Quilt As You Go {Easy Peasy Picnic Quilt}

I decided to change my mind completely about what I was going to do to make my Island Batik Ambassador project for this month. That's my prerogative, right?

Instead of trying to overdo it with a technique I have never used before, I decided to go sweet and simple. I'm super happy with the fact that this took less than 4 hours start to finish!

To start off, I cut a piece of scrap batting to approximately 40 inches by 45 inches -- slightly larger than what I wanted my finished piece to be. I pieced what I'll call "the backing" from a half yard cut, two quarter yard cuts, and one 5 inch wide strip for a backing approximately 38 inches wide by 44 inches long.

Here are the batting and the "backing" layered together:

To piece the "top" I decided that I would alternate between 5 inch strips and 2.5 inch strips. I tried to use fabrics that were rich earth tones.

I started by laying my first 5 inch strip across the batting at a diagonal. I chose to do this at a diagonal rather than parallel or perpendicular to the lines of my backing so that I didn't have to worry about making sure things lined up on both sides.

The center was a little awkward to wrangle, but the more strips that I added the easier it got!

It was no time at all until I had reached the corners and the light at the end of the tunnel!

The corner pieces could be significantly shorter, so I was able to use some smaller scraps as well. Here's the "top" all finished:

Here's the back after finishing the top:

I actually used the "back" to trim the quilt top to make sure that I didn't trim too large or too small.

I machine bound this little quilt with purple strips left over from another project.

This little quilt measures 36 x 42!

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