Strip Piecing

Strip piecing is a very fast machine piecing method that involves sewing together long strips of fabric, then cutting them into smaller patches that are then sewn together into blocks.

By adding striping piecing and other time saving techniques in your quilt making, you will be amazed at the things you can accomplish in a short amount of time.

The four patch strip piecing method requires two strips of fabric that are the same width.

Sew the two strips, right sides together on the long side of the strip to make a strip set. Press the seam allowance toward the darker fabric.

Use a ruler and rotary cutter to sub-cut the strip into patches that are the same width as a single strip is before sewing. For example: If the width of the strip was 2½” wide, then sub-cut the strip set into 2½” wide patches.

Make sure you align the ruler with the seam line of the strip set to be sure your cuts are straight.

To complete the four patch block, sew two sub-cut patches together, making sure to rotate the fabric pairs to be opposite each other and matching the center seam.

Chain piecing is a fast and easy way to speed up the strip piecing process.

You can just continue to feed the four patch blocks through the sewing machine until you have as many blocks as you need.

Press the seam allowances to one side. For a nine patch block, use the same procedure as in the four patch block. The only difference is that you will need 3 strips of fabric, all the same width and two different colors. With right sides together, sew the strips together lengthwise, alternating fabric colors to make the strip set.

The nine patch block will need two strip sets. Alternate the fabric:
1. Dark, light, dark.
2. Light, dark, light.

Press the seam allowances toward the darker fabric.

Using a ruler and rotary cutter, sub-cut the strips into patches that are the same width as the strips as with the four patch.

Sew together a dark/light/dark strip set, a light/dark/light strip set and a dark/light/dark strip set to make the nine patch quilt block.

Sew as many nine patch quilt blocks as you need.

You can this method on any quilt block pattern that you can sew strips and sub-cut the strips into smaller patches.

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