How to sew rickrack to your quilt like an expert

Here are my units on the design wall, all ready to sew. The colors in this Northcott Cosmic Fusion collection blend together so well and the strip design looks very modern. You can go ahead and sew the units together just like this, or you might like to try my variation below using rickrack trim. The sewing method for joining the units will be the same whether you add the rickrack trim or not.

This gives you a good idea about how your modern baby quilt will look.

As I was looking at the quilt pieces on the design wall, I wondered how it would look if I had some kind of accent or trim on the main seam lines. I had some ⅝” rickrack in my cupboard (it had been there for a very long time!) and I thought maybe I had finally found a use for it. Before I started sewing the units together, I pinned some rickrack on my quilt and decided I really liked it. It would go on top of the finished seams, but it would take some planning to figure out when to add the rickrack. You’ll need about 6½ʺ yards of rickrack trim if you’d like to try this version.

Before I sewed the units together, I pinned some rickrack trim over the seams on the design wall to see how it would look.

A close-up view of the rickrack trim

So here’s how to sew it together!

Note: If you’re using rickrack trim, press the joining seams open. If you’re not using the rickrack trim, press seams to one side.

Using the diagram below as a guide, sew Unit 1 to Unit 2.

Use this guide for sewing sewing the units together.

Cut an 8″ piece of rickrack and pin it on top of the seam. With thread that matches the rickrack, stitch close to each edge, using a slightly longer stitch than normal. I felt it would be better to have this double line of stitching so the rickrack trim would stay flat. Trim excess rickrack.

Stitch close to each edge of the rickrack.

Sew Unit 5 to Unit 6. Sew a 31″ piece of rickrack over the seam, using a double stitching line.

Sew Unit 4 to Units 5/6 using a partial seam. Start sewing at the top and sew about half-way down the strip sets. Press the sewn part of the seam open.

This is the partial seam

Cut a 40″ piece of rickrack and sew over the completed part of the seam, leaving the excess rickrack hanging loose.

Stitch down the rickrack over the part of the seam that is sewn. Leave the rest of it hanging loose or pin to the strip set.

Sew Unit 3 to the top of Units 4/5/6. Sew a piece of rickrack over this seam.

Sew Unit 7 to the right hand side. Sew rickrack over the seam.

Sew Units 8 and 9 together. Sew rickrack over the seam.

Sew units 8 and 9 together and then sew rickrack over the seam.

Sew Units 8/9 to Units 5/6/7. Sew rickrack over the seam.

Finish sewing the partial seam. Finish sewing the rickrack over the partial seam. Sew Units 1/2 to the top of the quilt. Sew rickrack over the seam.

Sew units 1/2 to the top of the quilt.

Come back tomorrow and I’ll show you my favorite way of finishing and adding binding to this baby quilt using this wonderful Northcott Cosmic Fusion fabric.