Last row!!

We removed pins, opened and ironed 7, and now will pin down the other edge of 7

Sewing 6 to 5 to the backing

Pinning 6 to 5. 1 is to the right, and then the rest rolled up

Remove pins and press

Ran out of bobbin thread like a foot from the end.... Grrr

#5 pinned down the unsewn side of #1, sides rolled in so only stitching area is showing, bulk rolled from bottom up, stitching #5 to #1

Tubes 5-7 are now cut strip sets 5-7

Squaring/straightening tube edges

Made some serious progress today :)

We have three more strip sets to QAYG on the top half, and then it's poly pellet time! (The cat wrings his paws with glee)

Press seam open, pin down next strip, and QAYG

Again... we sewed two strip sets (right sides together) to the backing. We folded open the strip sets, pressed open the seam, smoothed down the newly exposed strip set, and then lined up another strip set on top of the strip set we just pressed open, again right sides together.
This post might be out of order, but it might not be, LOL. It's the same thing that we're doing with every seam at this stage...

Cutting Strip set #4, 12" from center

I had to shift the tube a bit in order to cut on the blue starry part of the tube. Don't worry, it will make sense :)

We are getting tiiiiired...

cut strip sets #2 and #3

We ironed open cut strip set #2, went back to the table and smoothed it down.

We then placed #3 right side up so that the strip sets were staggered correctly.
Then we flipped over #3 face down on top of #2, right sides together, pinning the edges to be sewn together.
We rolled up the sides of the quilt to expose only our sewing area, and rolled from the bottom to the top.
We sewed our seam (unrolling the bottom as we go), went to the ironing board, removed pins and pressed open, and returned to the table.
My helper and I are working so well together :)

Roll it up and sew!

We rolled up both ends of the quilt backing so only the area to be stitched was visible. The less bulk to manage, the better.

Then starting at the bottom (the end we were NOT starting the stitching at) we rolled the whole thing up. Then we sewed our seam, unrolling as we went.
This is Quilting As You Go because the quilting is both the seams holding the strip sets in place, and the seams we sew the poly pellets into the strip sets with, as opposed to adding quilting after the quilt is done... which we couldn't do anyhow over the poly pellets without breaking needles/making massive messes...

Tube #2 becomes cut strip set #2

Strip set tube #2 we cut 4" from the center of the blue side of the tube (not the starry side). #2 is no longer a tube, but cut strip set #2.

We placed cut strip set #2 face down on cut strip set #1 (already pinned to the backing), lining up and matching the seams on the adjoining 4" blocks whenever possible (it looks better when the cut strip sets are staggered neatly).

Layout onto quilt backing begins

We centered cut strip set #1 on the backing, and pinned both long edges down to the backing with safety pins (straight pins will poke us, repeatedly!).

We will be using cut strip set #1 as our guide to lay out the rest of the strip sets. Cut strip sets #2 and #5 will be sewn on either side of #1.

A big step! Cutting tubes, preparing to sew to backing

This is where we need to really pay attention and go slow. Here the time needed to correct mistakes increases exponentially...AMHIK*
We need 7 tubes.
Each tube is composed of two strip sets sewn together - one strip set of each color combination, with a 4.5"X10" end block of the matching color sewn onto each end.
Each tube has two strip sets and four blocks. This makes more sense if you look at the picture. You can't see the blue/water strip set sewn onto the other side of the starry blue/white strip set, but it's there.
We will be cutting the tubes in a staggered manner so that when they are laid out, they will form our pattern.

Here's the method of our tube-cutting madness:


I have a 12"X18" cutting mat that I put inside each tube, in order to cut through just one side or layer of the tube. 
I cut through the solid blue strip sets with the water strip in the middle (NOT the starry blue strip sets with the white strip down the middle).
Tube #1 was cut in the middle of the solid blue half of the tube.
Tube #1 is no longer a tube - it is cut strip set #1. It will be pinned and sewn to the middle of the backing, and the other cut strip sets staggered from there. 
Tube #2 was cut 4" from the center of the solid blue side of the tube (not the starry side). #2 is no longer a tube, but cut strip set #2. Repeat...
Tube #3 was cut 8" from the center of the solid blue side of the tube (and is now cut strip set #3), and
Tube #4 was cut 12" from the center of the solid blue side of the tube (and is now cut strip set #4).
We basically will do the same with cut strip sets #5, #6 and #7, with the measurements matching #2, #3, and #4.
I squared up the edges (trimmed them with the rotary cutter so they are even). Feeding the OCS monster again :)

*ask me how I know

Or no starter scrap??

WHY am I not using a starter scrap??  I don't remember. Maybe to show you that if you don't use one, you have to hold down your thread ends so they don't get sucked away by the take-up lever and the Great Black Bobbin Case Hole. Although this also looks like a seam that was frogged (rip it, rip it).
Oh, yeah. Someone forgot the right-sides-together thing. *whistling*

starter scrap in place, sewing with 1/4" quilting foot

My starter scrap is still attached, go me. I usually wait until I need to sew onto it again to snip it off (and you would think it would be called a starter/ender scrap, but mercifully no, no one does that).*
The foot I'm using (on both machines) is not your standard sewing foot - it's a handy-dandy 1/4" quilting foot. It has a vertical metal piece on the right that helps you keep your fabric lined up exactly 1/4" to the right of the needle.
I use it a lot (see "feeding and care of your inner OCDer"). It is awesome!
*Yes, I know about leaders and enders. Please Google it if you want to know more...

Whew

All better. Time to start!

WHY WE USE A STARTER SCRAP...

Because if we start sewing without one, and don't realize right away that the thread ends have been sucked away from the sewing area, then we are either sewing nothing and/or creating an increasingly large knot of thread under the needle, that jams the bobbin case and that we can't even see until after unscrewing and removing several parts.
Penalty for not paying attention: 15 minutes-2 hours, if I can fix it myself (please oh please let me be able to fix it myself)...