Using Quarter Inch · Cutting and printing
Follow a quilt’s sewing steps, block by block
How to sew turns a quilt into steps: each block’s units, rows and seams with a diagram, then putting the quilt together. Tick them off as you go.
The short answer
How to sew turns a quilt into sewing steps, block by block, each with a diagram. On the quilt’s Cutting page, choose How to sew and tick each step when it’s done. At the machine, Sew at the sewing table shows one step at a time.
Follow the sewing steps
Open the quilt’s Cutting page and choose How to sew. There’s a section for each block, then Putting the quilt together. The list under In this pattern jumps to any section.
Each step has its own diagram, drawn from the quilt. Read each step with its diagram. The letters are the pieces from the cutting chart, and each step says how many to make for all the blocks.
Tick a step when it’s done. Ticks are saved with the quilt, and Where you left off takes you back to the next step on any device.
At the machine, choose Sew at the sewing table for one step at a time, its diagram big, under Sew now. Tick it off when it’s done for every block.
What the steps look like
Porch Stars has 2 kinds of block,10 Ohio Stars and 10 Sawtooth Stars. Ohio Star at 12″:
- Make 4 quarter-square triangle units. Sew the Background B and Dark B triangles together in pairs along a short edge, then join the pairs, matching the seams at the center. Press the last seam open. Each measures 4½″ (4″ finished). For 10 blocks, make 40.
- Sew the units and pieces into 3 rows. Lay out the units and pieces as in the diagram and sew them into 3 rows. Press the seams in row 1 to the left, row 2 to the right, and so on, so they nest when the rows are joined.
- Join the rows. Join the 3 rows, matching and nesting the seams where they meet. Press the long seams open or to one side. The block measures 12½″ (12″ finished).
Then putting the quilt together: sew 5 block rows, sew 4 sashing rows, join the rows, border 1: sides, then top and bottom, layer and quilt, bind.
The steps follow how you chose to cut the units: a trimmed method’s steps say what to trim to. See How units are cut.
Print the steps
In the Print dialog, Sewing steps puts them in the PDF after the block diagrams, with a box beside every step to tick in pencil. Print your quilt.
Like the cutting chart and printing. Quilter is $9 a month or $89 a year.
If it doesn’t look right
- A step came unticked. The quilt changed since you ticked it, so the step changed too. Undo the change in the designer and the tick comes back.
- Starting over? Clear steps… asks first, and Undo puts them back.
- A hexagon quilt sewn by hand. Its How to sew is the hand-sewing guide: paper pieces.
Checked against the app on
Questions
Short answers.
Something else? A real person replies.
hello@quarterinch.app
Are the sewing steps written for my quilt?
Yes. They’re worked out from the quilt as it stands, so a change to the quilt changes the steps.
Can I print the sewing steps?
Yes. Tick Sewing steps in the Print dialog; each step gets a box to tick in pencil.
Do the steps say which way to press?
Yes. Rows are pressed in turn, so their seams nest when the rows are joined.