The Helen QAL: Week 6 – Quilt Top Construction

It’s Week 6 of the Helen Quiltalong, and this week we’re bringing everything together — literally! It’s time to take those finished blocks and turn them into a full quilt top.

If you’re still finishing up your blocks, no worries at all — you can take this part at your own pace. This is a great week to step back, lay everything out, and start seeing how your quilt is going to come together.

🧩 Layout Tips

Before sewing anything together, I highly recommend laying out all of your blocks and taking a photo — either on a design wall, the floor, or even a bed. Sometimes you notice balance (or imbalance) in color or contrast more easily in a photo than in person.

Try moving a few blocks around and see how it affects the overall look. If you’re doing a scrappy version or playing with value, this is your chance to create rhythm or structure in how your blocks relate to each other.

🧵 Assembling the Rows

Once you’re happy with the layout:

• Sew the blocks into rows.

• Then sew the rows together to finish your quilt top.

Don’t forget to double-check that your block orientation is consistent before you sew everything together — it’s easy to miss a rotated block!

✨ Borders

Confession: I do not like adding borders, so I only add them to a pattern if I feel like they really add some balance to a quilt pattern. I do think that they are important in this quilt, but if you don't want to add them, go with your gut!

If you’re adding borders:

• Sew all of your strips together, end to end, then cut the border sizes listed in the pattern.

• If you are making a scrappy version of binding, go for it! You will need about 275" total of binding so just keep sewing the pieces together until you have that length. Then cut the border sizes listed in the pattern.

Confession: I always cut my border strips a couple of inches longer than required and then trim them down after sewing. I know that this is technically against the rules and can lead to bowed borders, but I pin carefully and don't have an issue so proceed at your own risk! 

📸 Share Your Progress

This is one of the most satisfying weeks of the quiltalong — you finally get to see the full design come to life! I’d love to see how your top is coming together:

• Post your progress on Instagram using #thehelenqal and tag @kitchentablequilting

• Join me Tuesday at 1pm PT on Instagram Live — I’ll be answering questions and sharing my progress. This will be the final live video of the quiltalong since I will be out of town next week.

Next week we will be finishing up our quilts! Keep going, you are so close!