Perfect Sashing Design Woven Lines #252

I’ve said it a million times: the most under used, forgotten, empty place on a quilt is the sashing, or the space between the quilt blocks.

Let’s learn a new design that will work perfectly in sashing of all shapes and sizes. It’s called Woven Lines!

So here’s another graph of Woven Lines drawn into a long, narrow space:

So just keep things simple by stitching these back and forth lines! It’s very easy and this design has a nice flat texture that will make your pieced or appliqued blocks stand out that much better.

Inspiration – I’ve been trying to come up with a free motion basket weave type design for a very long time. I like the texture of lines woven together and I’m always experimenting with ways of stitching this without marking.

Unfortunately, it’s really hard to create a uniform, symmetrical design without marking it! Woven Lines was created by trying to find a way to stitch a woven design in a free form way, but if you still struggle to keep the lines straight to your liking, don’t hesitate to mark it to make it easier.

Difficulty Level – Beginner. This is an excellent beginner level design because it teaches one of the most core skills of free motion quilting – echoing. Learning how to stitch and space your lines perfectly apart is a skill that takes time to perfect.

More than anything else it’s learning how to see and estimate space while you’re quilting. the more you free motion, the easier it gets!

Design Family – Edge to Edge. This design works easily across your quilting space first with a zigzag line, then with straight lines to create the texture. Because everything in this design involves straight lines, it’s a good choice for narrow, open areas like sashing or narrow borders.

Directional Texture – 2 Directions. I love the effect this design has on the surface of a quilt. It’s almost like the texture of a handmade basket – you just want to touch the surface and run your fingers over woven lines. It’s both beautiful and utilitarian at the same time and the perfect design to balance out more moving, dynamic textures in other areas of your quilt.

Suggestions for Use – Have you picked up yet that I’d like you to use this design in your sashing? I have so many nice sashing designs now I’m wondering if I could create a quilt with just sashing to showcase them all. Hmmm…it would certainly be fun to try!

Let’s go quilt,

Leah Day