It’s week 3 of the Uppercross Quilt Sew Along!! I don’t know about you, but I am having so much fun connecting with all of you as we work on our quilts together. If you are new and you want to join in, it’s definitely not too late. So far we have picked out fabric and cut out our strips. Check out the previous posts on Week 1 and Week 2 to catch up and join the party!
A completely optional, but fun, element of the sew along will be our little book club! The name Uppercross was inspired by the book Persuasion by Jane Austen. Check below for the chapters to read each week and I’ll be sharing my thoughts and insights on instagram on Sunday nights.
Uppercross Sew Along - What you need to know
- There is no official sign up for the sew along, but make sure you are subscribed to my newsletter so you get all the updates and information weekly.
- We will be making the Uppercross Quilt OR the Uppercross Cottage Quilt in any size. If you don’t have a copy of one of the patterns, you can get one here.
- The sew along will run through October 31, 2021.
- We will have some amazing weekly prizes and you’ll find out what this week’s prize is in a little bit. I’m SO excited!!
Uppercross sew along schedule
- Week 1 – September 6th -12th: Fabric Pull (Optional – Read chapters 1-3 of Persuasion by Jane Austen.)
- Week 2 – September 13th – 19th: Cut Fabric (Optional – Read chapters 4-6 of Persuasion by Jane Austen.)
- Week 3 – September 20th – 26th: Strip Piecing (Optional – Read chapters 7-9 of Persuasion by Jane Austen.)
- Week 4 – September 27th – October 3rd: 4-Patch Block Assembly (Optional – Read chapters 10-12 of Persuasion by Jane Austen.)
- Week 5 – October 4th – October 10th: Assemble Cross Blocks (Optional – Read chapters 13-15 of Persuasion by Jane Austen.)
- Week 6 – October 11th – October 17th: Assemble Plus Blocks (Optional – Read chapters 16-18 of Persuasion by Jane Austen.)
- Week 7 – October 18th – October 24th: Catch Up Week (Optional – Read chapters 19-21 of Persuasion by Jane Austen.)
- Week 8 – October 25th – October 31st: Sew Blocks and Rows Together and Assemble Your Finished Quilt! (Optional – Read chapters 22-24 of Persuasion by Jane Austen.)
week three: strip piecing
One of my very favorite quilting techniques is strip piecing! I love how it can streamline the quilting process. In the Uppercross and Uppercross Cottage quilt, this technique really speeds up the construction of this quilt and makes those four patch blocks (that we’ll work on next week) go so much faster.
Stay organized this week by stacking your strips by color and labeling them if that’s helpful for you.
Make sure your sewing machine is adjusted to sew with a scant 1/4″ seam. Take one strip of each color and line them up at one end. There is no need to pin or clip your strips together. Start sewing slowly and line up the edges as you go.
Check out my reels on Instagram to see the process in action here!
Once you have sewn all your strips, press, as shown below, to set your seam. Open up your strips and spritz with water. Then press the seam toward Fabric A, or if your background fabric is darker, you can press toward the background strip, like I have done here.
Press flat with your iron. Remove your iron and use a tailor’s clapper, if you have one, to flatten the seam to perfection!
You should finish up your Block 1 and Block 2 units this week as well as Block 5. The strip piecing process should go fairly quickly for you. Write me a note below if you have questions!
week three giveaway
I am SO excited about this week’s giveaway!! My friend Holly of Maker Valley (@makervalley) is giving one of you lucky quilters a quilty themed tee!! I love these tees by Maker Valley. I have several and they are so soft and comfortable and easy to wear. And as my hubby (@themanbehindthequilt) knows all too well, I’m very guilty of quilting past my bedtime. I actually had to order both of the “I Quilt Past My Bedtime” versions. Any of you stay up waaaayyyyy too late because you just can’t stop??
Read through the instructions below to make sure you’re entered to win this week. I can’t wait to see all your beautiful strips!
HOW TO WIN:
- Post a picture to Instagram showing your pieced strips. Use #UppercrossQuiltSA somewhere in the caption.
- Your Instagram account must be public to participate.
- Each photo you post is an entry and you can post as many times as you want during the week. Each week we start fresh and the posts from the previous week no longer count.
- Your pictures must be posted between Monday, 9/20 at 8:00 a.m. Mountain Time and Sunday, 9/26 at 4:00 p.m. Mountain Time.
- The winner will be announced next Monday, 9/27, at approximately 4:00 p.m. Mountain Time.
Good Luck and have fun!!
xoxo, Sara Marie
sew along sponsors
- Week 1: Jordan and Joy Co
- Week 2: OttLite LED Sanitizing Lamp
- Week 3: Maker Valley
- Week 4: Sylvia Raschella Design
- Week 5: Liza Taylor Fabric shop
- Week 6: Rosie Girl Quilting
- Week 8: Free Edge to Edge Long Arm Quilting by Emily of Brown Eyed Quilter
- Week 8: Free Edge to Edge Long Arm Quilting from Sandy of Thai Charm LLC
