zig zag quilt kit tutorial

(This tutorial is for a kit available in my etsy shop . inspired by this quilt. i do not take credit for the design of this quilt, my tutorial is here based on the MANY requests I received for instructions and kits in my etsy shop.)

Your kit should include 120 five inch square blocks, backing fabric, and binding fabric.

This quilt is made up entirely of half square triangle blocks, arranged into a zigzag pattern.

EAch 5 inch square will be paired up with another 5 inch square...the pair will become 2 identical half square triangles.

Separate your five inch squares into piles of:

• 15 orange octopus
• 20 orange seahorses
• 15 orange and blue fish
• 10 orange dots
• 20 orange fish
• 10 dark blue
• 20 blue seahorses
• 10 blue basketweave

Once you have each color/pattern separated into a pile, we will pair them up, 5 pairs of each of the following fabric combinations...

• orange octopus and orange seahorse pairs
  
• orange seahorse and blue seahorse pairs
• blue seahorse and orange/blue fish pairs
• orange/blue fish and orange dot pairs
• orange dot and orange fish
• orange fish and orange octopus
• orange octopus and dark blue
• dark blue and blue seahorse
• blue seahorse and orange fish
• orange fish and orange seahorse
• orange seahorse and blue basketweave
• blue basket weave and orange/blue fish

take your first pair:

place right sides together
using a pencil (or fabric pen), draw a line from one corner to the opposite corner.stitch 1/4 inch away on each side of the pencil line. (I use a 1/4 inch foot, if you don't have one, draw a line 1/4 inch from pencil line on either side, and stitch on both lines.)
repeat on other side of pencil line
Your pencil line should now be sandwiched between two stitched lines, 1/4 in away on each side.
using scissors or rotary cutter, cut along pencil line.
you should be left with 2 pieces
press seams toward darker fabric
you now have 2 half square triangle blocks! Repeat this process until all your blocks are complete (120 total).
As you complete your blocks, you can start lying them out to make a zigzag.
the order of the zigzags is:
orange octopus (only 1/2 the zigzag)
orange seahorse
blue seahorse
orange/blue fish
orange dot
orange fish
orange octopus
dark blue
blue seahorse
orange fish
orange seahorse
blue basketweave
orange/blue fish (1/2 the zigzag)

once you have all your blocks (10x12) laid out in order, begin assembling the quilt top.

Using quarter inch seams, first sew each block in a row together, forming a long strip.
you will have 12 strips with of 10 half square triangles.
Next sew the long strips together until your quilt top is complete.

Now you are ready to "quilt" your quilt. :). There are several options, take it to a local quilt shop and have them quilt it for you, or you can do it yourself.

if you choose to quilt your quilt yourself, see my stripes baby quilt kit instructions for tips on basting your quilt and quilting your quilt.

To bind your quilt, go here.
finished quilt measures approximately: 40in X 48in.
questions? email me nettiepete at gmail dot com