Steel's Steelers Quilt

Finis!  I started this quilt back in December and had to put it on hold for the holidays and just picked it back up this weekend to finally finished it!  I am very pleased!  It's another 'quilt as you go' with a a little different twist than my Quilt As You Go Baby Quilt.  It was definitely simpler but this was still very time consuming due to the size (twin) and the fact that I pieced the back together as well.  (The back is the same pattern as the front but the fabrics are in different order.)  The 'quilt as you go' process is definitely the way to go!  By quilt as you go, I mean just that.  I pieced each row together, attached it the the back row with batting, quilted the row, and pieced each row together.  No quilting a full size quilt!  For my baby quilt, I actually quilted each block and them pieced it together.  Quilting by rows is a much simpler process.  

I designed a pattern that would look like it was just randomly pieced together but made sure that none of the pieces would match up at the corners.  I did this because I have such a hard time getting my blocks to line up at the corners in a regular block quilt.  This way, it's not supposed to match up so no headaches, right?!  

Click Read More for How I Did It...

Materials

4 coordinating fabrics cut as follows, using rotary blade, cutting mat and 9 x 9 cutting template:

Side 1:  Fabric A - 15 (9 x 12)s, 3 (9 x 9)s, 6 (6 x 9)s, 6 (3 x 9)s

            Fabric B - 0 (9 x 12)s, 12 (9 x 9)s, 9 (6 x 9)s, 9 (3 x 9)s

            Fabric C - 6 (9 x 12)s, 12 (9 x 9)s, 6 (6 x 9)s, 3 (3 x 9)s

            Fabric D - 3 (9 x 12)s, 9 (9 x 9)s, 9 (6 x 9)s, 6 (3 x 9)s

Side 2:  Same as Side 1, except changing the fabrics around, i.e. Fabric A is now Fabric C.  

Twin Sized thin quilting battling (I had to use some of another package because I don't cut very straight)

Straight pins

Coordinating Thread (I used black and white for bobbin thread, this was easy to tell front from back)

Sewing Machine (my mother is the only one I know that made quilts without one)

Wonder Tape (my new best friend)

Scissors

How I Did It

1.  I designed my quilt on paper.  I made sure that my rows equaled 72 inches and that no corner of my pieces would meet.  I was to have 4 different row patterns that would alternate and having rows 1 & 2 repeated 3 times and rows 3 & 4 only twice (see below).  Once my four rows were set, I labeled each block with a letter A - D for each of the 4 fabrics.  I went in alphabetical order and repeated until the last block.  

               R1:  A12 - B3 - C9 - D6 - A12 - B3 - C9 - D6 - A12

               R2:  B6 - C3 - D9 - A3 - B6 - C6 - D3 - A12 - B9 - C6 - D9

               R3:  A3 - B9 - C12 - D6 - A9 - B6 - C9 - D12 - A6

               R4:  B9 - C9 - D3 - A12 - B3 - C12 - D9 - A6 - B9

               R5:  same as R1

               R6:  same as R2

               R7:  same as R3

               R8:  same as R4

               R9:  same as R1

               R10:  same as R2

All blocks are 9 inches tall the the number denotes the width in inches, i.e. A12 is a 9 inch tall and 12 inch wide block.  

2.  I cut out all my blocks.  This is noted in the materials section above.  This was time consuming. =)  I only have a 9 x 9 template so I used my cutting mat as a guide to make the larger blocks.  

3.  I pieced all of my rows together.

4.  I pinned the rows together with the batting.
     a.  I laid R1B (of the back side) face down on the table.

     b.  I laid out the batting on top of it...

   
     c.  I trimmed the batting to be the same size as the row.

     d.  I placed R1F (of the front side) on top.

     e.  I pinned all three layers together.

5.  I repeated step 4 for the remaining 9 rows.

6.  I quilted each row.  I sewed two lines across each row, starting two inches from the edge of the row and stopped about two inches from the end.  I needed to leave the edges un-sewn so that there would be enough material to roll over the edges to finish the quilt.

7.  I started piecing each of the rows together one by one.
     a.  I placed R10 (front side face down, this the where the different colored thread helps) on the table with the top front side of R10 at the edge closest to me.  (This is important!)

     b.  I placed R9 (front side up) on top of R10.  This will make sure that when attached, the rows will match up the way it was designed.

     c.  I folded back the batting from R9 and R10 (from underneath) and pinned the touching fabrics together.  I also pinned the batting back so that it wouldn't get in the way.

     d.  I stitched the rows together about 3/4 inch from the side.  This amount will leave you enough room to fold over and close the top of the rows where they were connected.  (I didn't have to allow the two inches from the edges for this step.)  

     e.  Once the rows were connected at the back, I laid them out on the table with each side of the batting separated.  

     f.  I folded the batting from the bottom row up and the batting from the top row down.  

     g.  I folded the fabric from the top row down.  

     h.  This is where my new friend Wonder Tape comes in...  

     I place the wonder tape down on the fabric and tear away the protective film.

     i.  I double folded the bottom fabric up and stuck it to the wonder tape and pinned it for good measure.

     j.  I stitched the fabric down along the pins (removing them as I went), making sure to follow my two inch rule on either side of the edge. 

     k.  I stitched along the other side for an even appearance.

8.  I repeated step 7 until all rows were connected.

9.  I laid the quilt on the floor and admired it.  =)

10.  I trimmed the top edges and the batting about 2 inches around the entire quilt so that there would be enough room to fold the bottom over to the top for the edging.

11.  I double folded the bottom edges over to the top and pinned them in place.  At the corners, I folded at a 45 degree angle and proceeded with the next side until all sides were pinned.

 12.  I stitched along the edge of the entire quilt to completion!