Quilt as You Go: Row by RowTutorial by Konda Luckau

©March 2009 Moose on the Porch Quiltswww.moosequilts.com

Supplies Needed for this project:

10 to 12 -- 1/8 yard cuts of fabric1 1/4 yard backing fabric1 1/3 yard COTTON batting -- if bought from a roll,

this will be enough for two quilts, or you can get a crib size cotton batt (battingofftherollwilllayflatterthanfromapackage)QuiltbastingspraySewing Machine with a Walking FootThread to coordinate with the backing materialPinsRotary cutterRulerCutting MatShears

Walking Foot

Step 1: Laybattingoutflatontheground.LIGHTLYspraytop--about8inches--ofbattingwithbastingspray.(Ifyouhaveahelper,sprayallofthebattingatonceandwithtwoofyou,laythebackingfabriccarefullyontopofthebattingwithrightsidefacingup.)

Preparation:

Takeallofyour1/8yardstripsoffabricandpressthemand“squarethemup.”Thismeanstotrimthemsotheyarecutstraightandhavenocrookededges.1/8yardistechnically41/2.”Youwillfindthatmostofyourfabricwillnotbeexactly41/2.”Itdoesn’tmatterhowwideyourstripsactuallyare;theyjustneedtobecutstraight.

Howmanystripstouse:Use10ifyour1/8yardcutsendupabout5.”Use11ifyour1/8yardcutsendup41/2”orevenalittlesmaller.Use12ifyouwanttocutsomeofyourstripsinto2”-3”stripstoaddvariety.(SeetheDickandJanefabricquiltandtheblueandgreenandbrownquiltonthefrontpage.)

Pressyourbackingfabric.

Step 3: Movebackingthathasnotbeensprayeddownoutoftheway.Lightlysprayabout8moreinchesandsmoothbackingfabricontopofthebattingthathasbeensprayed.Workyourwaydowninthesamemanner.

Step 2: Carefullyplacethebackingfabricontopofthebattingrightsideup.Smoothoutthetoppart.

Step 4:Whendone,smoothoutbackingfabric.

Step 5: Layouttherowsintheorderyouwant.Orderdoesmat-ter.Ontheright,therowsaredispersedinapleasingmanner.Ontheleft,thequiltlooksoffbalanced.Thisisbecausedarkfabricsareplacedtogether,lightfabricsareplacednexttoeachother,plaidsareplacednexttoeachother.Whenputtingfabricsinorder,separatelights,darks,andmediumvaluefabrics.Alsoseparatelargeprintfabricsandsmallprintfabrics.

RightWrong

Step 7:Trimthebattingonthetopsideevenwiththebackingfabric.

Step 6: Trimthebattingononesideevenwiththebackingfabric.

Step 8:Laythefirststripdownsothetopandsidematchesupevenlywiththebattingandbackingfabricthatweretrimmedinsteps6and7.Youcanusesomebastingsprayifyouwouldlike.

Step 9: Takethe2ndrowofthequilt.Placeitupsidedown(sorightsidesofthefabricaretogether)onthe1strowofthequilt.Lineupthetopandbottomedges.

The white color here istheselvedgeofthefabric,notbatting.

Matchupedges.

Step 10: Takeatleastfourpinsandpinalongthebottomedge.

Step 11:Startingatthebottomofthequilt,carefullyfoldupthequilt.Leavetheendunfoldedsoitcanbesewn.

Step 12:Sewa1/4”seamthroughalllayers.Takeoutthepinsasyougo.Thewalkingfootofthesewingmachineisessentialtomak-ingthefabricbesewnevenly.Withthismanylayersandaregularpresserfoot,thebottomlayerwillgetpulledbythefeeddogsandthetoplayerwillnot.Thewalkingfootpullsthroughthetoplayeraswellsoeverythingfeedsthroughniceandevenly.

Step 13:Openupthe2ndrowandcarefullysmoothitout.Don’thurrythisstep,gettherowassmoothandevenaspossible.Makesuretheendisstilllinedupwiththeedgeofthebattingandbackingfabric.

Step 14: Placethe3rdrowontopofthe2ndrowupsidedownsorightsidesaretogether.Pinalongthebottomedgethroughalllayersoffabricandbatting.Sewwitha1/4”seam.Carefullyunrollthebot-tomofthequiltasyougo.Unrollitjustenoughtobeabletosewthenextseam.

Step 15:Justkeepsewing.Justkeepsewing.

Step 16:Trimthebackingandbattingevenwiththebottomofthequilt.

YoumaynoticethatIaddedanextrarow.Istartedoutwith10rows,butIhadtrimmedthemallto41/2”soIhadroomforonemorerow.Also,myquiltendedupjustalittlebitwiderthanitwaslong.Ipre-fermyquiltstobelongerthanwidesoIaddedan11throw.Ifyourandomly cut some of your 1/8 yard cuts into smaller rows, you may wanttoevenstartoutwith12strips.Tomakethequiltfunforalarg-erchild,orevenanadult,youcanuse13/4yardforthebackingand15stripsthatareeach1/8yard.Thatwillmakeaquiltabout40”x60.”

Step 17:Evenupthesidesofthequilt.(Thetopisalreadyevenandthebottomwasjusttrimmedup.)Thereareseveralwaystodothis.OnewayIliketodoitistousealargeruler(ayardstickworksgreat)anddrawalightpencillinetomarkastraightline.

Step 18:Cutontheline.

Step 19:Stepbackandadmire.Yeah!Butitisn’tquitedone.Nowforthebinding.Ihaveanothertutorialforthat.

Without Binding

With Binding