Cutting and basting: the Cafe Comforts Cozy Quilt takes shape

Today, we’re cutting the sashing and the dividing rows for the Cafe Comforts Cozy Quilt, a collaborative effort featuring blocks from lovely friends from all over the world.

First off, change the needle on your machine. A dull or damaged needle can create a lot of trouble. A fresh, sharp one means no skipped stitches, accurate seams, no thread bunching and much happiness. Also, it’s about the least expensive route to true stitching happiness — so go ahead, change the needle. You’re investing about $1 for each change. I actually changed the needle twice during the creation of the Cafe Comforts Cozy Quilt. Bliss!

I like to use Clever Clips keep all the parts together. These quilting clips are strong and come in two sizes. The large ones are great for keeping pieces organized once they have been cut. The small ones are fantastic for holding binding to the quilt when it comes time to hand stitch the binding to the back of the quilt — zero scratches from pins. Yay!

For this project, I also used the large clips to “baste” the rows together, to ensure I’d cut enough strips off and to double check the width. I’m quite a fan of Clever Clips.

Once I was happy with the sashing and the dividing strips, I began putting them together — carefully — that fabric is directional and not quite as neutral as one might think. It would be screamingly obvious if I sewed a strip upside down.

The finished quilt top is making me very happy.

Come back tomorrow and as we play around with a fun pieced back, a delicious quilt sandwich, and all the fun of quilting a cozy quilt on a regular home sewing machine.