SPA Spurts:The Finally Finished Dot and Dash Quilt

This quilt just happened to get finally finished.  I started it in March while misbehaving when I was supposed to be working from my project lists and QALs so I guess you can say this would be considered a DREAMi project. But truly it's a beyond DREAMi project since I was originally distracted to make another Staggered Strips and Squares Quilt with shades of teals, pinks, grays, colors that was inspired by Patchwork N Play's Delilah Quilt and low-volume fabrics.  The strips were die-cut and ready to be sewn together but before I started, I happened to be putting away some fabrics and came upon the Spa Green Quilters Linen fabric which I had forgotten I bought a mere six months ago.

I knew I had to dump one DREAMi project to work on this new DREAMi project because I had the perfect pattern which has been in my head to use the Spa Green fabric with the 2.5" strips already cut--Dot and Dash from Christa Watson's latest book Piece and Quilt with Precuts book which I used to participate in her Squiggle QAL.  There are quite a few "I wanna make" patterns in her book and the Dot and Dash quilt was the one I really wanted to make since it uses 2.5" which is my favorite precut size and I can die cut strips myself.  All I needed to do was to die-cut the Spa Green fabric into 2.5" strips.

This quilt was seemingly done during spurts of time found in between other projects I had going on and the blocks were all sewn by the time we left for our getaway last week.  Even though I needed to catch up with the 30 Quilts Blocks in 30 Days QAL when I came home, I wanted a change of quilt pace which didn't involve Kaffe Fassett fabrics or a QAL (since the start of 2018, I've made four quilts with Fassett fabrics and have participated or am participating in four QALs.)  What started as a quilt being made during spurts of time found became a mad dash to the finally finished line.  The top was finished this past Sunday, the basting and quilting started on Monday and the quilting and binding was completed late Tuesday (after I had lunch and a nice shopping spree with my partner in quilt crime, Carol, at my favorite quilt shop where I bought the binding for this quilt and 28 fat quarters and yardage also wanted to come home with me too.)  This rarely happens, no, not my fabric binge buying which happens more often that I like to admit, but a quilt top made and then quilted and bound within the same week.  Usually once a top is made, it's on quilting standby for more than a week but maybe less than ten years, standard quilt making procedures for me.   So yay for me for doing the totally unexpected this week.

I decided to add a little pizzaz (for me) to the machine quilting by adding a meandering, wavy line in between the straight lines. Since the fabrics are somewhat on the calm and quiet side, like a Spa, I wanted the quilting to show up so I used Connecting Threads Essential Thread in Parchment.  Since the Quilters Linen was a more tightly woven fabric, I used a Microtex Sharp Needle and the quilting went smooth and fast. I do a lot of straight line quilting,  so I did quilt it using the same method Christa does in her book by starting the quilting on one side (instead of the center of the quilt) and quilting it to the other side. I can say I've done it this way on my last four quilts and the distortion at the ends of the rows is minimal unlike when I start the quilting in the center.

Here are some closeups showing the mash of fun prints which included Meows, Mushrooms and a Mermaid print.  I wish I included more peachy/pink prints (this quilt may look a little too calm) but when I do make the other quilt which I was intending to make before Spa Spurts, I will definitely be using more peachy/pinky, which is a nice accent color for the teals and grays.

I've been saving my precious yardage of SUCH Design's 108" wide backing of Newsprint in Spackle for just the right quilt which I already used some strips for the front so I was happy to finally use it and the binding is a wonderful dark blue/green print from the Cotton + Steel Basics Collection.

I was hoping to take a nice photo outside but the wind once again reminded us that it wanted to be included.  I thought for sure we left it back in Myrtle Beach. It sure was nice, though, to see the sun making an appearance during these past few days and I wouldn't mind if it still stuck around, just lose that wind.

Now that I've enjoyed this brief change of quilt pace, I'm ready to work on finishing up the 30 Quilt Blocks QAL and putting the quilt together so I can be ready for MMM Quilts Adult Plus Playtime  QAL which started this week. And I was planning on giving the Fassett Fabric Stash a rest but my son has requested a quilt made with Shot Cottons since he loves my Postcard from Sweden Quilt and I can't say No to him (most of the time) or another Kaffe Fassett project.

