June 29, 2004
INDEX
Even though we might be passionate about quilting, it is sometimes easy to fall into a rut and do the same types of things over and over. For example, sewing quilt tops together in the "traditional" way is called a "straight" or "horizontal" set. This is the most common, not to mention easiest, setting to do. I am betting 90% of you reading this are in this rut! I know I was until about two years ago. With just a little bit of effort and a little bit of know-how, you can change the layout setting from the same old same old to a more dynamic quilt top that gives you a fresher look.
This class walks you through making an on-point, sashed quilt that is sized ideally to serve as a wallhanging, baby quilt, table topper, or lap quilt. In the sample shown below, note that there are five (5) butterfly blocks. These are your focus blocks (which should measure 10" x 10" unfinished). Since this class is teaching the basics of on-point settings, the focus blocks take a back seat. So, feel free to choose whatever you want for your five focus blocks. These can be as intricate and complicated as you want or as simple as you want. This type of setting, however, lends itself to to making your focus blocks look lively, so even if you simply used a plain novelty block, it would still look great.
In the examples below, only one block is used in four different settings. Which one captures your attention first?
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| Straight Setting, No Sashing | Straight Setting With Sashing |
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| On-Point Setting, No Sashing | On-Point Setting With Sashing |
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| Making use of a dark background | Using the same fabric for the sashings, edgings, and corners. |
Typically, the reason most quilters avoid an on-point setting is because of the corner and side triangles. Who wants to have to figure out what size they should be cut? That's a lot of math! Who wants to try to avoid sewing bias edges? The on-point setting seems to be more difficult because of the triangles used to fill in the spaces, but when it's broken down methodically, and given to you in an easy-to-understand way, it is actually very simple to do. Even the math will be broken down in this class so that it's a piece of cake! And so, that is the purpose of this class: To take the intimidation away from working with an on-point setting and set you on the path to creating quilts using different settings.
Now for the disclaimer. Some blocks do not lend themselves to being placed on-point. For example, many picture blocks (such as a house block) look "crooked" if placed on-point, so this would not be a good choice for a setting.
