Fat Quarter Stars Quilt Sew Along: Week 4 – Assemble Quilt
It's the final week in the Fat Quarter Stars sew along — you made it! If you are on schedule, you should have a pile of quilt blocks. This week, we will sew the blocks together and add the final border. I will also give you lots of information on finishing and binding your quilt. We've worked so hard to get here! Let's run over the finish line. 🙂
As a reminder, all sew along posts can be found in the Sew Along category in our main menu. Check out the schedule below for links to past blog posts in this sew along. Don't forget to join me for the IG live video this Tuesday at 7:30pm Central on Instagram. I'm sorry I had to skip last week's live, the stomach flu took its toll on my family, and it wasn't pretty. Thankfully, we are all better. Phew!!
Fat Quarter Stars Sew Along Schedule
- Week 1: Pick fabric and gather supplies
- Week 2: Cut fabric and sew HSTs
- Week 3: Sew quilt blocks
- Week 4: Assemble quilt top and discuss finishing techniques and options (a.k.a. how to quilt and bind it)
Week 4 Assignment: Assemble Quilt
This will be a link-heavy post. Click the links in this list to jump to the section.
Tip #1: Play with your block layout.
You can lay your blocks on the floor, or if you are lucky enough to have a design wall, play with the placement of blocks that way. Even if you nail it the first time, it's nice to see other options so you can confidently know it looks good.
Tip #2: Pin your border.
Each border seam lines up nicely with a seam in the quilt top. I suggest you take the time to match and pin each seam, so that your border doesn't get off. If something isn't lining up quite right, just stretch it a bit and add extra pins to make it work. A few puckers never made a difference in the overall appearance of a quilt. 😉
Trending patterns!
Just like we discussed last week, you can use straight pins or fork pins here. You also have the option of pinning away or toward yourself, whatever feels more natural.
Quilt Batting Recommendations
What is quilt batting? It's the insulating layer sewn between the top and backing fabric in a quilt. It provides warmth, structure, and stability to a quilt. There are different fibers typically used to make quilt batting. Most commonly, they are cotton, wool, polyester, bamboo, silk, and various blends of those together.
The thickness or "loft" of batting varies. Low-loft battings are thin and easier for hand quilting. Medium-loft battings work great for machine quilting, offering a lovely "classic" look and feel. A high-loft batting, like puffy polyester or wool, adds more dimension to a quilt and can provide lots of warmth.
When choosing which batting is right for your quilt, first consider how the quilt will be used, then what kind of quilting you would like to do on it. Make sure you buy batting that is large enough for your quilt top! Double-check the dimensions because, in many cases, what the package calls a "throw" is too small.
My favorite brand is Quilters Dream, but Pellon is a good, less-expensive option too. Here are my go-to quilt batting choices:
- Low-loft batting: Quilters Dream Bamboo
- Mid-loft batting: Quilters Dream 100% Cotton Select
- High-loft batting: Quilters Dream Wool
In Quilting 101 on the Blog, we have an entire section dedicated to quilt batting. Here are some articles for further reading. If you have questions about quilt batting, ask in the comments!
- Why Cotton Batting Is The Most Popular Choice For Quilters
- Why Bamboo Batting Makes the Perfect Summer Quilt
- Why Wool Batting Makes the Warmest Quilts
- Quilting on a Budget with Poly-Blend Batting
- Is There a Right Side to Quilt Batting?
- The Truth About Black Batting: When & Why to Use It
- Fusible Batting Tape: Why You Need It & How to Use It
Quilt Backing Recommendations
Sewing backing together can trip people up, but it doesn't need to. If you are making a baby quilt, I recommend getting fabric wide enough so that you do not need to sew any seams.
Most quilting fabric is 42" wide, so sometimes you can squeak by with just a yard and a half of that. My Wildflower Wovens are 57" wide, so you would have more than enough. My Picnic Wovens will be released next Spring, and they will also be 57" wide. Exciting!
Other options that don't involve sewing a seam would be upcycling bedsheets or using 108" wide fabric. I have two 108" wide prints — Full Moon Matcha and Boho Birds Nova.
If you are making a throw or need to sew a seam for a baby quilt, here are the steps:
- Divide your yardage in half.
- Pin the two pieces right sides together.
- Sew a 1/2" seam.
- Press your seam either open or two the side.
How to Baste a Quilt
Note: If you need to mark guidelines on your quilt top for a specific quilting design, do that before you pin baste. If you are spray basting, you can mark it after. I will go into more detail on that in the Quilting Design Recommendations section below.
There are a few different ways to baste a quilt. I prefer pin basting with safety pins. If you would like to quilt your own quilt, but not baste it, a longarm quilter can do that for you. They will use basting stitches to hold it together and then give it back to you.
Below, I have more information on hiring a longarm quilter. Here is a tutorial on how to baste a quilt: How to Baste a Quilt.
Quilting Techniques for Finishing a Quilt
There are five main quilting techniques for finishing your quilt:
- Hand quilting
- Domestic machine quilting with a walking foot
- Free-motion quilting
- Ties
- Longarm quilting
I have tutorials on these techniques, so check out the links below for details:
Longarm Quilting Information
25% off longarm quilting! Jenn B Quilts, Thai Charm Quilting & More, and Trace Creek Quilting are offering 25% off edge-to-edge longarm quilting for Fat Quarter Star sew along participants for quilts sent before November 24, 2025. Check with each of them for specific details and restrictions.
Jenn B Quilts used an edge-to-edge pantograph on this sew along quilt. The design is called Boho Birds, based on my Boho Birds fabric from the Duval collection.
Thread Color Recommendations
Although many of us piece our quilts with neutral-colored thread, sometimes a different color looks better for quilting. I typically match my thread to the background fabric or one of the lighter colors in the quilt.
For example, a Christmas quilt with a cream background and red and green fat quarters would look good with coordinating cream thread. Red thread could be interesting, but if you made any wobbly stitches, it would be very obvious. Darker thread colors like to compete with the fabric, so they can also make a quilt look overly busy.
This next example uses a medium gray thread that matches the background fabric. It flows nicely with the other colors, too.
This next example uses a medium blue thread because a navy thread could have looked harsh and overly busy on the other fabrics. This thread color matches the medium blue used in some of the stars.
If the background fabric is dark, opting for a medium-value shade is a great choice for blending the quilting with the fabric.
Quilting Design Recommendations
Depending on how you quilt your quilt, you may need to make guidemarks before sewing. As I mentioned above, mark your quilt BEFORE you pin baste. If you are spray basting, you can mark it after.
A hera marker is my prefered tool since it only makes creases and not actual marks. If you need marks, a water-soluble marker also works. Just test it on your fabric first.
Longarm quilting tips:
- Generally speaking, if your quilt pattern is highly geometrical, like Fat Quarter Stars, a curving or meandering design will work best.
- Your longarm quilter is a good resource for suggestions and ideas.
- Take inspiration from the fabric and quilt pattern.
Domestic machine quilting tips:
- Classic quilting, like straight lines, vertical/horizontal grid, and 45-degree cross-hatching, would look great.
- If you would like a more complex design, you can use stencils. There are lots of fun quilting stencils online!
- Simple free-motion quilting would also look really nice. Check out the tutorials above for how-tos. Below are some examples.
Straight-Line Quilting
Glitter & Glow quilt with 1/2 straight-line quilting and 100% cotton batting.
45-Degree Cross-Hatching
Grow pillow with 1" quilting and wool batting.
Vertical/Horizontal Grid
Rocksteady quilt with 1" quilting and bamboo blend batting.
Mod Mountain quilt with 2" grid quilting and wool batting.
Simple Free-Motion Quilting
Gather quilt with scalloped free-motion quilting and 100% cotton batting.
Hand quilting tips:
- For a tutorial and list of supplies, visit How to Hand Quilt.
- The simple quilting designs I mentioned above would also work great when hand quilting. Stencils are a fantastic option too.
- You do not need to hand quilt the entire quilt. You can quilt along the seams first on your machine (this is called "stitching in the ditch) and then add some decorative hand quilting. Below are examples of quilts that have a mix of machine and hand quilting.
Maypole quilt that is first stitched in the ditch with some added hand quilting. This uses 100% cotton batting.
Mod Mountain quilt with machine and hand quilting that echos the triangles. This uses 100% cotton batting.
Quilt tying tips:
- This is an inexpensive and fast way to finish a quilt. It can also be combined with machine quilting.
- For a full tutorial visit, Quilt Tying Tutorial: How To Tie A Quilt With Yarn Or Embroidery Thread
Triangle Jitters quilt that is first machine quilted in a grid and then sewn with yarn ties. This was made by Laura Hartrich.
Below is a video on how she does it.
How to Bind a Quilt
Sewing binding on a quilt is one of my favorite steps. I connect the ends of my binding two different ways:
- Connect binding with a 45-degree seam — this will give you the strongest, least bulky seam. How To Sew Binding On A Quilt (VIDEO!)
- Connect binding with a vertical seam — this is slightly less confusing and looks good if making a scrappy binding. The Easiest Way To Connect Quilt Binding
Binding Tutorials
