Back-to-School Quilt

Fabric Requirements:

Notes:

• Finished Size: 25" x 42"
• All seam allowances are 1/4" unless noted.
• WOF = width of fabric
• * = Adhere fusible adhesive to back of fabric before cutting the shapes.

Piecing the Quilt:

1. In eCAL2 use different pages for the three different layouts. Have one page for the bus, one for the chalkboard, and two pages for the school house.
2. The school bus is from the School Shapes set by Sizzix. The other shapes are from the Library. Turn the "Layer" off the shapes you will not be cutting. Use "Preview" to ensure what will be cut prior to each of the following cuts. Load the Fabric Cutting Mat, and cut when ready. If using scrap pieces, make sure to use "Laser Cut Preview" to ensure you will cut the shape correctly.
   1. Create a rectangle that is 4.375" x 8.750" in blue that will go behind the bus to create windows. Press the blue fabric down firmly on the Fabric Cutting Mat and cut.
   2. Take the bus and enlarge it to 4.420" x 11.452". "Ungroup" the shape and drag the wheels away from the bus. Press the yellow fabric down firmly on the Fabric Cutting Mat and cut. Do not cut the wheels until you have the other black shapes also ready to cut.
   3. Create a 2" circle and another 1.75" circle. Cut the 2" circle three times for each of the silver backgrounds to the street lights. Firmly press your fabric down on the Fabric Cutting Mat and repeat for cutting a 1.75" circle once each in red, bright yellow and green.
   4. Create a "School Crossing" sign by choosing a triangle and a rectangle from the Library, putting them directly on top of each other. Go to "Path" and use "Union", then size the pentagon to 1.700" x 2.046". Press the bright yellow fabric down firmly on the Fabric Cutting Mat and cut.
   5. Take the original pentagon shape and create a 0.140" shadow from the Effects Menu using the "Shadow Layer". Choose another basic rectangle from the Library and size it to 2.5" x 7" for the background for the street light. Also group the bus wheels along with this cut. Press the black fabric down firmly on the Fabric Cutting Mat and cut all of the shapes at once.
3. Create another page in eCAL2 for the chalkboard.
   1. Create text using the Arial Black font and type "A, B, C" on one line and "1, 2, 3" on another and then size to 9.332" x 3.50". Press the cream fabric down firmly on the Fabric Cutting Mat and cut all of the shapes at once.
   2. For the next cut, you will need to prep the brown fabric with Terial Magic or starch. Firmly press the fabric down on the Fabric Cutting Mat and cut two 21 1/2" x 1 3/4" rectangles and two 11 1/4" x 2" rectangles for the chalkboard frame.
   3. Sew the brown strips to the top and bottom of the green background. Then sew on the side borders.
4. Create a third page for the school house. For the school house, you can all of the shapes from the Library. Remember to turn the "Layer" off the shapes you will not be cutting. Use "Preview" to ensure what will be cut prior to each of the following cuts. Load the Fabric Cutting Mat, and cut when ready. If using scrap pieces, make sure to use "Laser Cut Preview" to ensure you will cut the shape correctly.
   1. Choose two polygons, one sized to 4.914" x 4.800" and the other sized to 7.035" x 7.244". Press the red fabric down firmly on the Fabric Cutting Mat and cut.
   2. Then choose two cylinders and size one to 2.933" x 2.193" and the other to 3.677" x 2.593". Press the brown fabric down firmly on the Fabric Cutting Mat and cut.
   3. Then choose four vertical rectangles and size two to 0.382" x 5.260" and two to 0.382" x 3.730". Press the black fabric down firmly on the Fabric Cutting Mat and cut.
   4. Choose the Liberty Bell from the "USA" Library and use "Shape Tool" on the left menu to close/delete all of the nodes together until the crack has been taken out. Then use the "Eraser" to separate the hanger from the bell body. Select the hanger and delete it. Press the bright yellow fabric down firmly on the Fabric Cutting Mat and cut.
5. Create a fourth page for the flag and the tree. The tree can be found in the eshape store as "Tree" in the Summer set from Echo Park Paper Co. and the flag pole is from the July set from Sizzix.
   1. Keep the tree in its original size. "Ungroup" the tree and take the leaves from the tree. Separate them into two groups.
   2. Cut the leaves from two different greens and the trunk from brown, pressing the fabric firmly onto the Fabric Cutting Mat when loading the different colors. Remember to turn the "Layer" off the shapes you will not be cutting. Use "Preview" to ensure what will be cut prior to each of the following cuts. Load the Fabric Cutting Mat, and cut when ready. If using scrap pieces, make sure to use "Laser Cut Preview" to ensure you will cut the shape correctly.
   3. Take the flag and "Ungroup". Then take the blue section of the flag and again "Ungroup" and delete all of the red and white stripes.
   4. Click on the whole flag with the scoring lines and drop down the "Layers." Turn off all the stars and stripes layers.
   5. Place the blue section back into its proper place on the flag shape and size to 2.737" x 3.776".
   6. Turn the "Layer" off the shapes you will not be cutting. Use "Preview" to ensure what will be cut prior to each of the following cuts. Load the Fabric Cutting Mat with white fabric, and cut when ready. If using scrap pieces, make sure to use "Laser Cut Preview" to ensure you will cut the shape correctly. Repeat for the blue fabric.
   7. Choose a vertical rectangle from the Library and size it to 0.382" x 8.501" to form the flag pole.
   8. Choose a circle from the Library and size it to 0.500" to form the finial.
   9. Turn the "Layer" off the shapes you will not be cutting. Press the silver fabric down firmly on the Fabric Cutting Mat and cut both of the shapes at once.
6. Using the photo of the quilt as a guide, assemble cut pieces onto each of the background fabrics according to the original design.
7. Heat fuse the assembled shapes to the background.
8. Stitch around each individual piece with coordinating colors as desired.

Finishing:

1. Layer the backing, batting and quilt top. Quilt by hand or machine as desired.
2. Sew the binding strips together to form one long strip. Fold the binding in half lengthwise, with wrong sides together and press.
3. With a 1/4" seam, sew the raw edges of the binding to the edges of the right side of the quilt. Turn the folded edge of the binding to the back side of the quilt and stitch in place by hand, mitering the corners.