Spots and Dots - the Quilt

Back in mid-2021 I put together a fabric pull with all of the polka dots in my stash.  And it sat.

In February 2022 I finally die cut a LOT of HSTs along with a bunch of 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles.

I ended up making four (!) quilt tops from those pieces and parts - 

Spots and Dots (this quilt), 

Gone Dotty (the quilt top's border has been changed since this post), 

Dot to Dot (gift quilt for a different nephew's family), 

Penelope Rose (gift quilt for that same family as above),

and the leftovers pieces and parts were used in both Ohana and the scrappy back of Rident.

Since Max's side table has been repurposed for my journaling work station, a new table is on order to go beside Max.  In the meantime I decided I could still quilt Spots and Dots (the baby's due date is getting closer).

I don't think this design has a "proper" name but I am calling it liberated waves (or fins, depending on your point of view).  

Quilted using Glide thread in Aquamarine (top and bobbin).

Here is the info on the backing's edge.  I used this eQuilter remnant which ended up being exactly the right size.

The binding was made with another well-aged stripe from the stash.

We had blue skies this weekend for first time in many days and, since there are bits of green beginning to appear (despite the fact that we'll have more freezing temps next weekend), I just HAD to take the quilt outdoors for photos.

35" wide x 42" long 

* * *

Spots and Dots will be the baby's newborn quilt.  

Ohana (WIP link above) will be his larger play quilt.

Big Brother's quilt will be Rident (WIP link above).

Time to get the next one of these pin basted . . . 

Quiltdivajulie

-----------------------------------------------

"The essence of all art is to have pleasure in giving pleasure."

Dale Carnegie

Dot to Dot - Big Brother's Quilt

As I was stitching the binding in place on Big Brother's quilt Saturday morning, a text chimed in from my sister.

Mommy's water had broken (four weeks early) so the parents were on their way to the hospital . . . and Miss Penelope was born early Sunday morning.

Dot to Dot, the quilt for her big brother, measures 48" x 64" 

Quilted with Glide thread in Nickel using rows of my liberated Baptist Fans.

I love these colorful iguanas on the cheddar backing.

The black and white binding is Michael Miller Clown Stripe, one of my favorites for multi-color rainbow quilts.

I hope Big Brother loves this scrappy polka dot quilt as much as I do!

* * *

Later today I will be shipping all three freshly-laundered quilts (Dot to Dot, Penelope Rose, and Winsome) to their new forever homes in Michigan.  

    

* * *

Reminder:  You can read all previous posts for Dot to Dot using its label below (or from the sidebar).  There are also labels in the sidebar for most of my quilts.

Quiltdivajulie

-----------------------------------------------

"Everything starts from a dot."

Wassily Kandinsky

Penelope Rose and Winsome

Penelope Rose is finished.  

40" wide x 54" long

Quilted with my liberated fans/spirals using Glide thread in Pink.  

This will initially be Baby Girl's floor/tummy time quilt and later it can be used in her crib (she's due in October - daughter of our middle nephew and his wife).

Backing by Carrie Bloomston - Starry Elephants from her Wish line.

The toucan quilt clips are Alycia's fault - she uses flamingo clips to hold her quilts and shared the source in the linked post.    

I love having a fun new alternative to my giant clothespins.

Winsome (2021) is also going to Baby Girl.

It measures 51" x 62" and will be ready once she's bigger.

Here's a detail photo of Winsome, again with the fun toucan clips.

Both quilts will be laundered before they're sent so they're soft and crinkly - and so the parents won't have to worry about washing a brand new quilt before it can be used.

* * *

Next up will be Dot to Dot for Baby Girl's big brother.  

Thread has been chosen and the backing pieced.  Time to get the layers pin basted and start quilting.  

Quiltdivajulie

-----------------------------------------------

"Art is important.  We tend to think of it as a luxury, but it gives people deep pleasure because beauty is the personification of hope that something grander is at work."

Gil Dellinger

Ohana - Moving It Forward

Much of Ohana is now sewn together and on the design wall.  

Made with 2.5" strip sets cut from rectangle strip sets put together with leftovers from Dot to Dot and Ferhoodle, the layout was mostly inspired by a vintage utility quilt.

This is the vintage inspiration quilt.  You can read about it HERE.

The original plan was for another crib quilt but when all was said and done, there were enough strip sets to make this 60" long.  In order to widen the top to 48" I used some of the leftover 1.5" strips cut from those same rectangles and inserted them into the vertical sashing columns.

Just six more long seams and the top will be complete - I'm liking the way it has come together.

This tropical parrots/flowers yardage will become the backing.

