Time to Complete: 3 to 5 hours (for Spring Serenade QAL) and under 1 hour (for tip of the week)

Skill Level: Beginner

Project Summary:

We’re in the home stretch of the Spring Serenade Quilt Along! This week, we’re bringing all our hard work together by adding cornerstones, sashing, and borders to the quilt top. These elements not only frame and connect our blocks but also enhance the overall design, providing structure and balance. Sashing refers to the strips of fabric placed between quilt blocks, helping to space them out. Cornerstones are small squares that connect sashing strips at the intersections, creating a cohesive, grid-like look. Borders serve as the final framing element, giving your quilt a polished and complete appearance. By the end of this week, your quilt top will be complete—just in time for next week’s final steps: basting, quilting, and binding.

In this week’s blog post, we’re taking our sashing a step further; we’ll be transforming simple sashing strips by using the quick corner method to create a sawtooth star effect (see the example below - what a difference it makes between the example above). By sewing four small squares to each corner of each sashing strip using the quick corner method, we’ll form a secondary star design when paired with the cornerstones. This technique is a fantastic way to add visual interest to your quilt top while reinforcing the skills we practiced last week. Keep this tip in your back pocket—it’s a great method to elevate future quilting projects!

This is the fifth blog post in the six-week Spring Serenade QAL series, with a new post dropping every Monday (starting March 5, 2025). Each week’s post will feature tips for completing that week’s tasks or fun bonus projects that build on the skills being explored. Even if you’re not following the Spring Serenade pattern, these insights can be applied to future quilt projects. Sign up for the weekly QAL newsletter* here to stay up-to-date on tasks, tips, and bonus content. The newsletter will only run for the six weeks of the QAL, so you won’t miss a thing.

For a comprehensive overview of what the QAL entails—including the schedule, tools, supplies, and more—check out my previous Spring Serenade QAL blog post here . Remember, you’re welcome to join at any time and work at your own pace. If you’d prefer, you can save the posts and follow along at a later date.

All weekly tips, tricks, and resources will be centralized here for easy reference, so don’t forget to bookmark it!

*By signing up for the Spring Serenade QAL updates, you also agree to sign up to be on The Weekend Quilter and Brother International email newsletter list. We will not sell your email or spam you.

Supplies and Tools:

This is what you’ll need to perform this week’s tip. The fabric cutting dimensions listed below are what you’ll need to change up one sashing strip and use the dimensions from the Spring Serenade quilt pattern as an example. If you want to apply this technique to an entire quilt project, you’ll need to cut four (4) quick-corner squares to each sashing strip (I’ll leave you to do the math):

• Basic sewing machine – the Brother Innov-ís BQ3100 from the Quilt Club Series was used in this tutorial
• Rotary cutter
• Quilting ruler
• Cutting mat
• Fabrics, quilting cotton. Cut:
  • One (1) Fabric A 3½in x 14½in rectangle (for sashing strip)
  • Four (4) Fabric B 2in squares (for quick-corners)
• Coordinating thread, 50wt cotton for piecing
• Fabric pen or pencil
• Pins
• Fabric scissors
• Seam ripper
• Iron and ironing board or wool pressing mat

Directions:

Read through all the directions before you start. Seam allowance throughout the project is ¼in, unless specified.

Step 1: Mark a diagonal line on the wrong side of each Fabric B square using a fabric pen or pencil.

Step 2: Note the orientation of the marked guideline on one (1) Fabric B square, and with right sides together, place one (1) Fabric B square on each opposite corner of one (1) Fabric A 3½in x 14½in rectangle. Sew on each marked guideline.

Step 3: Trim ¼in seam allowance outside of each sewn line. Press the seams to create one (1) Sashing unit

Step 4: As shown in the diagram below, place one (1) Fabric B square on the remaining corners of Sashing unit. Sew on each marked guideline.

Step 5: Trim ¼in seam allowance outside of each sewing line. Press the seams to complete Sashing unit.

With our sashing strips transformed using the quick corner method, the sawtooth star effect adds a striking design element to the quilt top. This simple yet effective technique elevates the overall look, creating a cohesive flow between the blocks and cornerstones. Keep this method in mind for future projects where you want to go outside of the box (pun intended) and add visual interest.

Seeing your work brings us so much joy! Be sure to share your works-in-progress on social media by tagging Wendy @The.WeekendQuilter and @BrotherSews and using the #SpringSerenadeQuilt #BrotherSews hashtags.

Till next time, happy sewing!