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.