New Growth {part 3}

Quilt-A-Long, Part 3: Strip Piecing and More Cutting!

Welcome to the Quilt-A-Long.  If you need to catch up on the Quilt-A-Long, you can visit Part 1 or Part 2.  Be sure to share your progress pictures and fabric selections with the Flickr Group!

Strip Piecing:

1. Pin a 2.5" x 22" white background strip right-sides-together to each of the 24 - 2.5" x 22" print strips (6 Main Color strips and 3 strips of each of the other 6 prints).  Using a 1/4" stitch, sew down the side of each strip.

{Note}: Chain piecing makes this step go even faster!

2. Press the seams towards the print fabric.  Be sure to press {lift the iron up and put down} rather than iron {moving the iron back and forth} to avoid any distortion.

{Note}: The white and print strips will probably be different lengths, but that's ok, as long as the shorter strip is at least 20" long.

3. Sew three of the main color + white strips together as pictured; press seams towards the main color.  Repeat with the remaining three main color + white strips.

More Cutting:

4. Square up the edge of the first main color + white unit (if needed).  Cut into 8 - 2.5" block strips, as pictured.  Repeat for the second main color + white unit to create a total of 16 - 2.5" main color + white block strips.

5. Take one of each of the A, B, C, D, E, & F color + white strips made in step one and cut the unit into two 4.5” x 10” units, as shown.  Now, for each of the six color ways, you should have two large (at least 20”) units and two small 10” units.

A Little More Piecing:

6. Sew the A, B, C, D, E, & F color + white strips into color sets as pictured below.  Make one large unit and one small unit for each color set.

{Note}: Be sure to pay careful attention to the placement of the white strip to avoid lots of seam ripping later!

 And A Little More Cutting:

7. Square up the edges (if needed) and cut each of the units made in step 6 into 2.5” strips.  The large units will yield 8 strips and the small units yield 4 strips, so you should have a total of 12 sets for each of the four color combinations.

Instructions for block construction are right around the corner.  Thanks for stopping by!