Forest Friends Cheater Quilt Tutorial

These are instructions for finishing my Forest Friends Cheater Quilt panel.  This is not the only way to finish the quilt, but it's how I did it.  

If you're not feeling up to the quilting, but still want a precious blanket with this panel, consider making a simple blanket or a tied quilt.

Materials needed:    1 Forest Friends Cheater panel (**You must order one yard, centered**)

                                1 1/4 yards backing fabric

                                1 1/4 yards Warm n White cotton batting (or a scrap approx. 40" x 46"or larger)

                                1/2 yard binding fabric

Step 1: Prepare the quilt sandwich.

Use a hard flat surface, like a tile/wood floor or a table.  Place your fabric with the wrong side facing up and secure it with blue painter's tape or clamps.

I do this to ensure that my layers line up correctly.  I make the same marks on each layer and line them up before basting my quilt.

If you'd like more info on marking your quilt sandwich, here is a good explanation from Red Pepper Quilts.

Begin in the center and work your way to the edges.  Do not pin where the "blocks" meet.

Step 2: Quilt.

Here are some great resources on machine quilting if you need help:

Machine Quilting from TLC

Machine Quilting Tips and Tricks from Dummies.com

Since this cheater quilt will have a lot of short quilted lines, this step is extremely important, especially if you don't want to go back and secure each thread by hand:

To begin, turn the handwheel to lower and raise the needle to its highest point. Pull gently on the top thread to bring the bobbin thread up through the quilt. Stitch in place for several stitches. Gradually increase the length of each stitch for the first 1/2 inch of quilting until the stitches are the desired length. This will secure the ends of the threads, making it unnecessary to backstitch or knot them. Reverse these steps at the end of each line of quilting. -TLC Machine Quilting

Option: It might be nice to quilt the sky in blue thread as well.

Trim all the loose ends.

Step 3: Bind.

Now it's time to bind your quilt!  I'd like to make another tutorial for how to bind a quilt, but until then, here are a few excellent resources:

Perfect Binding Tutorial from Jaybird Quilts

How to Sew a Mitered Quilt Binding from About.com: Quilting

Step 4: Enjoy your precious new quilt! :)