Vibrant Celebration Sashing & Cornerstones

The Bernina 125th Anniversary Quilt features a framework and cornerstones, which are the blocks featured in this post. 

The on-point aspect of the Jubilee pattern threw me for a loop, or a 45 degree angle, at least. 

In Part I, Amanda Murphy stated, “I would also stay away from directional prints,” but I have a warped sense of adventure. 

“Oh no! I forgot these blocks are on-point,” I said to myself (because crazy people such as myself talk to themselves). 

In a dither, I recut the innermost fabric (C) on-point. Then I realized (dun dun dun — insert ominous music) when you hold the blocks on point, the fabrics I just recut aren’t actually on-point. 

Over the course of all this disorientation, my cut fabrics shrunk like a bad haircut. 

Then I got a brilliant idea for salvaging my impulsive cutting. 

I’d paper-piece the central cornerstones. You can download the pattern if you’re in a paper-piecing mood. Cut a 3 1/2″ square for the center C, which is not on-point; 1 3/4″ E strips for the next round; and two 4″ A squares cut once on the diagonal. To make best use of the prints, I marked a ruler with removable tape to highlight the area that would be visible in the finished cornerstones before cutting each piece.

Vibrant Celebration Fussy Cutting & Constructing

I am seizing the Bernina 125th Anniversary Quilt Along opportunity to highlight my hoarded…ahem…cherished Tula Pink fabrics. You know the prints that are just too precious, too out of print to use? Then you tuck them away by collection in tidy little bins until you see them going for outrageous prices on Instagram. The pressure is really high now because it’s not just sentimental value they hold. You want to do right by them. 

I must admit, I judged decluttering author Marie Kondo critically for talking to her inanimate objects; but I found myself apologizing to cotton material as I slid my rotary cutter through those precious (say in your best Lord of the Rings voice for proper emphasis) prints. I fussy cut, which I consider the antithesis of all the times I’ve told my son he can use my stash so long as he doesn’t chop hunks out of the middle. Fussy cutting takes the philosophy of fabric efficiency and puts it in a blender. Come to think of it, my fat quarters now look as if they met with the aforementioned blender. That said, it was worth it. 

I did use some additional strip piecing for a few of the blocks: On Block L, I cut 1 rectangle of light block fabric and 1 rectangle of dark block fabric, each measuring 1 1/2″ x 19 1/2″. I sewed one long side of these together and crosscut into three 6 1/2″ sections, 2 1/2″ wide. I then sewed these three sections together. For Block C, I cut a 1 1/2″ x 17 1/2″ rectangle of both the light and dark block fabrics, plus a 1 1/2″ x 6 1/2″ rectangle of the light block fabric. I sewed a long side of each 1 1/2″ x 17 1/2″ rectangle together and crosscut into 1 1/2, 2 1/2″, 3 1/2″, 4 1/2″ and 5 1/2″ sections. I used the new units with the remaining rectangle to form the block. 

In Block G, I cut a 1 1/2″ x 10″ rectangle of both the light and dark block fabrics, and sewed one long end together. I crosscut this into 2 1/2″ sections to make the four non-HST units. 

To fussy cut the template for Block E, I traced the shape using permanent marker onto a flexible chopping mat and cut it out. I marked the seam allowance and labeled the top so I wouldn’t accidentally reverse it. I placed this template on my fabric, and traced enough of the print to align it the same way on the print repeat to cut four identical pieces.

Vibrant Celebration Blocks

When quilting my Bernina 125th Anniversary Quilt blocks, I gave each block a different free-motion or ruler work treatment to highlight the piecing. You can find the block instructions in Part I and II of the quilt along.

I sought to draw contrast between straight and curved designs, and different densities of quilting, to allow some areas to be compressed while others popped.