Adding Sashing to (Almost) Any Shiny Happy World Quilt Pattern

Pastel quilt with applique farm animals, demonstrating adding sashing to a quilt pattern.

For years I’ve had people ask me about adding sashing to a quilt pattern from Shiny Happy World.

That’s an easy question.

Yes!

You can always modify any pattern to add (or take away) sashing.

Sometimes they have another question. How does adding sashing to a quilt change the yardage they need to buy?

Well – that’s a whole other question that requires a much longer answer. 🙂 And here it is!

First – let me clarify. I say almost any quilt pattern because these measurements will only work for square blocks. If you’re adding sashing to a quilt with double blocks or half blocks, you’ll need to do a little extra math for that. But the measurements below work for any of my quilt patterns that have 10 inch square blocks – and that’s almost all of them. 🙂

I’m using the Noisy Farm quilt pattern for all the examples below, using only the square animal blocks and leaving off the half blocks with animal sounds.

For each of my standard quilt sizes I’ll show you a diagram of the quilt with sashing, the new dimensions of the quilt, new fabric requirements, and cutting instructions for the sashing.

Remember, there’s a general post showing how to add sashing to any quilt here, and one with details about how to prepare and sew sashing or borders with Quilt As You Go quilts here.

So let’s jump in!

Crib Size

Square pastel quilt with appliques of farm animals - showing how to add sashing to a quilt pattern.

This is the smallest quilt size I make – a very generous crib size. With sashing it’s 53 inches square.

For the sashing fabric you’ll need 1 1/4 yards. Quilt that to the batting, then from that cut 12 strips 3 inches wide.

Sew those strips together (a straight seam is fine – it doesn’t need to be angled) and press the seams open.

From that looooong strip, cut the following rectangles (all 3 inches wide). . .

12 strips 10 1/2 inches long
5 strips 47 1/2 inches long
2 strips 53 inches long

For the squares. . . you’ll only need 16 squares, so get 2 1/4 yards of fabric for the background blocks, and at least 4 fat quarters for the animals. (You may want more fat quarters for variety.)

The version with the sashing is only a tiny bit bigger than the version without, so you can just barely get away with the same amount of fabric for the backing and binding. If you’re shopping at a store that cuts things to the exact inch (I’m more generous with my cuts) you might want to get just a little extra for the backing fabric.

Nap Size

Pastel farm animals applique quilt with sashing between all the blocks

This is my favorite quilt size – perfect for curling up on the couch. With sashing it’s 53 inches wide x 65 1/2 inches tall.

For the sashing fabric you’ll need 1 1/2 yards. Quilt that to the batting, then from that cut 15 strips 3 inches wide.

Sew those strips together (a straight seam is fine – it doesn’t need to be angled) and press the seams open.

From that looooong strip, cut the following rectangles (all 3 inches wide). . .

15 strips 10 1/2 inches long
6 strips 47 1/2 inches long
2 strips 65 1/2 inches long

For the squares. . . you’ll only need 20 squares, so get 2 1/2 yards of fabric for the background blocks, and at least 5 fat quarters for the animals. (You may want more fat quarters for variety.)

The version with the sashing is only a tiny bit bigger than the version without, so you can just barely get away with the same amount of fabric for the backing and binding.

Twin Size

This fits a twin bed with some overhang on all sides. With sashing it’s 78 inches wide x 90 1/2 inches tall.

For the sashing fabric you’ll need 2 3/4 yards. Quilt that to the batting, then from that cut 29 strips 3 inches wide.

Sew those strips together (a straight seam is fine – it doesn’t need to be angled) and press the seams open.

From that looooong strip, cut the following rectangles (all 3 inches wide). . .

35 strips 10 1/2 inches long
8 strips 72 1/2 inches long
2 strips 90 1/2 inches long

For the squares. . . you’ll only need 42 squares, so get 4 7/8 yards of fabric for the background blocks, and at least 11 fat quarters for the animals. (You may want more fat quarters for variety.)

The version with the sashing is a little bit bigger than the version without. You should be able to just barely get away with the same amount of fabric for the backing, but you’ll need 3/4 yard for the binding.

That’s it!

Other than that the instructions are pretty much the same. When it comes time to sew all the blocks together, I like to do the following order. . .

Sew the blocks into rows with a sashing strip between each block. (Start and finish each row with a block, not a sashing strip.)
Sew the rows together with a sashing strip between each row.
Sew a sashing strip to the top and the bottom of your quilt.
Sew a sashing strip to each side of your strip.

Press all the seams open – just like a normal QAYG quilt.

These tutorials will be helpful. . .

And one more reminder – all of these measurements only work if you have an accurate 1/4 inch seam. If you don’t have a quarter inch foot on your machine, I strongly recommend getting one. It will make your life sooooooo much easier. 🙂