Wednesday, April 11, 2018

Adult Plus Playtime QAL

How's THAT for a catchy title? Betcha all kinds of thoughts went through your head right?! I just learned about Bake Alongs, I knew about Quilt Alongs, Sew Alongs, Knit Alongs...Love the #wtf (what the fade) knit along that was on IG not long ago...

Any-who.

First of all, if you've come here to link up your Postcard from Sweden finished quilt, you may have missed the announcement here on the blog and on my IG feed, that the finish parade has been extended one week, and will occur next Wednesday, April 18.

One QAL finishing, and another is beginning! I am pleased as punch to promote--well, announce, but I liked the alliteration--my second annual (well, it seems to be a thing; may as well put a name to it) Quilt Along! Secondly, it also seems to be a thing that I'm becoming, or have become, a Shadow Woman (thanks to Kathleen for the nomenclature). Thirdly, it also seems to be a thing that my annual QAL is going to be another shadow quilt!! I've hinted that we are going to do another, and I've hinted at what quilt we are going to do...
January edition of Modern by the Yard
I used Benartex's Dot Crazy by Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr, which you can find in quilt shops now. It has a definite fun, kid-oriented feel to it, hence, the name Plus Playtime. It's so interesting to see interpretations of my designs; when I first designed this, in the #30quiltdesignschallenge2017 I co-hosted last year on Instagram, I had all the good works of the Red Cross in mind, and so my cross or plus was red, the background white, and a rainbow of pluses twirling across to symbolize that the Red Cross organization is worldwide and they help without discrimination. Lisa, the editor of the ezine, wanted me to use Dot Crazy, and it took on a different feel.

Now for the QAL, I'm doing the new quilt with an adult vibe, using another Benartex line I had the privilege to work with in the Wonderlust Blog Hop,  Paula Nadelstern's Wonderlust.
Aren't those fabrics so rich that you just have to touch or pet them?! My large plus will be the Electric Slide kaleidoscope fabric and the background will be the black marbella. These fabrics are in quilt shops now too!

AND... one of the prizes will be a bundle of several of these beauties. 😁

Here are two shots of the entire quilt:

You can still download the ezine at Benartex's blog, Sew in Love With Fabric, (look on their sidebar at the top) where you will find the instructions (and if you don't QAL very well, but you're an eager beaver, no names mentioned, but a certain Caribbean-area quilter knows who I mean ha), then you can dive (pun intended, Louise) right in!

The ezine is free, and not only contains my Plus Playtime quilt, but also patterns for a few others, and some interesting worthy-of-reading articles. If you haven't downloaded it, hop on over there and get your free copy right now. I bet you might find another project or two you just have to make!

I hope you'll consider joining in; the pace will be slow as it was last year, but this quilt is much easier to construct. All you have to do for now, is download the ezine, and come back on April 24 for the introductory post. Just to give you an idea of the time frame, the final parade of finished quilts will be July 17, with a 5-week gap between finished top which will be June12, the week of my dad's birthday, as a nod to him and to my first QAL which finished ON his birthday.

That's it! See you April 18, next Wednesday, for Postcard from Sweden parade of finished quilts, and then Tuesday April 24 for the first installment of the Plus Playtime QAL!

Wait. I promised you a photo of the sweet pibble fostered by my friend with whom I met up on a recent not-quite-planned extra trip south, the oh-so-sweet-I-can-hardly-stand-it, Lester.


Those eyes!!  Patient and calm, while we talked and went through fabric. Friendly without being boisterous. A little old man, in that he had a soft comfy bed made up for him to ride shotgun in style and safety. Altogether a sweet sweet boy who is living with her temporarily while she tries to find him a forever home. Believe me, it was so so hard not to take him with or instead of some fabric!

Linking up
Sew Fresh Quilts
Quilt Fabrication

14 comments:

  1. Those fabrics are definitely rich! They'll be lovely in this quilt - can't wait to see!

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  2. Ha! I'm reading between the lines and seeing permission to go at my own pace, even if that means finishing before the first link up. You *know* the way to get me to participate is to remove the guilt I feel about not following instructions. I really do play well with others, honest!

    And it's going to be super fun to play with this awesome pattern! Plus sign quilts are THE thing in 2018, you know. Congrats on being published in the latest Modern By The Yard. The timing is excellent for downloading this issue, since we just signed up for a week at a marina with free wifi in Turks and Caicos.

    Lester is such a cutie-patootie! I hope he finds a kind and loving forever home very soon :)

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  3. Great pattern!! I am going to try to join in!

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  4. Another fun quilt along. I'm determined to finish some UFOs before starting something new, but I've downloaded the pattern for next year's new stash busting projects.

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  5. Oh my gosh, I'm crushing on sweet Lester! My sister has a much higher energy pibble and he is the sweetest boy, too. Who knew pit bull terriers were for SNUGGLING?!! It's my second-favorite breed, after my spoiled rotten rotties. I hope Lester goes to a good home with lots of love. Also, I really love your Plus Playtime quilt. I hadn't seen that pattern before, just the allover plus quilts, and I like how the plusses sort of float around on the quilt you made. Lovely!

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  6. Woohoo Adult playtime! Oh we're talking about a quilt. It is a beautiful quilt! Love the pluses!

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  7. I love that quilt and really want to make it .... but not right now. :(
    Lester is a cutie pie.

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  8. I love this and that I get credit for you new nickname. I’m going to download and see if I can find fabric that works with some of my collections in NH today at MQX (machine quilt expo). Love the pattern and your cheery prints are perfect. Not sure I’ll have the time for this one, but we’ll see if we can sneak it in!

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  9. I would not put Adult and Playtime in the same sentence. But then you know the state of affairs in my country. You may be a Shadow Woman but those colors in the Plus Quilt overshadow everything else. With prizes so luscious, I am sure you will have a huge response to the QAL. Lester is a sweetheart and I am sure he will miss Sonja, when he has to go.

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  10. This pattern is beautiful Sandra, as is the fabric used to make it. Have fun with the QAL. I will enjoy watching and reading about it as it happens.

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  11. and I just told myself no more qal until I finish up things, but you do know how I like a plus quilt, but of course a qal

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  12. I'm in!! Guess it's time to search the stash for some fabrics. Looking forward to the QAL. I plan to stay on top of things this time around. LOL

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  13. Adult playtime is click-bait! This sounds like a fun QAL. I'm looking forward to the start.

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  14. Big smooches to the darling pibble!

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