Strip Tango Quilt

Hey y'all, this tutorial was originally included in the Oh Sew Baby! tutorial series at Fort Worth Fabric Studio last summer, but it's been awhile, and I felt like it was time to include it here as well!

 This quilt is one of my favorite go-to quilts to make when I need a fast and fun baby quilt.  It's easy to put together, simple to vary, and is fat quarter friendly.  That's a win in my book!

 You'll need at least nine fat quarters for this quilt.  Trim your fat quarters to 20.5 inches.  Then from each fat quarter, cut four strips, 4.5 x 20.5 inches for a total of 36 strips.

This quilt really is a snap to put together if you just remember a couple of important "rules."  First, one full strip length is equal to five strips sewn together in the opposite direction-

 This is going to be important to keep the proportions of your quilt correct.  Secondly, the quilt will measure 48 inches in width, which equals two full strip lengths, plus two "short sides" by 60 inches, which is three full strip lengths.

When I make this pattern, I always like to play around with the layout until I am happy with it, then take a picture.  Trust me, the picture can really help if your layout gets messed up. (ahem, pets and children anyone?)

I chose to lay my strips out into thirds.  Notice that the top third of the quilt has two horizontal strip sets, plus two vertical strips?  The other two thirds each only have one horizontal strip set, but seven vertical strips (remember, five vertical strips are equal to the width of one horizontal set).

Once you've decided on your layout, just start sewing your strips together in sections!  ps- I'm a quilting rebel and I do NOT press this until the very end.  Shhh...don't tell the quilt police!

Just join your sections together and, voila!  Your quilt top is finished!  The important thing to remember with this quilt is to have fun with it.  I like to think of it as a puzzle, but you get to decide where the pieces go!  The result is a modern, random look that appears more difficult than it really is.

This quilt is also really easy to modify to suit your size needs.  Bohemian Charm is another example of a quilt I've made with this pattern.  This one measures 60 x 64 inches, so it is three full strips in width by three full strips, plus one "short side" in length.  I did not choose to construct this one in thirds, and it's actually tough to tell where the different sections are, which I love!

The finished quilt measures 48 x 60 inches.  A perfect size for a baby, but still big enough to be useful for years!

I hope that the next time you need a quick baby quilt, you'll give Strip Tango a try!