My First (Almost) Quilt

Today, Judy taught me how to make a quilt.  I have only done part of it but here it is...

Supplies:  1 yard of the red fabric, 1 yard of the white fabric, and 2 yards of the black/silver fabric

I cut the red fabric (using a Rotary Cutter and an acrylic ruler) into 6 4.5" x 4.5" squares.  I cut the white fabric into 12 9" x 9" squares.  I cut the black border into 17 9" x 4.5" rectangular squares. 

After cutting, I lined up the first horizontal row and sewed each panel to the next with a straight stitch.  I then lined up the next row.  When all the horizontal rows were done, I had 7 horizontal strips (4 with the white fabric) and 3 with the black and red fabric.  I ironed those and lined the first & second row up with pins and sewed the first rows together. I then ironed and  pressed again and sewed the third row to the second row... and so on and so on... Until it looks like the above.

My next task is to cut a 5" vertical border and 5" horizontal border of the black/silver fabric and sew those to the pre-quilt, photo'd above.  Stay tune for the next photo....

Note:

I learned it was very very important to be exact on the measurements when cutting the fabric.  Also, I learned it is very important to "press" the fabric (IRON it) before sewing and as you are sewing your project.  I never realized the role an iron plays in sewing.  

Here is a pattern to help explain what I'm doing. The fabric is just fabric I got at Joann's.  The drawn pattern below is not to size as you can see by that last row that is too big.