Whether you are an experienced quilter or a complete novice, you will find this Quilt As You Go Baby Blanket is a breeze to make! Although the finished blanket is a simple, interesting fabrics and the diagonal design make it appear more complicated than it is.
See QUILT AS YOU GO BABY BLANKET DIRECTIONS PART 1 for general directions and fabric and supply requirements. It can be found HERE.
You will need to piece 2 border strips to make them long enough for the 2 long sides. To do this cut one of the border strips in half. Sew one half to 2 border strips. See Part 1 for directions on how to do this. You will now have 2 long and 2 short border strips. (Photo taken from Part 1)
To sew on the border, begin with one of the long sides of the quilt. Lay a long border strip on the quilt as follows. Place the right side of the border strip on right side of the quilt. Position the strip so the outer edge of the border is 2 3/4″ inches away from the edge of the quilt. Allow the border to extend 1″ – 2″ beyond the quilt on either end. Pin in place. Sew the strip to the quilt along the pinned edge. Use a 1/4″ seam. Remove the pins and flip the strip over on the quilt and iron. (Not pictured.)
The raw edges of the quilt will extend about 1/4″ farther than the border. Repeat on the other long side of the quilt. Cut away the part of the quilt that extends beyond the border. This gives your quilt and border a very straight edge which is important when you add the binding.
Turn the quilt over and cut off the extra length of the border that extends into the top and bottom of the quilt.
Add the border to the top and bottom in the same manner as you did the sides.
To make your seam binding, begin my pressing the 5 pieces of binding in half lengthwise with wrong sides together.
You will need to join the 5 binding strips together before you sew them to your quilt. To join the strips, pin the right sides of 2 ends together so the strips are perpendicular to one another. Allow the edges to overhang each other slightly. Mark the fabric creating a line diagonally from one edge to the other. Sew along this line.
Cut the seam to 1/4″. NOTE: By sewing together on a diagonal, you spread the bulk of the seam over a larger area. This helps the binding lay nice and flat!
Press the seams open.
Repress the binding in the areas where you joined strips.
Sew the binding to the front side of the quilt. To do this pick one of the long sides to start on. Pick a spot near the middle of the side. Place the binding on the quilt so the raw edges match. Leave a binding tail 6″ – 8″. Sew to quilt using a 1/4″ seam.
Stop when you get a 1/4″ away from the first corner. Keeping your needle in the quilt, turn the quilt so you are facing the corner point. Sew off the corner of the quilt.
Fold the binding along the diagonal stitching line you just created.
Holding the binding in place, fold it back over itself so the raw edge of the binding is now matching the raw edge of the top of the quilt. The binding will have a fold in it along the edge you just sewed. Starting at the fold, sew across the raw edge of the top until you get to the next corner and repeat this process.
When you get back to the side you started on, stop sewing when you get about 12″ from where you started.
Lay the original binding tail on the quilt. The tail is still not sewn directly to the quilt. Let the binding you are sewing on overlap this tail. Cut the binding so it overhangs the tail by 2 1/2″. (You will notice this is the same width as the binding strip.)
Open the binding pieces and pin and sew together on a diagonal like you did when joining the binding strips together.
Before you cut any fabric off, lay it on your quilt to make sure it “fits”. Make any slight adjustments. The binding should lie flat against the quilt.
When you know it fits, cut the seam to 1/4″.
Finger press the seam open then finish sewing the binding to the quilt.
Hand sew the binding to the back side of the quilt. To do this fold the binding from the front to the back of the quilt. The binding fold should touch the stitching line created from sewing the binding to the front of the quilt.
Use a blind stitch (slip stitch) to attach the binding to the back. You should only sew through the quilt back and not go all the way through to the front of the quilt.
When you get a corner, finish the side you are working then fold the binding of the new side over. This should create a mitered corner. Use 1 or 2 stitches to hold the corner seam together. Then continue slip stitching around the remainder of the quilt.
Although the blanket is fully quilted, I always like to embellish them a bit. Today, I want to send Pumpkin all my love, so I quilted some hugs on kisses on one of the strips using a running stitch and 6 strands of floss.
