Sashing and Cornerstones

Sashing and Cornerstones

It was requested by a "newbie" for a blog on Sashing and Cornerstones, so here goes. 

First the "newbie" asked how do you "Square up" a single block. So here is a quick lesson. 

Say you have a piece of fabric that is 6 1/2" x 6 1/2", and you wanted a 6 inch square.

I am using a 6 1/2" x 6 1/2" square up ruler in these pictures. 

In the first picture you will see that on the left side is the 6" mark and notice that the fabric on the bottom is even with the bottom of the ruler. That is a good start. 

On the right in this picture you will see that any fabric that is wider than the 6" is hanging off to the side. You take your rotary cutter and cut that off. Now you will have a block that is 6" square... ONE WAY... still have to square it the other way. 

Now in this picture we have moved the square up ruler where the 6" mark is on the right side, and extra is sticking out on the left. ALSO, notice that the top and the right side are even with the marks on the ruler, that is important that means those two sides are "Square". You again will use your rotary cutter to cut off that extra on the left side.

Now in this next picture we are checking to make sure that the fabric is 6" x 6" square... To do that you put the ruler on the square making sure of the following things:
  1. The diagonal line on the square up ruler is going from corner to corner.
  2. Making sure [with the ruler laying like it is below] that the top and left side are even with the edge of the ruler.
  3. Making sure [with the ruler laying like it is below] that the right side is even with the 6" line, and the bottom is even with the 6" line.

IF all of these things are correct then that square is square at 6" x 6". ... OK?

Now getting on with making sashing and cornerstones for blocks in a quilt.

In the below picture I had some fabric which was left from another project and it was wider than the blocks I was going to use in this example. The blocks are going to be 4" x 4" in this example.

First thing I did was I ironed the fabric as it had some creases and wrinkles.

Then I folded my fabric where the fold was towards me. The fold is in the narrow side of the piece of fabric, the long length of fabric is going away from me. This is how you create the correct straight of grain, so when your cutting strips you don't get a bow or curve at the fold when cutting multiple layers.

Ok... on with it....  Making sure that my fold runs right and left on a line on my ruler [to make sure I am cutting grain straight.] I cut off selvage on the right side. I actually am cutting of selvage and evening up that right side as that is where I will start my measuring for my width of strip, once I clean up the edge and get rid of selvage.

[Why do we want to get rid of selvage? Because if you leave it on and quilt it in, it will make your quilt wonky when you wash and dry it. It gets wonky because it is a very dense weave of threads compared to the rest of the fabric. It is dense because that is where they hook it up to the machines when they are printing and weaving.   And if you don't get rid of them when you wash and dry the quilt they won't shrink the same so it will pull your quilting, and not lay correctly..ie. wonky...lol ]

So in the following picture I have lined my ruler up with the bottom which is where the fold is. I have used my ruler side to where I want to cut off the selvage and straighten out my fabric grain.  And I have cut on this line.  I also used the mat to make sure that my ruler is on the same line above and below my fabric, so I know I am cutting straight.

Now in the next picture I am cutting a 4" strip the width of the fabric. Because I am going to make 4" x 4" squares out of this strip.

Notice that again I am making sure that my fold on the bottom is even with the ruler line.
Notice that on the bottom and top the ruler is running on the same line so I know I am cutting straight, on the 4" mark. Cut with rotary cutter up the edge of the ruler.

In the next picture you will see I cut it and have pulled it away from the rest of the fabric. 

In this picture I again make sure my fabric bottom fold is following a straight line. I also have moved the ruler over so it is on the 4" line. making sure the line above and below the fabric is the same line for my ruler to be lined up with, so I know I am cutting my fabric straight.  I cut another strip of 4" wide by WOF. [Width of Fabric]

And this picture is what the original fabric looks like when you have cut 4" strips out of it.

Now we are going to make 4" x 4" blocks out of these 4" fabric strips. 

In the below picture I have  laid 4 strips of fabric right sides up on top of each other. I have made sure they all line up on the bottom edge and on the right end. 

I am now taking my 24" x 6" ruler [can use smaller if you want] and I am choosing a line to lay even with the bottom of the stack of strips, to make sure I am cutting straight of grain. And I am leaving about a 1/2" of fabric sticking out to the right. I am doing that to make sure that the right side of the fabric is cut straight and even, because that will be the right side of my block and I want it squared evenly.   Cut with rotary cutter. 

In the next picture you see I have cut it off and now that side of what will be my 4" x 4" block is straight.

In this picture you see that I have moved the ruler over.  The right side of the fabric I have laid it on the 0 line of my mat, making sure that it is laying straight with that line. I have used the mat marks to find the 4" line and I have laid my ruler where it is even with that 4" line. I have also made sure the line on my ruler that is at the bottom edge of my fabric is even with the fabric, And the ruler above and below the strip is following the same 4" line.   This is how I know I am cutting straight and with grain.

