Photo by Laura Malek from 1, 2, 3 Quilt.
I’m working on making the Native Star Duffel Bag from 1, 2, 3 Quilt and wanted to share a quick technique for matching diagonal seams. This is useful when matching seams cut at a 45 degree angle. Here, I am joining two strips to make the star on this duffel bag. In my book, I talk about various techniques for matching seams with seams pressed open and to the sides. For this project, I recommended using a pin to align the seams, but I wanted to offer more details about how you can do this with precision.
You can see that there are strips of fabric cut on the diagonal that I need to join with matching points. First, with one strip wrong side facing up, use a seam gauge to mark the seam 1/4″ from the raw edge of the fabric. Then mark the seams on the right side of the other strip. Place the two strips with right sides facing, and use a straight pin to precisely align your two marked points. Pin together and sew!
More then twenty years ago i have learned the same trick, it’s still beautiful and amazing what you can do with just small strokes of fabric. Thank you for the reminder, i still love this. And this is a beautiful bag you’ve made;-D
I’m a new quilter and am thrilled to find this tutorial. I bit off more than I could chew with some diagonals 🙂 I hope to be able to go back to them armed with your technique!