Make A Quilt With Me, Week 2

So if you did your homework last week, you'll have your supplies. Now is the time to get down to the fun and actually start playing with the material.

Below you can see the material I started with. I chose purple, yellow and teal fabrics with a very subtle print design. The purple will be by Fabric A, Yellow is Fabric B, Teal is Fabric C. For my backing fabric (Fabric D) I chose a cute patchwork flannel print in soft pastel tones.

For right now, Fabric D will get set aside.


Step One: I highly recommend you wash and dry fabrics. This will take care of any shrinkage and color bleeding that could distort a finished quilt if not done before hand. Once the fabric is dry, iron it smooth. Some quilters like to press their fabrics with a little starch to make them a little stiffer and easier to work with.

Step Two: Cut the following strips:

• Fabric A: 6 strips 2.5" x width of fabric
  
• Fabric B: 14 strips 2.5" x width of fabric*
• Fabric C: 6 strips 2.5" x width of fabric
  

(*Set aside 8 strips of Fabric B for the border and binding. You only need 6 strips of each fabric for the blocks.)
Step Three: Using a 1/4" seam allowance, sew together one strip of Fabric A to Fabric B. Then sew one strip of Fabric C to opposite side of Fabric B. You end up with a long strip of the three materials approximately 6.5" wide. Repeat the process until you have 6 identical strips.

Step Four: Turn each strip over and press your seams to the darker fabric. Some quilters prefer to press their seams open. For this project, to keep it simple, just make sure the seams on all the strips go the same direction.

Step Five: From each long strip, cut six (6) 6.5" fence rail blocks. (Double check the width of your blocks and make sure you end up with squares. If each block is off a little, it will make sewing the blocks more difficult later on.)

Step Six: Set your blocks aside and relax. Next week we will go over arranging your blocks and sewing them together. I recommend putting your blocks into a gallon size plastic bag that can be sealed to protect them. (I actually like to store material for quilt projects that I am currently or soon will be working on in zip-lock bags to keep them clean and all together.)

I really hope you are enjoying the process so far. Are you excited now that you are seeing the materials you picked out actually joined together? Just think, in a few short weeks, you will have transformed those strips and blocks in a wonderful little quilt!

Happy Crafting All!