Linking up with:  My Quilt Infatuation, Needle and Thread Thursday,  Crazy Mom Quilts, Finish It Up Friday, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Can I Get a Whoop Whoop Friday, Busy Hands Quilts, Finish or Not Friday

Miss Behaving or Misbehaving in March

It was a pretty good week of sewing for me: something I needed to do, I done did; I'm current with two QAL projects, I got to DREAMi! and still found some time and a way to start on two more projects.

The table topper for Micah's First Birthday party is on the way to be ready for the big celebration at the end of month.  The theme of her party will be Bees and I found the sweetest fabric by Timeless Treasures "You are My Sunshine."  The topper measures 27" x 39" and I just used a simple nine-patch pattern to showcase the fabrics and also because I didn't want to put in too time on something which may be on the receiving end of some party spills and crumbs.

My March blocks for the Classic Meet Modern Block of the Month Quilt Along hosted by My Quilt Infatuation are finished.  This month's blocks were the 10" Propeller block (left) and two 6" Sawtooth blocks and sewed together very easy.

All of the half-square triangles have been cut, sewn and arranged for the Postcards from Sweden from MMM quilts.  Since I used my stash of Kaffe Fassett Shot Cottons with some Peppered Cottons, my quilt doesn't look at bright as some of the other Postcard quilts so I may be calling mine Postcards from Kaffe.  We have two weeks to sew the rows together and I'm hoping Sandra will change it to three weeks since we'll be spending some time with the darling granddaughter at the end of the month.

This is my DREAMi! project which is  another quilt from Christa Watson's Piece and Quilt from Precut book, Dot 'N Dash which I happen upon quite innocently (wink).  I was putting away some fabric and came upon the wonderful Robert Kaufmann's Quilters Linen in a color I call Steel Teal which I forgot I had bought less than six months ago.  I knew it would work well with some 2-1/2" strips I already had cut in shades of grays, teals, pinks, etc. to make the Dot 'N Dash quilt.  Since Sandra is the host for both the Postcards from Sweden QAL and the monthly DREAMi linky party, it's going to be pretty okay if I take a little time away from the Postcard Quilt to spend a little time working on the Dot 'N Dash quilt, right Sandra?

In my never-ending quest to carve out more sewing time during the day, I thought a new portable sewing machine, a Juki HZL 70HW-A to use either in the dining room or kitchen would help.  I already own a Janome Gold which is a sweet little machine but the only drawback is that it does not have a needle up and down feature which I kick myself for not wanting to spend the extra $100 for it.  I sew in my studio which is in the basement or lower level of my house and too often I am drawn to the laptop which is sitting on the kitchen desk and I find myself spending way too much time on Social Media, Blogs, computer games, etc. which could be better spent on sewing.  I thought maybe having a sewing machine upstairs would distract me from the computer.  Also, since there are the TV shows I want to watch in the evenings, I also can also sew then as long as I have Closed Caption on. Really, it's not because the sewing machine is noisy, it's just that Hubby likes to play his guitar while watching TV.

I'm thinking my idea is working out quite well.  Since the arrival of the new Juki, I sewed sixty-four 8"x 12" strip blocks made from 2-1/2" strips of Kaffe Fassett stripes and shot cottons which have been waiting to be made for awhile so I'm considering it to be an unidentified UFO project.  And yes, I'm still spending more time with Kaffe and am pretty sure this is going to be my last project for the year using his fabrics, maybe.

And I sewed a mega strip for a future Staggered Strips and Squares quilt using low volume fabrics with some black and white Cotton + Steel fabrics. Once the strip sets and blocks are cut, I can finish sewing the top upstairs.  

I think my Juki Jr. and kitchen table sewing is just what I needed to get more of my projects done.  And as for my Janome Gold, I'll be saving it for Micah, she doesn't need to know about the wonders of needle up and down until later. Hopefully, whatever March Mode I'm on, either Miss Behaving by staying on task or Misbehaving where the fun is, it continues.  I'm happy with doing both.

Linking up with:  My Quilt Infatuation, Needle and Thread Thursday,  MMM Quilts, Crazy Mom Quilts, Finish It Up Friday, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Can I Get a Whoop Whoop Friday, Busy Hands Quilts, Finish or Not Friday

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