How to Sew Mitered Square Quilt Blocks
Hi, I'm working on a new pattern (Loft), which I have on my design wall, and it uses mitered squares. So I thought I'd share a little mini tutorial of how I go about making those.
Simplify cutting
I'm going to be cutting several of these strip sets to turn them into mitered squares. To make it easier on myself, I actually put marks on my cutting mat to help me just drop the strip sets in and then know where I need to cut. So to make a mitred square with stripes like this, you lay your two strip sets side by side, colors going in the same orientation. And then what you'll do is cut one strip set this way on the bias, a 45-degree angle, and then the other one, the other direction on the 45-degree angle. So I have my mark, and I know that I need to cut between... Line up my ruler at the very top of this pink tape and at the them up here, and that will be my 45 degree angle. And then I'll cut this way. Same on this side. Cut that way. So let's do that.
Cut your two strip sets
I can also use, as a double-safe method, you can also use your 45 degree mark on your ruler to help you make sure that you are at the 45 degree angle because that's important. Your 45 degree angle will be lined up along the edge here. And then I will line up my point at the very top there. And also using my cutting mat, so making sure my 45-degrees angle is straight with the marks on my cutting mat, and it is. So I'm at that point and at this point. And so now I can cut just like this. And we'll do the same over here. Let's see, 45-degrees. So I might actually have to flip my... Okay. So again, I'm lining up my 45 degree mark on my ruler with a line on my mat and then making sure that I'm at my points, which I am. So then I'm going to cut this way. What you have looks like this. You'll see there's a straight edge here, a little bit of a straight edge here and up there. Now, here comes the magic. Okay, so this strip set, the seams are ironed all in one direction this way. This strip set, the seams are ironed all in one direction this way. Why this matters is this next bit.
Flip and swap the top halves
So I'm going to take this. I'll take this top, turn it, and bring it over here. I'll take this top, turn it, and bring it over here. Now I have two opposite, right? Like dark to light, light to dark.
Nest your seams
And why the seam pressing matters, the direction your seams are pressed in, is this part. So when you go to put these together, and you want to be very gentle because this is bias, so it's going to stretch. You want to make sure you're not pulling on your fabric in any way. So I line up my seams, but these seams are going to nest, and so you're going to get the best, really good points that way. You'll feel them lock in together. And so then you just sew your quarter-inch seam, making sure not to pull. And then you'll have your two mitered squares done. So let me go sew this and iron. You'll iron that center seam open. So I'm going to go do that and I'll be right back.
Sew and press your seam open
Okay, so here's our finished mitered blocks with the center seam stitched and ironed open. And you can see the points match up perfectly, and that's really because of nesting the seams when you sew them together. And then this side just shows what the seam side looks like. So as you can see, this half, all the seams are going this direction, this half, all the seams are going this direction. And then when you iron it open, this is what it looks like. But Yeah, this is how you make mitered squares.
Why chose mitered seams instead of log cabin construction?
Why I chose to use a mitered square in this particular design is because it saves you on cutting, and it also saves you on sewing. So instead of doing a log, you could create this same look using a log cabin style of construction where it's one this way and then so this way and then this way and this way. And then all of these would be different lengths that you would have to cut and sew. And then there's also these additional seams. And instead, it's much less cutting and it's also much less sewing. Plus, I like that you get these really crisp corners, and it just seems a much more economical way of constructing. But I'm curious to hear what others think, if you've ever done this technique in a pattern, or what you think. Let me know in the comments.
