Selvage Square

Marcey Arter from Whimsey Square Quilts was the guest speaker at the Columbus Modern Quilt Guild meeting last month. She shared her technique for working with those selvages I've been keeping (and not knowing what to do with them). 

For this post, I've used the supplies she generously gave each of us; strips of selvage and a square of fusible interfacing. The most narrow strip is 1 1/2" wide, so keep that in mind as you save those selvages!

Here's Marcey's technique:

First and foremost, be sure you keep the interfacing with the shiny fusible side up.
The only stitching you need to do is to sew two of the strips together across the middle of the interfacing. In this case, it was sewn corner to corner, but certainly doesn't have to be.

Then finger press the seam open. FINGER PRESS is key because you don't want to use an iron and adhere the fabric yet!

Now just tuck the remaining strips under the previous one in an order that is pleasing to you. In this case, I alternated colored strips with black & white prints for some contrast. I also like to see the actual selvage information, so in most cases, I left that side exposed.

 Once you like the arrangement, you can press with the iron. Trim it up and voila! 

Be sure that you stitch it down now; whether it's a straight stitch or some quilting, you'll need something to keep the strips in place.

I've always wanted to learn how to do this so I was really thrilled that Marcey shared her technique. Hope you like it too!