Discussion: 

Do you cut on the center of the line, do you cut on the right side of the line, do you cut on the left side of the line... How do you know where exactly the 4" line is????  If they say it makes a difference with a "Slight" 1/4" seam because it adds up.. wouldn't it add up and cause your blocks to be off if that little bit of space the width of the line is left?   The answer is YES it makes a difference... So where do we cut?   In the example above From the left side of the O line to the LEFT side of the 4" line is 4 inches. SO the 4" line is included in the width you need to make it 4". If you cut it on the right side of the 4" line then it will be a hair narrower then a true 4 inches.

OR in short version: Left side of line on right and Left side of line on left.. OR right side of line on right and right side of line on left..... BUT Which ever way you decide to cut it, right of line or left of line, make sure to have edge of fabric and the side of the line your cutting on, on the same side... Ok? End of discussion.


 Ok we have cut one 4" x 4" block, and now we have moved our ruler over 4" so we can cut another block. Again lining everything up before cutting.

Now we take the 4" x 4" blocks and square them up.  I am using my 6 1/2" x 6 1/2" square up ruler. I have lined the ruler up on the bottom and on the left side of the block. Now I look for the following: 

1. Are the Top and Right side  of the block even with the 4" line across the top and down the right side of the ruler? 

2. Is the diagonal line from corner to corner aligned with the corners of the square at 4" [the bold lines on ruler are marked for inches]. 

2. Is the Bottom and Left side even with the ruler edge?

IF you find the fabric block is sticking out pasted the left edge of the ruler, or the bottom of the ruler, then using your rotary cutter and trim that extra off. 

Lift and turn your block so you can now check the other two sides. Trim them if you need.

If all these are lined to the ruler edges and the top and right side ruler line, then it is square. 

Now we have the blocks made, we move onto the cornerstones.  The cornerstones will be a spacer between sashing strips. I decided that 2 inch wide sashing would be the thing.. half the width of the block. So I would need to cut the sashing strips 2 1/2" wide by 4" long. Which makes the cornerstones 2 1/2" by 2 1/2" square.

In the next picture you will see that I have a 2 1/2" strip that I cut just as I did the strip for the blocks. And from that 2 1/2" x WOF [Width of Fabric] strip I will cut 2 1/2" squares.

Again making sure the long side of the strip is even on the ruler, and cutting at 2 1/2" for the corner stones.

You will also do the squaring up just as you did the blocks earlier.

I decided the sashing strips would be out of yellow fabric and I cut the strips as I did the others using a width of 2 1/2" by WOF.

Then Using my ruler I cut from the strip 4 " by 2 1/2" sashing strips.

Then I decided to see about making a nine patch cornerstone. That was a bit harder. I figured out to make the three blocks across and three blocks down to use strips to accomplish this. So the final size will be 2 1/2" by 2 1/2" inches, 1/4" on each side being the seam allowance. So I needed to cut strips 1 1/8" wide. So I cut Navy and Yellow strips 1 1/8" wide by 2 1/2:" long.

Then I sewed a Navy and a Yellow together with 1/4" seam allowance, then I sewed a Navy strip  on the other side of the Yellow strip with a 1/4" seam allowance.

Then I sewed a Yellow strip to a Navy strip then on other side I sewed another Yellow strip.

Then I cut them in 1 1/8" strips, then lining them up as you see in the below picture I then sewed them together with a 1/4" seam allowance.

Now we need to start assembling. 

I took a yellow 2 1/2" by 4" sashing strip and sewed it to each side of the 4" x 4" block. 

Then I sewed another 4" x 4" block and another 2 1/2" x 4" sashing strip. This created my first row

Then I pieced my side to side sashing strip.  I sewed a 2 1/2" x 4" yellow sashing to a 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" cornerstone. Then I sewed the 9 patch 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" cornerstone to the other side. Then another Yellow sashing strip, followed by another Navy cornerstone. Creating the first side to side sashing row.

Now matching seams I sew the sashing strip row to the first block row.

Once sewed it looked like this.

Then I decided to let you see what it would look like if you didn't use cornerstones.

So I took one of the Yellow 2 1/2" by WOF strips and sewed it to the 1st Block row. Trimming to length.

Then I followed that with the 2nd block row of sashing and blocks.

And this is what it became.

So in review, you will make your blocks, you will make your sashing strips. 

You will cut your sashing strips the same height as your block.  

You will then make your self a sashing and corner block row and attach it to your Block Row. 

OR

You will make your block row and attach a solid strip of sashing the length of your row. 

You can also do this in the opposite order you can put your sashing strips at the top and bottom of your blocks and do you long sashing or sashing and cornerstones going up and down... what ever you wish to do.. 

Hope this helped!! 

Happy Sewing. 

Becky Thill