Hi, itís Jenny from, the Missouri Star Quilt Company. We have a fun tutorial for you today.
Shirley and Linda from the comments section of the Quilterís Daily Deal have asked for
a tutorial on the ìquilt as you goî method. So we thought we would make you girls happy
and put out a tutorial on that. We love it when you guys ask for certain things because
it helps us with our ideas.
Now the ìquilt as you goî method, thereís all kinds of ways to finish your quilts as
you quilt them. You can send it in to us, you can do it yourself, and this is one of
those options. Sometimes we just need something small and we want to finish it quickly, and
this is a really good way to do that. I generally do this on smaller quilts like table runners
or baby quilts. It seems to work really well. So if it gets any bigger I think it would
be a lot of basting and pinning and things like that but
Let me show you how we do this. This is the as you go method so, you donít finish your
top. You quilt a piece at a time. So, first weíre going to start here with a piece of
backing and I thought weíd do a quick little table runner to show you how to do this. Youíre
going to lay that backing with the right side flat, or on the bottom, facing down. Then
youíre going to layer a piece of batting on. One of the important things about this
is that you get the top edge straight. You can trim up the sides but you want your top
edge pretty straight. So, here we have our batting laying on top of our quilt back, and
the first thing weíre going to do is, see we
have all these little strips and you cut strips for this project, this quilt as you go. Youíre
going to cut them in all different sizes.
So, we're going to start here, letís start with this little snowman one. Thatíll be
really cute. So, we lay this down, face right side up. OK, so then what weíre going to
do is we are going to go to the sewing machine and we are going to sew this down here. Right
along the top, just to anchor it. So, letís go back to the sewing machine. OK, now Iím
sewing right along this top edge. I havenít really pinned anything because weíre just
lining it up here and Iím using a darker green thread so that you can see it. Weíre
just going to go all the way across this top, and youíre going to see this come together
so fast! What weíre doing is weíre sewing through all three layers so that it will already
be quilted as you finish it up so letís finish up this little strip.
Alright, there we go. Now remember you donít have to back stitch or anything because all
these seams are going to be included in something else. So, now weíre going to go back to the
cutting table.
OK, so here we are back at the cutting table. You want to make sure that your backing is
still smooth on the back and laying straight. Your batting is still smooth, and you can
see weíve anchored this piece on here with this one stitch along there.
Next youíre going to take the next strip that you want to put on there and youíre
going to lay it face down just like that, right sides together, and because weíre getting
into the strip way a little bit youíre going to want to pin this. So, you line it up with
the edges and weíre just going to put some pins in here to hold this strip exactly on
the edge of this other strip. Itís really important that your strips are cut nice and
straight. I rotary cut mine. Theyíre all cut different widths so that it gives it a
fun look on it, you know you really can do whatever you want. This just opens up a world
of ideas for finishing quilts and making quick projects and gifts.
Alright letís go stitch this down and weíll see how this comes together. Alright, OK so
now weíre just going to stitch ºî up, on this bottom seam right here. I think you girls
are going to crack up when you see how fun and easy this is! I did a darling baby quilt
for one of my grandsons using the strip method. Cut out little cars and put them on the borfers.
It was really fun, and it was all quilted when I was done. I just had to trim it up
and put a binding on. Now as you noticed I removed those pins out as I came to them.
And now weíve got this sewn down and weíre going to go to the ironing board now and press
this open.
Here we are at the ironing board and as you can see this is laying up. Weíre going to
pull it down and weíre going to press that over. The seam presses right into it, and
if you look on the back, see how you can see this is already quilted, and if you look on
the back thereís your first quilting line right there. Normally I would use thread that
blends but Iím trying to do this so that you can see. So letís go add another strip!
OK so again, weíre going to take another fun colored strip, this red one right here.
Weíre going to lay it right sides together. Weíre going to pin and weíre going to head
over to the sewing machine. So, each time you do a strip it gets further and further
in on the quilt, and itís important that you make sure that your backing is smooth
under there, and that itís all lined up nice and straight.
Letís see, you donít want to pull, by sewing these seams weíre quilting through all three
layers at once, and so, now weíre going to go head over ,and iron this down. And weíve
got the next row and you can see that the quilting is happening on the back. It just
makes it really fun and quick! Letís head to the ironing board.
OK, so now weíre pressing this down just the same way. Just press it straight
over. The seam is enclosed inside. We can add another strip on here letís go do that.
See hereís our quilting on the back. No need to send it in you can do it right from your
sewing machine. OK, now weíve added quite a few more strips, and weíre here to our
last strip and at some point youíre going to have to turn the piece around, because
you donít want all this in the throat of your sewing machine.
So weíre sewing on this last strip here and you want to make sure the further on you get
down the quilt, youíre going to want to make sure that you pin a little more. So, that
things donít slide around. Your edges are going to be off and not exact, but thatís
okay because weíre going to trim it up. So, letís see how this goes. This is one of those
things where if you need a gift that afternoon you could really make this happen. This is
so quick and fun. OK, letís head to the ironing board and iron out this last strip.
Now weíve pressed this flat right here and what weíre going to do is weíre going to
pin it down. You can see our back through it. And you can see that things arenít even,
but thatís alright, because weíre going to trim it. So weíre just going to go along
here and pin it and were going to again sew along the top of this and anchor it just like
we did at the top. So letís head on over to the sewing machine and sew this top piece
down.
OK, so weíre almost finished up here. All that will be left is the trimming and the
binding, which we love to sit and do in front of the television, (laughter) or wherever
weíre sitting! Alright, there we go! Letís go trim it up.
OK, now weíre going to straighten out these ends. Trim off that excess batting and backing.
There we go. See how nicely that cleaned up, and the top is already done. Now what weíre
going to do on these sides is weíre going to cut off the edge. See weíve got some selvedges
and things like that, and you want to come in here and to make sure that your ruler is
lined up straight you want to make sure that your lines are along your sewn lines, and
then weíre just going to cut along here like this. Clean up that edge, see
how quickly that cleaned up. Sometimes, like down here see, I have a wide selvedge. Iím
going to need to come in a little further than that or itís going to show even under
the binding so I may need to bring that in a little more. Yeah, I think I will, but letís
go ahead and do the other side. Isnít this an adorable table runner for the holidays,
and how fast was that! Really quick!
Alright, I like the leeway that the edge gives you so that you just have a little bit of
edge there, so, you donít have to be perfect about every little thing. And there you have
it! Weíre going to bind this. Iíll probably choose this cute red right here, and bind
it and we have a great already quilted project thatís ready to go for a gift or whatever
we want for the holidays.
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial from the Missouri Star Quilt Company.