Drop Everything and Make It

Last month I posted about a UFO finished from several years ago, a race-style quilt, photos here. I was inspired to make another race-style quilt. Drop Everything and Make it, aka DrEAMi, as Sandra from MMM Quilts would say.

I had some 2" wide coral, pink, and orange strips left from when I cut too many for another project, but not enough. So I raided my stash and found some yellows, purples, a little red, and more coral, pink and orange fabrics. 

I wanted the quilt to be twin bed size. After calculating how big I wanted the quilt to be and figuring how many strips I'd need and what I'd need to do to modify a race-style quilt to come out the right size, I cut more strips. Here's the palette I ended up with.

I liked how the black and white "stoppers" looked in the old UFO quilt, so I used them again for this project. Then began the process of stitching a stopper to the end of every strip. Most of my strips were WOF, some half WOF, and some just random lengths, so I knew the stoppers would just fall wherever when I assembled the top. Next step, sew all those strips together end-to-end. 

After that, it was the first lo-o-o-ng seam. Because of twists in the long strips, I occasionally had to stop, open it at the stopper seams, untwist, and sew it back together. The first long seam took more than five hours. The second seam went quicker but still took more than two hours. Now the body was 6" wide. By my calculations, the eventual length sewn race-style would be 96" long, and 60" wide. I would need it wider than that for a twin bed and I had more than enough length, so I cut off two 96" pieces to use as side borders later. 

Another long seam, now it's 12" wide. Another, 24" wide. And another, 48". And finally the last seam, and it's 96". This is now the lengthwise dimension for the quilt. As expected, the colors played nicely together and the stoppers landed wherever they fell. In only a couple of cases did the same fabric end up overlapping with itself. 

But wait - This thing is huge! Instead of the 60" wide I thought my measurements and number of strips would yield, it came out 80" wide!!! How did that happen???  Clearly I was way off in my calculations. 

Here it is on my wall, hanging sideways because it's so big. 

When it's on the bed the strips will go across, like this:

I really want it to finish 72" by 96" for a twin bed. So, I sliced off about 8" from the width. I have time booked on PCQ's long arm and the backing (pink polka dots) and batting are already prepped, so this will soon be quilted. I can trim it up further after quilting if it's still too wide. 

This quilt will go to Natalie's House, a home for girls transitioning into foster care. It'll be on the bed to welcome a girl when she arrives, and will be hers to keep forever.  Could the colors be any more girly?!!! I love it! 

Linking up with Alycia Quilts, TGIFF, Wendy's Quilts and More,  Confessions of a Fabric Addict,  and Oh Scrap!