Have you tried the Quilt as You Go or QAYG (try and pronounce that acronym!)? If you haven’t, you’ll have to try it. It is fun and, while you can create a regular block with it, I like to use an improvisational approach to this technique.
We’re going to work on a QAYG block together and you’ll need:
Batting - cut into a square, whatever size you prefer (I used a 9 1/2” square)
Fabric Scraps
Scissors or rotary cutter and mat
Seam roller (I loved using my Violet Craft seam roller in this project) or iron
Sewing machine
What you’re going to be doing is adding fabric scraps onto the batting ala log cabin technique, either adding each new scrap in a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction. You’ll be sewing the fabrics right to the batting and doing additional quilting on them too.
Lay your first scrap down on the batting, right side up and then add the second scrap, right side down, being sure to align the raw edges that you’ll be stitching together. Piece them together with a 1/4” seam, just as you would for any block. The nice thing about this technique is that you don’t have to be too accurate with your 1/4” seam, but don’t let this stop you from using this to practice achieving an accurate one.
After you have pressed open these pieces, you will be adding additional quilting stitches to them. Traditionally, quilters would add straight lines of stitching, parallel to the seam line. For my block, I wanted to utilize the stitches on the Janome MC9450 and while I could’ve chosen from the hundreds of fancy decorative stitches, I decided to see what utility stitches would look like when used as quilting stitches. Guess what? They looked really great!
To see exactly how to create this improvisational QAYG block, click on the image below.
Have you ever tried QAYG with decorative or utility stitches? Let me know in the Comments below how your block/project turned out.
If you’d like to get your own Violet Craft seam roller, click here.
Creatively,
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