Seams Like Scrappy Preview: Dot Plus Dash

There are several quilts from this new book (due out in May) that I have either made again, have started a second version, or plan to make another. Not this one:

Photo provided by Martingale, photography by Brent Kane

Meet Dot Plus Dash. I was inspired by all of the "modern" quilts featuring plus designs and one morning I got to sketching and then before you know it, corners got added to the block and once a sashing was added it made a secondary design and here it is.

This pattern was designed to use Layer Cake squares (10" squares) but for this quilt I used a Bali Tile pack. I thought I had Bali Crackers, which would be 10" squares, but I grabbed the Tile pack instead which has 10 wide strips with large designs that can be cut to make 40 squares. Essentially I ended up with the same "look" I was going for, but with less fabric variety and a little more cutting on my part. No biggie.

Dot Plus Dash is a great sized quilt as either a large lap or a small twin size. If you're looking for a great quilt with a big visual impact, but you just want results... If you're heading to a retreat and you don't want to have to rip out all of your stitching if you got side-tracked while chatting... If you just finished a project that made you want to pull your hair out and you couldn't speak in full sentences when it was finished... This is the quilt for you.

It is just one block with simple piecing and it goes together so fast. It's just simple almost mindless piecing. This is the type of piecing that's rhythmic and almost like meditating. Alright... I know I started this post saying I wasn't planning on making this one again, and really I wasn't. I love the rich vibrant understated colors and the quilting (I'll get to that in a minute) and I didn't think I could make a version that I'd love as much. But talking about how much fun this was to make, I may just have to have one of these cut up and set aside for a movie marathon kind of day or an at home sewing retreat. A girl can't have too many quilts, right?

Now onto the quilting! If you look really closely at the picture above, you can see Abby quilted in wavy lines and it just emphasizes the simpleness and modernistic vibe of this quilt and I love it!

Wait, what?! I didn't quilt this?! And the answer to that would be no. I already had a bunch on my plate trying to make all of the quilts and do the writing and illustrations and I had my own customer quilts piling up, so I sent out a few quilts to be done by a digitized design. This quilt and one other have designs that were quilted by Abby Latimer of Latimer Lane Quilting. She did an amazing job and if you see a digitized design you'd like to have done on your quilt, send it on over her way and you won't be disappointed!

Honestly, I love doing free motion or hand guided quilting, but there are just some designs that work better on a computer. For this quilt, the wavy lines would be nearly impossible to keep as smooth and clean even with a laser guide or rulers. Ugh, I can't even imagine doing this whole quilt with rulers like that, I'd lose my mind after the first hour which wouldn't get me very far. I absolutely love how it turned out and I'm building up a mental list of the quilts I'd like to send to Abby in the future.

Yes, I could quilt my quilts and whatever, but I also like to "share the wealth" and celebrate the work that other quilters can do. There are so many wonderful quilters out there that do an amazing job and whether they use a computer or not, we all have our own style and interpretation of quilts and that makes us unique. I still like how other people do feathers or swirls and mine will never look like theirs. But then again, theirs will never look like mine and that's fine with me. It's like shopping at different quilt shops. If you only shop at one shop, you'll never get to experience the style and different fabrics at other shops. There's so much out there to see, not one shop can have it all. Now, there's many that try, but we all have something to share, so be open minded.

Time to reel myself in, sorry I'm writing while I'm drinking my coffee and it's still early. Whose idea was it to put these posts on a Monday? Oh wait, that was me :)

So anywho, Dot Plus Dash is featured in Seems Like Scrappy that is due out this May (no changes at the moment have been announced for the release date officially, but with the port strikes coming to a swift end, I'm crossing my fingers the release will not be delayed).

I will be showing this quilt and all of the others at Spring Market (it'll be here before we know it) so if you're planning on attending, come see me! I will be doing a Schoolhouse and book signings, but I will post the detailed information closer to the actual event. I'd love to see you and show off my quilts! But what if you're not coming to Market? What if you still want to see all of the quilts? I'm open to travel and trunk shows as well!

Contact me at rubybluequilts (at) gmail (dot) com if you would like to host a book signing or would like me to come do a trunk show for your guild or group. Workshops can also be arranged, e-mail me to discuss the possibilities!

I'm so excited about this book and I hope you are too. Now I have to go raid my stash and cut out another quilt because I can... It's a sickness I swear! Have a great day!