I'll bind it with the same black print used in the verticals.  

All in good time.

Quiltdivajulie

-----------------------------------------------

“It’s not sometimes realistic to think that something magical can happen, but I like to look for the magic.”

Sherilyn Fenn

Friday Updates

The new flexible-use design wall has been covered and attached to the wall at long last.  Next week I'll paint the screw heads and washers so they don't show quite so much against the white flannel.

The earlier 18" test block is on the left and a new 12" version is on the right. 

I think I want to go forward with this project, but if I do I won't be using KF fabrics for the baskets and flowers.  I haven't decided if there will be a controlled palette or whether it will be entirely scrappy yet.  

And then, it might not happen at all.  Time will tell.

All of the four-rectangle strip sets (pieced using leftovers from Dot to Dot and Ferhoodle) have been trimmed into 1.5" and 2.5" cross cuts.  

The 2.5" units will be used for Ohana (see previous posts using the label below).

For now I am planning to incorporate the 1.5" strips into a future scrappy Dr. Seuss crib/toddler quilt.  

Unless another idea for the polka dot strips that has been rolling around in my head becomes reality . . . 

Finally, with the scrappy back fabrics for La Colcha off the design wall and put away, I was able to lay out the nearly 200 HSTs left after making Gone Dotty.

They are now becoming a baby quilt named Spots and Dots (shown here with the horizontal rows sewn, ready to finish webbing the top together).

Here is the 36" x 45" flimsy with its intended backing and binding.

And here's a close up of the binding.  There are rows of little dots in between the binding fabric's rainbow stripes; and the giraffe and others on the backing have colorful spots, all in keeping with the ongoing polka dot theme.

 

Quiltdivajulie

-----------------------------------------------

“There is a real magic in enthusiasm. It spells the difference between mediocrity and accomplishment.”

Norman Vincent Peale

Ferhoodle and Dot to Dot - Two Flimsies

Dot to Dot has achieved flimsy (quilt top) stage.  

It measures 48" x 64" and is destined to become an oversize crib or toddler quilt.

My sister recently shared that she is happily waiting for her sixth grand to be born this fall. 

After several texts, she and I have chosen the quilt (Winsome) for the parents, so I am thinking about gifting Dot to Dot to my sister for her house.

Ferhoodle has also achieved flimsy status.  It was made with many of the excess rectangles cut for Dot to Dot.

This top measures 36" wide x 50" long and is destined to become a crib quilt.  

Since Winsome measures 51" x 62" I may send Ferhoodle along with Winsome so they have a choice of sizes for different situations.  I need to look and see if I have a quilt to send along for the baby's new big brother.

* * *

This leaves Spots and Dots to use the excess HSTs from Gone Dotty and Ohana to use the rest of the excess rectangles from Dot to Dot and Ferhoodle.  When I cut the WOF strips from that long ago polka dot fabric pull, I had NO idea that they would yield five quilts!

* * *

P.S. You can use the labels at the end of this post to see earlier posts for each of these projects.

Quiltdivajulie

-----------------------------------------------

“. . . you can find magic wherever you look.  Sit back and relax, all you need is a book!”

Dr. Seuss

Dot to Dot - the Layout

Initially I thought about scattering the colors throughout the quilt top but when I arranged the 8" (when finished) blocks in rows . . . well, there was no more pondering/auditioning needed.  

Here's a straight-on view - the top will finish in the 48" x 64" range when it is sewn together.

I recently gifted the last of my finished baby quilts so this one will be a new one to have on hand.

Another quilt shop in our area is closing - the owner is retiring so she and her husband can travel.  Much of the yardage in her shop is not significantly marked down yet but I bought this fun print at $4/yard specifically to back Dot to Dot.  

I like the way the blocks and the backing play together and that the finished quilt could be gifted to a boy or a girl.

* * *

When I was cutting rectangles for this project I knew I was over-cutting.  I also hoped I would be able to make another scrappy baby/toddler quilt with those extras.  

I sat down this weekend and counted the bonus rectangles and there are enough to make TWO crib size quilt tops.  I've named one project OHANA (which means family) and the other FERHOODLE (meaning to mix up).  

Both design ideas are chosen and I've started sorting the rectangles into combinations so they can become my leader-ender project once the last of the HSTs for FLANEUR are finished.

Quiltdivajulie

-----------------------------------------------

“Consistency is an underappreciated form of intentional magic disguised as a mundane doing.”

Victoria Erickson

Surprised

I have had this"red" KF Shaggy yardage for a long time.  I've considered far too many ideas for it but while pondering a "pink and yellow" quilt, the backing for it was beyond obvious.  

