Dee Dee brought be this Sunbonnet Sue quilt which was made by a woman who passed away recently. Her family wanted the quilt finished.
As you can see, she used a quilt as you go method which, I think, is supposed to allow you to quilt each square to a piece of batting, join the squares and then place the backing on it. I don’t know much about this technique, but I’m having a hard time seeing how it saves time.
Where the blocks come together there were sections of the quilt top where the batting didn’t meet up exactly. This meant there were places on the quilt where there would be no batting at all, especially around the outside edge.
Dee Dee is helping the family finish these tops up and came up with the idea to put another layer of batting in the quilt. This was the perfect solution! The extra layer of batting ate up a bit of the fullness found in some of the blocks. Plus, the extra batting helped fill in those bald patches where the top would have been laying directly on top of the backing with no batting.
I did a large meander around the Sunbonnet Sues but stayed off Sue. I’m sure this quilt as you go technique has benefits but I’m not convinced. How about you? Do any of you use a quilt as you go technique? Does it work well for you?
I’m Angela- Co-host of the Fons & Porter’s Love of Quilting PBS show. APQS Long arm Dealer and Educator. Triplet Momma. Designer. Thread Bimbo.
2 Responses
Hi, I use this technique all the time. If you don't own a longarm. This would be your best bet.It's not the time your saving,It's the stress on you and your machine,( From trying to pull your whole quilt through a machine.)Only you do put the backing on at the same time as you put your batting in.I do 2 row's at a time. So I'm only dealing with pulling 2 rows through my machine.( less weight on my quilt.) Plenty of room to move my quilt around.I Love it! And think anyone who quilt's should try this method.It saves time and stress.
Thanks for the input! I'm glad you've found a technique that works for you. 🙂