Scrappy Trip Round The World...and me.

I wasn't going to do it.  I have too many other things going on.  No time.  And then a surprise came in the mail, my first ever jelly roll.  It was destiny stepping in, letting me know scrappy trip round the world is in fact in my future.

I would recommend using this tutorial as it gives clear and concise instructions.  Peruse the web and you will see a million versions of this quilt, this way you can find a version you really like.  Many just use scraps.  Which is awesome, because how many of us have a giant scrap bin just waiting to be used.  Mine is using Moda's Spring House line...and it is so bright, the colors really are perfect for spring and summer.

So, since I've given you the tutorial link to make this quilt, I am not going to give step by steps here, but I am going to give you some tips that I've discovered as I make it.

 

Lay your strips out.  You are going to sew this into a tube by stitching strip 1 to strip 6.  It's nice to make sure these two strips have a nice contrast as they are going to be next to each other in your block.

Iron the seams like this.  You want to alternate which strips have the seams ironed over it...this is for when you are lining them up later, you get a nice clean join.

Once you're done ironing, fold the strips in half, right sides together and sew them into a tube.  This is why making this quilt goes so quickly.  You don't have to cut and sew a million individual squares.

A trick I learned is once your tube is sewn, iron it one more time.  This will help to flatten it out a bit so when you cut, it's smoother.

It should be nice and even on all sides, making it easy for you to cut your 2.5" strips.

 You'll have a 1" snippet left at the end.  Save this.  You can use them as leaders and enders, or as I plan to do, incorporate them into the back of the quilt. I have a vision of a 1/4" strip going across it.  I hope it works.

See, a tube!  At this point, you want to decide which fabric you want to go through the middle of your block.  This will be the longest continuous diagonal of fabric.  I liked to pay particular attention to this so that all my diagonals were different.

Get out the seam ripper and snip the stitches by the fabric you want to be square #1, you are making your tube into a strip of 2.5" squares.

Now you are going to unpick each of the other tubes in the right spot so you have a diagonal pattern on your block.  This takes a bit of concentration.  Here's what I did.  I paid attention to the last square and the 2nd to last square in the previous strip.  In this case the pink and upholstery looking square.  I am pointing where you need to unpick the tube for strip #2.  Directly between the last and 2nd to last squares.  This is because the pink  is going to become the first square in strip #2 and the upholstery one is going to be the last one in the strip.

Now for strip #3.  See how I am pointing between the last and 2nd to last squares from the previous strip.  Unpick there.

 

I like to lay all my strips out next to my sewing machine.  This makes it easy to know which order to sew them in.  Plus I get to enjoy my handiwork.  

It's important to remember which strip is #1, just so you always sew in the correct order.  Because of this I like to put a safety pin in square 1 of strip 1.  Keeps me honest.

When you are sewing the strips together, you'll notice, because of how you ironed earlier, the seams of the squares alternate which direction they face.  This now comes in handy because they join up so neatly.  Put a pin there and on every seam join, and when you sew you'll have perfectly lovely points.  No gaps.

I can't wait to see how it turns out.  I have been having so much fun sewing it...partly because it's a quick pattern so you see progress almost immediately.

And lastly...a snippet from my spring garden.  The peonies are blooming and looking fine right now.  

Thanks for reading!

Heather