TREASURE QUILT

Quilts are toasty, but kids never seem to stay under them, so here's my answer...
The top is made with bits of kid-type cloth in my leftovers stash, on the back of the quilt is the list of things to look for on the front...This is perfect for a 3 or 4 year old just learning to read...Keeps them either under or on top of the quilt!

3 yards green cotton fabric

1 yard orange cotton fabric

Kid-type cotton fabric with images small enough to center on 4 inch squares...This is especially good for using up all those leftover bits you couldn't bear to throw away all these years

5 pages of computer printer fabric (available at most fabric stores)

This is the fun part...
Cut 120 squares, each 4 inches on a side, centering a different kid-friendly image in each one...
Make them complex, funny, simple, themed, whatever...

Cut 108 orange spacer pieces 1" wide x 4" high...

Start with an image square, sew an orange spacer to the right edge...
Sew left edge of second image square to right edge of orange spacer...

Use 10 image squares and 9 spacers for each row, beginning and ending with an image square...

Make 12 rows...

Iron seams open...

Cut 13 green spacers...2 inches x 11 inches
Cut 26 orange spacers...2 inches x 11 inches

Sew 3 pieces together end-to-end, going orange - green - orange...
Iron seams open... repeat!

You'll have 13 long spacers...

Alternating image rows and long spacer rows, sew your top together...
Make certain to have long spacer rows on top and bottom...

Iron all seams in one direction...

Cut 2 green pieces, 6 inches x 41 inches...
Sew these on as side pieces to your top...

Iron seams toward outer edge...

Cut 2 green pieces, 6 inches x 41 inches...
Sew these on as top and bottom to your top...

Iron seams toward outer edge...easier to flatten the solid piece than all those seams...

Use your favorite text program to list each image (treasure) on the front of your quilt...
Mix 'em up, alphabetize them, be as subtle, confusing or easy as you like...
Set your font so that your list covers 9 inches high x 7 inches wide on each of 5 pages...

Using printable cloth (buy at any fabric shop), print out your list...

I found it easier to peel the backing off the paper at this point...

Cut each page to center the list on a 10 inch high, 8 inch wide rectangle...these are your Hint Pages

Cut 2 green pieces 8 inches wide x 22 inches long...
2 green pieces 8 inches wide x 13 inches long...
(2) 8 inches wide x 31 inches long...
(2) 8 inches wide x 4 inches long...
(2) 8 inches wide x 40 inches long...

(2) 3 inches wide x 54 inches long (for side edges)...

Sew top of  Treasure Hints Page 1 to 8" edge of 4 " strip...
Sew bottom of  Hint Page 1 to 8" edge of 40" strip...

Sew top of  Hint Page 2 to 8" edge of 13" strip...
Sew bottom of  Hint Page 2 to 8" edge of 31" strip...

Sew top of  Hint Page 3 to 8" edge of 22" strip...
Sew bottom of  Hint Page 3 to 8" edge of the other 22" strip...

Sew top of  Hint Page 4 to 8" edge of 31" strip...
Sew bottom of  Hint Page 4 to 8" edge of 13" strip...

Sew top of  Hint Page 5 to 8" edge of 40" strip...
Sew bottom of  Hint Page 5 to 8" edge of 4" strip...

Iron seams toward outer edges...

Sew long edge of 3" edge piece to long left edge of strip with Treasure Hints Page 1...
Sew right edge of Hint Page 1 strip to left edge of Hint Page 2 strip...
Sew right edge of Hint Page 2 strip to left edge of Hint Page 3 strip...
Sew right edge of Hint Page 3 strip to left edge of Hint Page 4 strip...
Sew right edge of Hint Page 4 strip to left edge of Hint Page 5 strip...
Sew long edge of second 3" piece to left edge of Hint Page 5...

Iron all seams in one direction...

That didn't hurt, right?

Quilt sandwich, that is...

Place quilt bottom face down on flat surface...
Put your favorite quilt batting on top of that (purchased polyester, cotton or bamboo or use an old blanket...

Cut the batting 1/2 inch smaller than the quilt back on all sides...

Lay the quilt top, face up, on the batting, matching edges of quilt bottom...

Starting in the middle, pin all 3 layers together every 6 inches or so...

Pull up a comfortable chair...

Fold bottom edge of quilt up over the edge of the batting all the way around (about half an inch), pinning as you go...
Be certain to pin the corners well...

Now go around again, folding the quilt top edge under to match the line of the quilt bottom...
Take out the pin under where you just folded and pin all 3 layers together...

Beginning halfway up left side of quilt, sew around the entire quilt...
Remove edge pins as you go...
Leave the pins in the body of the quilt...

Finish edge by sewing over about 3 inches of where you began...

One more step!
I know you can do this...

Now for another fun part...

Starting at the long spacer row at the top right, sew along the length of the spacer row...

Turn quilt 90 degrees and sew along the "ditch" (seam) between the image row and the side piece...
Sew down to the next long spacer row...

Turn quilt 90 degrees again, sew along the length of the second spacer row...

Work your way down the quilt in this zigzag S pattern to the end of the last spacer row...

Remove all pins and pick a child to give your gorgeous quilt to!
You did well...