Grandma’s Kitchen Quilted Joined No Sashing

Grandma’s Kitchen is Pat Sloan’s Sew-Along Quilt

Grandma’s Kitchen Quilt instructions are still available on Pat Sloan’s website, and they’re free!

This is a 6-row quilt, so I joined it into 3 sections and quilted each section by machine, using my walking foot.

  Here are some of the quilted blocks.

Setting Blocks

Peppermint Swirls

The Kitchen Table

Grandma’s Apron

Key Holder

Setting Blocks

Sticky Buns

You can see some of my walking foot quilting in the above blocks.  I used a variegated thread from Connecting Threads for the quilting.  It shades from beige to dark brown, and worked best with the fabric colours.

Just an FYI, I used all scrap and leftover fabric for my quilt top, and ran out of one of the prints partway through.  I arranged the blocks to evenly distribute the colours.

Grandma’s Kitchen, and How I joined the Parts

I machine quilted the top and bottom section right to the edges, then trimmed off the extra batting and backing even with the quilt top.

Then I quilted the center section, leaving about 2 inches at the top and bottom unquilted.   I quilted that area after the parts were joined.

Before I began joining the sections, I cut enough 1/2 inch wide strips of the lightest weight fusible interfacing I had, enough for the two seams on this quilt.

1.   Working on one edge of the center piece, trim the batting even with the quilt top.  Trim the backing fabric 1/2 inch beyond the batting.
2. Pin the batting and backing fabric back out of the way.
3. With right sides together pin the single layer of the center section to the edge of the quilted section, matching seams.  You’re pinning through 4 layers, the 3 layers of the quilted section and 1 layer of the center section.  
4. 
5. With the quilted section against the feed teeth, sew the pieces together using 1/4 inch seam allowance.  Open and check the completed seam to be sure all is well.
6. Open out the sewn area with the good side facing down and finger press the seam allowance toward the single layer.
7. Unpin the batting, smooth it flat and trim it so it just meets the seam allowance, removing 1/2 an inch.
8. Center the interfacing with the fusible side down, so one edge is on the sewn seam and it straddles the seam, catching the batting.  Use your iron to fuse it into place.
9. Smooth the backing over the seam allowance, then fold the raw edge under itself, having the fold 1/8 inch past the seam, hiding it.  Using long pins, pin across the seam, every 2 inches.
10. Turn so the right side is up and slowly  “stitch in the ditch”,  being really careful at the pins.  DON’T HIT THEM WITH YOUR NEEDLE!
11. Check the back to make sure you caught the backing in the seam as you remove the pins.  The seam is barely visible.  Complete the machine quilting along the seam.  

What do you think?  Would you do this?  Does this method seem easy to you?  I’d love to hear your feedback, and am considering a video.

I wrote a post outlining a very similar join last year, without the fusible interfacing, finishing Pat Sloan’s Solstice Challenge