Lee Heinrich

Fair Isle Sew Along, Part 7: Assembling the Top


Welcome back to the Fair Isle Sew Along! It's an exciting moment, because this week we finally get to assemble the top. Home stretch, you guys!


Theoretically, when sewn together, all of your rows should measure 72-1/2" wide. Theoretically. : ) But in reality, there are a lot of seams in these rows—and of course, being just a tiny bit off on your seam allowances can add up to major differences across all the seams in each row. My zig-zag rows, for instance, actually measured 73", not 72-1/2". (My reindeer row ended up surprisingly accurate. I'm sure nobody is more surprised about that than me!)


So my advice for this week is, don't worry about the size of the blocks or the rows. Don't even think about it (much). I've left some room to trim from the sides of each row if necessary.


So start by getting all of your rows sewn together. This should be quick work, since the zig zag and checkerboard rows should already be done. Next, measure all of the completed rows. For any rows that are too long, trim them down to 72-1/2". If you find that one or more rows are too short, trim all the other rows to the length of the shortest row (you will need to trim your long sashing pieces as well).


Now you're ready to assemble all of the rows into a completed quilt top! It's like Christmas came early (literally)! I found that it worked well to sew the sashing pieces onto the top and bottom edges of the zig zag and checkerboard rows. Once you have that done, you should have only two more sashing pieces left, which go at the top and bottom of the quilt. Then it's just a matter of piecing everything together and .... done.


Next week is our final post in the sew along, and we'll be talking about the back and the quilting. Great job, everybody, I have just loved seeing all of your versions of Fair Isle! That really is like Christmas for me. : )


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