The Not So Gross Quilt

This is the 'Not So Gross Quilt' - like it?

I could have just called it 'Steps and Stairs' but since it's made up of 144 white strips and 144 patterned strips which are then made into 144 of pairs before becoming the 16 blocks that make up this little quilt, I thought I should add the word 'gross' in somewhere.  But, since it's quite a nice little quilt top and not actually gross at all, it is the 'Not So Gross Quilt'.

If you fancy a little quick quilt gratification for a 48" square top, here's the 'how to':

Cut 144 white strips 2.5" x 4.5"
and 144 patterned/coloured strips 2.5" x 4.5" - 9 strips of same fabric needed for each of the 16 blocks.  (I used 16 co-ordinating jelly roll strips for this quilt and was able to cut all 9 patterned strips for one block from each jelly roll strip.)

Pair each white strip with one patterned strip, chain piecing all 144 pairs along the 4.5" edge. (Watch out for your bobbin thread running out, I had happily stitched about 20 pairs after the bobbin emptied before I realised - doh!).

Press all seams towards the patterned fabric (this is a gross part).

Now collect each set of 9 squares into little piles and decide on the placement of your patterned fabrics for the main 16 blocks.  It is important to decide on these before you sew the block together as the quilt is actually constructed from two different blocks (block A and block B) and you won't 

necessarily be able to swap the block placement once they are made up, unless it's with another block of similar layout.  

(The eagle eyed among you will note that I fell foul of this myself and the layout above is not the layout of my final quilt - so be warned, I speak from experience, though my error was that I forgot that rows 2 and 4 would start with a B block, rather than an A block.  Yet again - doh!)

The next step is to lay out each of your blocks.  The layout for each block is shown in the pic above.

Lay out all eight block As and all eight block Bs in piles to make chain piecing simpler.

Now chain piece the blocks and make up just as you would for any standard nine patch block until all 16 blocks are finished.

Once your blocks are pieced, trim them square and lay them out alternating block A with block B (and remembering, unlike me, that the second and fourth rows start with block B). Finally, piece your blocks into rows and join into a quilt top that's not so gross after all!