QIP: Plus Dash

Hi, It’s Twentysome days into the New Year, and  I am finally getting back to quilting this week. I have basted my Plus Dash quilt top and have the first length wise row completed.

This is a closeup of one of my favorite blocks. I really like this turquoise print. I wish I had more than the fat eighth I started this quilt with. I may have to scour the shelves at JoAnn’s to see if there is any yardage.

It took me quite a bit of time to get the top properly basted with no wrinkles on the bottom. Our two tom cats either wanted to claim the top of the quilt sandwich as their blanket or use the blanketed dining room table as a hideaway fort so they could jump out at each other from hiding and attempt to pull the quilt off the table in the mean time.

For the quilting, I am using my walking foot and quilting a 1/4 inch inside the shape of the churn dash and center plus signs. I have pulled matching colors for the pink, purple, orange, yellow, green and blue churn dashes. Gray of course for the pluses. I am stitching in the gray on each of the plus sashings so there will be a nice boxed framework in the design on the back. I am using gray in the bobbin. I think I waited so long to start quilting this top as I did not know how I wanted to do it. I know I need to learn how to FMQ. I know that I am going to need a different table set up to attempt it properly so I eliminate the heavy drag of the quilt, and it’s effect on the thread tension. I am using a 3.0 stitch to quilt vs. the 2.5 I usually use for normal sewing. This is a Hobbs Heirloom Cotton batt.

I really like how the quilting shows up.

We finally got our King size bed this past weekend. Boy, was that a comical time attempting to get the mattress up the stairs to our second story bedroom. We had the two piece box springs, so there was no problem with that. The mattress would not clear the door trim and got wedged midway up the stairs. So tightly wedged, it would not go up or down. We ended up folding the mattress into a C shape. With lots of pulling and pushing, it finally made it’s way upstairs. Now that it is upstairs, it will not likely go downstairs in one piece, when it wears out. I was told there will likely be a chain saw coming into play. Later, I found some papers that fell off the mattress, that supposedly it is hinged someway or another, to help going upstairs. Just do not bend it further than a 45 degree angle. That would have been nice to know??

It is nice to have a spot to lay out a quilt top in entirety. The mattress is so big that I had to climb back into the closet to get a photo. I can not wait to see this Plus Dash top done. My friend has been having an extra hard time and I am sure could really use a pick me up. This quilt is still a surprise gift to her.

I will be linking up my QIP with various midweek linky parties.

Thanks for stopping by this week to check out my latest quilt projects.

Happy Sewing,
Shelley