I did a quick fabric pull of pink and yellow KF fabrics from the stash and have a plan in mind for how to use them.

Wow - that idea came out of nowhere but I'm ever so glad it did.

And as I was pulling fabrics for the pink and yellow, I thought about the green Paisley Jungle yardage I've always thought would make an amazing quilt back  and, just for giggles, I started pulling more KF pieces that would play well with it.  

Before I was finished, I added the black and white and decided to make a scrappy square in a square (economy block style) quilt. 

Again, I have no idea what made the planets align for this idea to manifest itself but I'm happy and excited about this approach.

There is no timetable for either of these so we shall see how things progress.

In the meantime I've started binding the set of placemats AND, while DH held a board meeting downstairs for his woodturning guild, I spent nearly three hours upstairs making and pressing blocks for Dot to Dot.  I'll share the still-pending layout early next week IF life cooperates.

Quiltdivajulie

-----------------------------------------------

“And suddenly you know – it’s time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings.”

Meister Eckhart

Introducing Gone Dotty

June, 2021 - I pulled as many different polka dot fabrics as possible from my stash (yardage and resource boxes).  This is what I came up with.

The original plan doesn't even matter any more because there have been so many changes in direction between then and now.

But over the past few weeks, using this array of polka dot fabrics, I've been cutting 2.5 x 4.5" rectangles for a baby quilt named Dot to Dot and pairs of 4.5" x 9" rectangles for die cutting 3" (fin.) HSTs to make a lap quilt named Gone Dotty.  

Here are the first few sets of HSTs for Gone Dotty.

There will be 64 different polka dot fabrics paired with a limited number of black and white polka dots and others that read like a polka dot -- eight different color groups each with eight different polka dots. 

Cathy L. shared this vintage beauty last year and I knew instantly that at some point I would make my own version.  Gone Dotty is that project.

Cathy is making sets of 5 HSTs from her scraps and tossing those sets into a box.  I just know that her super-scrappy version (scroll to the end of the linked post to see photos) is going to be amazing.

This is what my design wall currently looks like but this will not be the eventual layout.

Process note:  In order to get five HSTS using a die that cuts four from each 4.5" x 9" rectangle, I used two rectangles giving me eight HSTs from each of the 64 fabrics.  I'm making all of them but only five of each fabric will be in this quilt.  

The other 192 leftover HSTs  (3 each x 64 fabrics) will be used to make a second baby quilt tentatively named Spots and Dots.

But for now, Gone Dotty is my focus.  Stay tuned . . . 

Quiltdivajulie

-----------------------------------------------

“There is a magic about you that is all your own.”

D.M. Dellinger

In the Works

I'm happy to report that I have pieced and quilted the squirrel mat using leftovers from the two Camp Sefton quilts (Isabela and Mirabel).  This is the mat's intended home, atop my thread cabinet.

Here's a close up showing the top of the mat along with the back cover of my copy of Little Man's book.

I'm especially pleased as I was able to use the very last section of binding from the two quilts on my mat.  

This photo shows the reverse side of the mat.

Since the binding shown in the first close up wasn't long enough, I added some left after finishing the February utility mats.  Perfect blend of colors.

On the design wall are these first few blocks for Logophile.  All of the HSTs are pieced and I'm making a block or two each evening.  The two light blocks above read as "holes" so they ended up being replaced, as you'll see in the photo below.

Here's where things are for now.  A few seams at a time, this one will come together over the next few weeks.

 

This was Little Man's pillow case for February. 

And this is the pillow case for March.

I'm very proud of myself because April's pillow case is ready and waiting AND the fabrics for May, June, July, August, and September pillowcases are cut and waiting to be assembled.  

Over in the design studio, I am in the process of cutting into the many polka dot fabrics I pulled last year.  

I'm cutting rectangles for this project which I had previously been calling Jollification.  The new name will be DOT TO DOT.  Once completed, Dot to Dot will be set aside as a future baby quilt.

I'm also cutting larger rectangles to die cut 3" HSTs for a more colorful version of a quilt Cathy L. shared last year.  Again, my fabric thoughts for this one have been all over the map with GONE DOTTY and I find it hilarious that in the end I will be making it with the polka dots I first envisioned.  

My primary polka dot goal is to get the long-pending stacks of fabric cut for these projects so they can be re-folded and integrated back into the stash.   No more moving them from here to there and back again.

  

Quiltdivajulie

-----------------------------------------------

“If you just keep your head down and just try and do your thing, sometimes magic happens.”

Gavin Rossdale