January 21, 2016

Selvage Quilt Blocks Tutorial

I’ve been collecting my selvages for quite some time and I’m finally making some projects with my selvage stash. While sewing up my selvages, I created this quilting tutorial for how to make selvage quilt blocks.

Start by pressing your selvages.

Decide what size blocks you need. Or you can make “selvage fabric” to cut up into smaller pieces. But you have to start with a piece of muslin, so you need to pick a size and cut the muslin to that size.

I made a big piece and some 6 inch squares to start. I also used some very light-weight batiste that I have on hand–left over from my Saturday Market days of sewing little dresses.

Next decide if you want them set on the diagonal or straight.

I did some of each. Here’s how.

Straight Across

Place the first strip onto the muslin, right side facing up and the finished edge along the very bottom. Stitch the lower edge to hold it in place. Press.

Put another selvage onto of the first one, so it overlaps at least 1/4″ and covers the raw edge of the last selvage –it also should have its right side facing up. All the selvage strips should be oriented the same way, with the finished edge on the bottom (and overlapping the raw edge of the last selvage strip sewn onto the muslin).

Use fabric glue or pins to hold it in place and edgestitch along the finished edge. Press.

Repeat until the muslin square is completely covered. I press after each selvage strip is sewn on, but be careful not to distort the fabric.

Now trim the edges to make it square. You can flip it over and trim the selvage edges to the edges of the muslin.

Now let’s do it on the diagonal!

Start by drawing some diagonal lines. Start with one corner to corner and add several more, about 1″ apart. I like to have these drawn lines to keep things on the 45̊ angle or at least as close as possible.

Place the first 2 selvages on..I like to use fabric glue to keep the first 2 in place. After that I use pins to hold the selvages in place. Here’s a link to the Fons & Porter fabric glue stick I like to use.

As you add each new strip, make sure you are overlapping at least 1/4″ and covering the raw edge of the strip you are covering.

Sew the selvages by edge stitching the top selvage strip. It’s the same technique as sewing them straight across, but you need to be sure you cover the edges of the muslin completely. Make sure the top edge of each selvage strip is hanging off at least 1/4″ on each side.