Undoing the Crop: Finishing the Mermaid Quilt With One Last Row of Seashells
Happy Feature Friday, quilting friends! The little mermaid quilt is back on the frame for its final row. In Feature Friday 2026 Episode 41, Aubrey shows what happens after you crop a block out of a design: how to reverse that crop so the next row comes back whole, nest it, and stitch the quilt to the finish line.
Where We Left Off
Last week we cropped the embroidered mermaid out of the seashell row so not a single shell, starfish, sand dollar, or bubble stitched over her. The row worked its way right up to the block, skipped it, and carried on across the other side of the quilt.
That crop did its job, but it doesn't go away on its own. When it's time to nest the next row, the robotic system still remembers that big empty square in the middle of the design. The mermaid is now behind us, so the last row needs to be complete from edge to edge.
Step 1: Nest the Final Row
From the Home screen, open the Nesting feature and follow the prompts, just like the last two rows.
Select and mark your nesting point. Aubrey uses the stitching line of one of the lower motifs in the design and drops her needle right onto it. A removable marking tool works just as well if you'd rather not leave the needle in the fabric. Tap the green check mark.
Roll the quilt. Release the roller bars and gently roll the quilt forward. Roll too far and you risk hitting the back roller bar; not far enough and the robotics can bump the front one. It's the same balancing game every time, and it takes a few quilts to get a feel for just the right placement. If anything gets caught on the roller (the applique did, this time), smooth it out before moving on. Tap the check mark.
Return to the nesting point. With the needle already down in the fabric, the machine is right where it needs to be. Tap the check mark.
Check the placement. On the display you'll see the previous row of stitching alongside the new one. The placement looked good, so no adjustment was needed. But notice that the new row still has the square cut out of it. Tap the check mark anyway, and you'll see "Nesting complete."
Before doing anything else, raise the needle so you don't forget it's still sitting in the quilt.
Step 2: Undo the Crop
This is the star of the episode, and it takes about two taps:
Go back into Edit.
Open the Cropping feature again.
Tap Undo.
That's it. The full row of seashells is back in one piece, square and all filled in. When you go back to Home, the row is ready to stitch straight across the quilt with no stops around the block.
It's a good reminder that cropping isn't a permanent decision. You can cut a section out of a design for exactly as long as you need to, then bring it right back for the next row.
Step 3: Anchor the Sides and the Bottom
Aubrey had a feeling this row would reach very close to the bottom of the quilt, if not cover it completely. So this time, she anchored more than just the sides:
Stitch down the right side
Stitch down the left side
Stitch across the bottom
With all three edges anchored to the backing and batting, the quilt is held firmly in place for the last pass. As she points out, this is a step to take a little more carefully than one-handed while also filming!
Step 4: Stitch the Last Row
With everything anchored, it's the familiar routine:
Press the green start button, double-check the needle, and tap the check mark.
The robotics travels to the starting point on the left side of the quilt.
Take a single stitch and pull the bobbin thread up to the surface.
Return to the starting point and cycle the needle to lock the stitches.
Turn stitching on and let it run.
Aubrey didn't measure the quilt top ahead of time, so there was a bit of suspense here. Each row of the seashell design was running about 12 to 12½ inches tall, and the question was whether this one would reach far enough to cover the bottom without needing to squeeze in a little extra stitching.
The Finished Mermaid Quilt
It worked out beautifully. The third row came right down to the very bottom of the quilt, and there was barely any backing left on the frame. It was a tight squeeze, but it couldn't have been planned better. The bubbles and seashells suit the nautical theme perfectly, and the mermaid stays front and center as the focal point.
The Takeaway
Cropping lets you protect an embroidered or appliquéd block, and Undo in the Cropping feature lets you put the design back together once you're past it. The full sequence for a quilt like this one: nest the next row, raise the needle, go to Edit, open Cropping, tap Undo, anchor your edges, and stitch. Over three Feature Fridays, this little quilt went from layout to cropped row to finished top, and the edit features did most of the heavy lifting.
Want to see it all come together? Check out the complete video here: Feature Friday 2026 Episode 41: Reverse/Undo Crop to Allow to Nest Next Row.
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