Bella Parade Quilt Along Post # 4

The third post in the Quilt Along series!!!

from Bryanna to you...

Don't forget to upload your progress to the pool!

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And we’re back!  Bry here again to walk you through the next step in our colorful quilt along!  Are y’all still hanging in there with me?  Hello?  Y’all are out there right?  If not, that’s ok, I have been known to talk to myself anyways!

This week we are going to finish our top.  That means piecing and attaching the half square triangles (HST), and putting on the outer borders. 

So without further adieu –

Take your 34 white 2 3/8” squares and mark them with a pencil from one corner to another.  This line will act as your guide line when chain piecing the HST.  Chain piecing is when you quickly sew pairs together without snipping the threads between each.

Now match up 1 white square with 1 color square.  

Sew ¼ inch from the line making sure to stop at the edge of the square, and line up the next pair of squares and continue sewing.

Continue in this manner until you have sewn together all 34 squares.  Then without snipping the threads between squares turn the entire chain of HST triangles around, and repeat the entire process along the other side of your penciled guide line.

Once you are done chain piecing you can snip the threads connecting one square to another.

You now have a stack of 34 squares ready to be cut! 

Using your rotary blade and ruler cut each square along your penciled guide line

You should now have 68 cut pieces in the shape of a triangle.

I suggest pressing your seams open to reduce bulk.  

Trim your HST if necessary to ensure they are 2” square. 

Layout all of your half square triangles around your center panel in a zig zag pattern until you get the colors how you like them.   Fill in the corners with your 2” x 2” white squares. 

Now get ready for a lot of piecing!

Sew the squares together one at a time by row.

Now sew these rows together.

Sew the shorter rows of HST to opposite sides of the center panel.  And then sew the longer rows of HST onto opposite sides of the center panel.

AND YOUR TOP IS DONE!!  YAY!!  Do the happy dance – dance – dance – dance – yeah, oh yeah, to the beat, that’s right….

Um….yeahhhhhhh…sorry about that.  Got a little carried away there….cough cough….

So yeah, your top is done!

Isn’t it pretty with the light coming through it??  Almost like a poagi panel!

Please add photos of your creations to the Flickr pool!  I would love to see them!

  

Until next time bebe’s!