This Way and That Quilt in Rocket Lauch Club Fabrics

I have a new favorite go-to quilt pattern...the This Way and That Pattern from Sister and Quilters.  (You can either just purchase the pattern or you can choose your favorite prints from their shop and theyll put together a whole kit for you.)  This is super fast to sew together if you're an experienced quilter and is an ideal quilt to start with if you're just learning.

I had some extra Rocket Lauch Boys by Sarah Jane fabric left over from making Anson's Giant Hexies Quilt (which I still have to finish).  I fell in love with the fabric because it features boys doing such fun and brainy activities...boys...rockets...math and physics equations...I'm in love with this print (which unfortunately is getting hard to find since it was released several years ago, but you can still track down most of the prints on Etsy).  I was trying to figure out who would appreciate the print and realized it would be perfect for the baby Eric's sister and brother-in-law are expecting since his brother-in-law majored in physics.

The rockets just want to blast off the quilt and right up into the sky...

I used fewer squares...and fewer prints.  I just have 5 prints plus a double dose of the dark blue rocket boys.  Using so few fabrics made it a little tricky to figure out a good layout (I think I spent more time switching around the squares trying to get the layout perfect than I did actually sewing the top together.

If you're looking for a fast pattern, this is it.  I sewed it a little different than the directions by using strip piecing and sewing strips and then cross cutting.  That mean that I couldn't be quite as choosy with the direction of my prints, but it sewed up SO fast.  Most of my prints had a definite "up", so I just made those go every which way so there is no particular "up" to the quilt.

I ended up with a few extras squares, but my sister-in-law wanted a small quilt the right size for tucking around the baby in his stroller or carseat.  So instead of adding the extra squares onto the quilt, I made a small doll quilt for baby's big sisters to use.

For the back I used some white rocket boys fabric.  I didn't use the white rocket boys (purchased from Quilt Sandwich Fabrics) on the front because I wanted there to be a lot of contrast with the white stripes, but I think it works great on the back and this was a good chance to show off the whole print in one large block.

I didn't time myself sewing this together, but if you've already got your fabrics chosen, you could have this quilt top sewn up in 1-1 1/2 hours (not including your time deliberating about fabric placement).  The other great thing about this pattern is you really can use as many or as few prints as you want.

Usually, I just quilt near the seams because I don't want the quilting to stand out too much, but his time I decided to try learning free-motion quilting...but my free-motion foot went missing, so I did straight zigzags back and forth on each block.  I had to turn the quilt alot, but it worked since it's pretty small.

This is definitely the most dense machine quilting I've ever done and I love it!  I'm definitely going to experiment more with it...especially since I've found my free-motion foot again.

One of my pet peeves with quilts is if there is too little contrast and the quilt ends up looking too busy and I think the solid stripes here can tame even the busiest and noisiest prints.  (Can you tell I LOVE this pattern?!?)

I tried to get Anson to model the quilt for me a bit...I had to be quick and distract him with a flower...

...and even so most of the pictures with him looked something like this...

I've already started using it to start another quilt, this time with the Dr. Seuss prints that it was designed for...

Please show my sponsors some love...

Urban Mod Half Yard Bundle from Sisters and Quilters

Create You Own Fat Quarter Bundle From Sisters and Quilters

This Way and That with Cat in the Hat KIT- From Sisters and Quilters

I'll be linking to: