Tuesday, May 8, 2018

Plus Playtime QAL: Cutting Tips

I've seen a fair amount of fabric flying around on blogs and on Instagram posts, and one or two finished tops already! I think this is wonderful, so that others see what some quilters have done, and it can help with decision-making, or perhaps convince others sitting on the fence to jump in with the rest of us.

So last week we saw the dive-right-in-dolphin Louise's flimsy, and this week here is eager Canadian beaver Anja's of Anja Quilts:


I just love the two greens she used in her background, genius!

Alright, cutting. By now you have looked through the pattern and seen that the construction of this quilt is a bit different: the quilt is one giant 9-patch (not so different at all), but the blocks are constructed in columns (ahhh, different). You cut various sizes of rectangles and squares.

Major tip #1: background and large plus

  • the background requires 8 strips @ 3.5" wide
  • the large plus in the background, aka the shadow plus, requires 9 strips @ 3.5" wide


Major tip #2 - background:
  • two strips will give you enough for your 3.5" squares for the background and two more for the 3.5X6.5" rectangles will give you 12; cut the 13th from the leftover strip from 3.5" squares
  • three strips will yield the correct number of 3.5X9.5" rectangles
  • one strips will yield the two 3.5X12.5" rectangles
Major tip #3 - large shadow plus:
  • two strips will give you enough for your 3.5" squares
  • four strips will give you your 3.5X6.5" rectangles
  • three strips will give you twelve 3.5X9.5" rectangles; cut the 13th from the leftover strip from the 3.5X6.5" rectangles 
For organizing purposes, you can just stack or you could use baggies to keep the pieces together. Easy!

Small plus blocks:
  • There are 28 in total.
  • 25 are full pluses, meaning one 3.5X9.5" rectangle and two 3.5" squares.
  •  Three are partial pluses, meaning one 3.5X9.5" rectangle and one 3.5" square.
  • You will find these partial pluses at the end of rows 1 and 3, and at the beginning of row 2. See below.

Here is my adult Plus Playtime quilt at the 9-block stage on the design wall. 

I'm allowing two weeks to cut out all your pieces. It seems like a hefty chunk of time, but Mother's Day happens on May 13 in the US and Canada...I think it was a month or two ago in the UK, no? Yes, a quick Google and it was March 11, the fourth Sunday in Lent. And looks like you Aussies and Kiwis celebrate it the same as us, on the second Sunday in May! I love learning all this stuff, and feeling connected.😍🌏🌎🌍😍 
Anyhow, May is a busy month everywhere: here in Canada we have the May long weekend, celebrating Victoria Day on May 21. It was a Bank Holiday in England and Ireland, Scotland too, I presume, on May 7, and Labour Day in Australia, and it's Memorial Day the last weekend in May in the US, so a busy month everywhere. Let me know, Jean, if there is a Bank Holiday in NZ in May; couldn't see any public holiday in May according to Google.

No linkup today, but please remember to tag me on Instagram @mmmquilts and also hashtag is #plusplaytimeqal if you feel like showing an and all progress!

Any questions, please either ask in the comments, or shoot me an email: ephdra (at) gmail (dot) com

If you haven't checked out the new bloggers for week 3 go here where you will find links to Linda in my hive who is posting, as well as the other co-hosts' blogs, and of course be sure to enter the giveaway on the Rafflecopter!

6 comments:

  1. Thanks for the shout out and cutting tips. I'm going to make a second one so I can quilt along with everyone....time to get cutting.

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  2. Hi Sandra,
    Love seeing all of these tips! I have FIVE graduations this month - and a few that I actually have to attend (a little boring). That is a huge impact on sewing time, darn it. Plus I have to get dressed up - cannot go out in my at-home clothes like when I'm sewing. HAHA! ~smile~ Roseanne

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  3. I loved seeing Anja's version on IG and look forward to seeing many more come together!

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  4. This is going to be fun! Looking forward to being with my fabric and cutting into it at the end of the week.

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  5. Love those brights with the black, stunning. You are right, our Mother's Day is May 13th, second Sunday in May, after all it could not interfere with the start of duck shooting which begins the first Saturday in May!!! The next holiday is Queen's Birthday weekend, not her real birthday date, but on the first Monday in June. No, we don't have a Bank Holiday here, but each region, ( 14 of them ) has their own Anniversary Day.Usually a Monday, some a Friday, one has a Tuesday this year.

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  6. Love your color palette for this version. Those brights really shine.

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