, but it can be very easy. I’ll show you sometime. I did the entire binding by machine as the Southern California Quilters Run is just about upon us.