It’s week two of the Uppercross Sew Along and this week we are cutting our fabric!! If you are tuning in late, it’s not too late to join. If you don’t already have your copy of one of these patterns, click here for the Uppercross Quilt Pattern and here for the Uppercross Cottage Quilt Pattern and join the fun! Also, make sure you’re subscribed to my newsletter so you get all the updates and sew along info straight in your inbox.
If you are new to the sew along this week, check out the original post that goes over all the details of the Sew Along as well as the schedule and prizes.
Also, a fun optional part of the sew along is our book club! We are reading Persuasion by Jane Austen and it’s definitely not too late to catch up on the reading and win a fun Jane Austen themed prize!
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.)
Sponsors and prizes
- Week 1: Jordan and Joy Co
- Week 2: OttLite LED Sanitizing Lamp
- Week 3: Maker Valley Quilty T-Shirt
- 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
week two: cutting
Welcome to week two of the Uppercross Sew Along! This week we will be prepping and cutting our fabric. We will be cutting a lot of long strips this week, so I’m going to go over my favorite technique of using my ruler to get perfect strips every time.
to pre-wash or not to pre-wash??
1. working with tricky substrates like linens or wovens OR
2. using super saturated colors alongside a lighter color that could potentially bleed
Does that help?? Ok, go wash your fabric…or don’t. I support your decisions.
Cutting those strips!
Whether or not you decided to pre-wash, make sure you press your fabric and starch if desired. Once you get that fabric all smoothed out, line up your selvages and hold up in front of you. Adjust the selvages until the crease at the bottom is hanging straight and even.
Now, lay your fabric down on your cutting mat, and line up your ruler on the right side as shown in the photo below. *Important: make sure the lines on the bottom of your ruler are straight against the crease on the bottom of your fabric.
Trim off as little as possible on the right side of your ruler so you have a beautiful straight edge to start with.
Flip your fabric over and again, line up the lines on the bottom of your ruler with the bottom crease as shown below. Also, make sure you are lining up the left edge of your ruler with the straight edge you cut previously.
As you cut, make sure the bottom fold continues to stay in line with the lines on the bottom of your ruler. Try to ignore the lines on your cutting mat!!
scrappy version
If you are making the Uppercross Cottage scrappy version, make sure you follow the diagrams in your pattern as you cut, so you utilize your fabric appropriately.
week two giveaway
This week, OttLite is sponsoring our sew along with an amazing gift of one of their sanitizing LED lamps! I love my OttLite lamp. It gives excellent light in my basement sewing room, has relieved a lot of my eye strain and also has a docking/charging station for my phone! Such a cool feature. It also has several different brightness settings and colors. It’s perfect for those nights when you’re working on some small hand stitching.
HOW TO WIN:
- Post a picture to Instagram showing your cutting progress. 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, 9/13 at 8:00 a.m. Mountain Time and Sunday, 9/19 at 4:00 p.m. Mountain Time.
- The winner will be announced next Monday, 9/20, at approximately 4:00 p.m. Mountain Time.
Good Luck and have fun!!
xoxo, Sara Marie
[…] 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! […]