We have reached strip cutting and assembly! Although it seems like we are nearing the end, this final part of the quilt is actually quite time consuming. (Sorry for the buzz kill attitude)
Initially I was going to do this in two posts, but even though it is a lot of work I don't think that I need to post two weeks of instructions. Once you get going it is straightforward.
There are a couple ways to tackle this section of the quilt, you can cut all the strips for the whole quilt all at once and than begin assembly, work through it in order of the sections or work your way across the quilt.
I decided to work my way across the quilt from right to left, its backwards from the way my brain usually works, but that is how the sections in the quilt go, it did mean working on several sections at one time, but I kept my blocks organized and it worked well for me, and that way I was able to get the same fabric running all the way from top to bottom and didn't need to worry about running out of it before I got to the remainder of the line several sections later.
For the most part whichever method of assembly you choose it is all about staying organized.
Before starting assembly I went through and made a chart. The chart lists the strip number, the length of the strip, and what section the strip goes in. That way it was easy to follow along where I was and which strips to cut next. Once that was done, I laid all my strip fabrics on the table and cut them into 1.5" strips. (When cutting the strips, if you plan to have the same fabric run top to bottom for each individual strip there are a few that need quite long cuts, specifically the ones in section 10 and a few in 6 and 7. I recommend cutting these first and setting them aside so that you don't run out of that fabric.) Than following my chart I would cut strips in sets of 10, as I found that an easy number to work with, and I had alphabitties through those numbers to label each set. I would grab blocks from the necessary bags, and sew them with the strips following the diagrams on pages 26-31. When a section was complete I would set it aside until I had all 10 done.
There are quite a few partial seams in the assembly, they are marked with little stars and arrows for which side to start sewing on. I only sewed about halfway down those strips, definitely not going all the way to a 1/4". I had a few spots where I needed to do a partial seam and it doesn't have it listed in the pattern, but I forgot to write down which strips they were, most of them were in section 7.
When all the sections were complete, I put them together as pictured on page 32. For that I did section 1 to 2, added 3, put 4 on with a partial seam, than 5, number 6 next and than 7 (to the sides of 4 and 6) than finished up the partial seam from 4 and completed the right side of the quilt. Section 8 went on to number 9, 10 got added to this, and than I joined the left and right sides to finish the top!
I quilted my quilt with a simple meander a little tighter than I normally do and bound it in a blue stripe. My backing is an ivory cuddle, because I will not put anything but cuddle and fireside on the back of my quilts.
For the reveal/show and share party I am thinking we get together in September, that gives everyone a few months to get their quilts finished up, and I know for a lot of people quilting in the summer is usually put on the back burner.
Thank you so much for quilting along with me. I had a blast, and I am so thrilled that I finally made this quilt after much procrastination. I hope you had fun as well.
If you have any questions during assembly or on any of the blocks that you need to make yet, please let me know, either on the Facebook Group page or through email.
I am willing to share the chart I made with you, but since it has all the measurements on it, I don't want to post it directly here. I just want to avoid copy-write issues by putting up on internet all the measurements needed for every strip.
If you send me an email, I will send the document to you. If I haven't noticed any blocks from you, I may ask that you send me a picture of your book, just as proof of ownership, again a copy-write thing.
My email is kayla@chickenfeedquilts.com
Kayla
You will need to go to Lori Holt's blog each week to get the information to make the block. She has posted links to several videos she has made to walk you through each step. So even if you have never done a project like this before, the information is there to help you through it all. She has also posted a yummy recipe to go with this weeks block and a whole group of photos depicting the vintage housewife, even if you don't sew along you should go check them out.
