Let's Make a Cot Quilt - Part 4

Today is a very exciting step in making our quilt, as we will see the front of the quilt come together. It is important to remember though, that each step in the quilt making process is equally as important. If you don't take your time when rotary cutting, then you will have troubles piecing together your quilt. And the same applies when piecing the quilt. If you don't take your time, then you will end up with uneven seams and with a more complex quilt, this means that your seams won't match! So make sure you take your time with each step and most importantly have fun during the process!

When you first start piecing together quilts, you may encounter some problems such as crooked rows, uneven seams, points not matching, blocks too big or too small. Remember, it does take practice to get it perfect. Everybody makes mistakes at some point! Nevertheless, here are a couple of pointers to remember for accurate piecing:

• Iron your fabric BEFORE and AFTER you rotary cut it
• Use the correct seam allowance (1/4" is standard)
• Prepare your sewing machine - this is to ensure the best stitch quality, so change your needle and refresh your bobbin and thread if need be
• Pin your pieces - this can make a crucial difference when matching your seams, so don't make the mistake of thinking that this is for beginners only!
• Press your seams - there are two options here, you can press the seam to one side or you can press the seam open. Neither is right or wrong.....I however tend to press my seams to the side as it is quicker and I think it makes it easier to match the seams. You might feel differently though.

Now, fortunately we have chose to start with a relatively simple quilt, so you shouldn't encounter many problems when piecing it together. Perhaps the most difficult part to this quilt is deciding which order to place your strips in!

1. At the end of the last post, we had rotary cut 11 x 4.5" strips of fabric.
2. Lay these out in the order that you intend to piece the quilt together.

3. Select the first two strips, place right sides together and join using a 1/4" seam. Press seam flat.
4. Take the third strip, place right sides together with second strip and join using a 1/4" seam. Press seam flat.
5. Repeat until you have used all of the strips.
** After a while the panel can become big and awkward to work with. You might find it easier to split the panels into two i.e work from the top to the middle section, then from the bottom to the middle section and then join.
6. Tidy up the edges of the quilt - use your rotary cutter to trim the width of the quilt to approximately 40". This is up to you.

And the front of our quilt is complete!!

In preparation for next week, you need to select a fabric to use for the backing of your quilt, as well as one for the binding. Look back at Making a Cot Quilt - Part 3 to see how much fabric to purchase and don't forget to get your wadding as well!! Happy piecing!!

Phoebe
xo

This post is a part 4 of a 6-part series, see below for other posts in this series.
Let's Make a Cot Quilt - Part 1, Fabric Selection & Quilting Tools
Let's Make a Cot Quilt - Part 2, Quilting Patterns
Let's Make a Cot Quilt - Part 3, Strip Quilt Tutorial
Let's Make a Cot Quilt - Part 5. Introduction to Machine Quilting
Let's Make a Cot Quilt - Part 6. Attaching the Binding