Quilt-As-You-Go | Zippy Quilts

I recently had the privilege of teaching Quilt-As-You-Go (QAYG) techniques to a nice bunch of quilters at Studio Stitch in Greensboro. Here’s the summary:

Georgia Bonesteel’s QAYG method is the first one I learned, many years ago. I brought along a queen-sized quilt I made using the method to show. I demonstrated QAYG this way, and we all agreed to go on to something easier!

I made this Jewel Box quilt many years ago using Georgia Bonesteel’s QAYG method

Marti Michell’s method for quilting 1/3 of a large quilt at a time seems much easier and I demonstrated it. You can find out more about it from her book Machine Quilting in Sections or from her demos on YouTube.

The class sample used another common QAYG method, constructing the blocks and quilting them at the same time.

The class was structured so that students could make the class sample if they wanted, or could bring any pattern they chose. Three people brought other patterns and we worked out how to use those with the QAYG method. Everyone made a lot of progress on a quilt during class!

Two quilters brought fairly complex patterns and got a good start on their blocks:

One quilter wanted to learn QAYG so she could do something with a group of blocks she inherited:

A couple of quilters brought scraps from dresses they had made for their children back when they were little:

And one quilter brought a jelly roll and coordinating fabric, enabling her to make rapid progress toward her own version of the class sample quilt:

If you want more information about the class sample shown above, the post about it is here.

Quilt-as-you-go (QAYG) has been around at least since the 1970s, and I have tried it in several forms. Back when I wanted to use high loft batting, I made this quilt in sections and joined them using Georgia Bonesteel’s method. The backing seams were sewn by hand. It worked out fine, but that was a lot of hand stitching.

Queen size quilt made by qultl-as-you-go method

Jewel Box, queen size, made in 2003

More recently I read about using thin batting so pieces can be joined with batting in the seam. Unfortunately, this method suggests quilting the front pieces WITHOUT backing, then tacking on a back after assembling the front. That means most of the quilting is hidden from the back; the only thing that shows is the stitching used to attach the back over the actual quilting!

I’ve also seen QAYG done by using batting rather than batiste as a base for string piecing. This means no quilting shows on the front!

The more I read about QAYG methods, the more I didn’t care for any of the options. I decided to re-visit it anyway because students had asked for a QAYG class. I chose the string piecing on batting option, but made the blocks with the backing included so the quilting would show on the back.

The quilting is meant to show on the back, though white thread on white fabric doesn’t show much!

I kind of liked the triangles arranged like this on the design wall, but decided to save this option for when I can make the whole thing look 3-D by careful placement of color.