Georgia Collection Quilt

Fall has arrived with crisp breezes and bright blue skies, and Fabric Palette has a new line with the autumn colors – Georgia Collection.

If you collect those irresistible packages of jellies and charms, but then can’t decide what to do, “Dots and Dashes” is a fun 60” x 60” quilt to make. Click here for the free pattern!  You’ll need 2 ¾ yards of white for the 12 white jellies you see in the design, also for the eighteen 10 ½” white squares to applique the ‘dots’ to. I’ll show you how to applique dots another post.

Here’s a few tips about working with jellie strips in this pattern:

1)  Jellie strips are 2 ½” x width of the fabric, about 42”.   Open the roll, and press the center crease flat.  If yours have lots of fly away threads, use scissors to trim so you don’t have seams with lots of threads peaking out.

2)  To cut the white 2 ½” strips, be sure to square up the sides so you’ll have nice straight strips. Kristin shows you how in our Quiltologie you tube video.  Match the selvage edges and place square on the cutting mat. Straighten the edge using the grid and longest ruler you have, cut just one, then open the fabric to be sure there isn’t a ‘V’.

3)  If cutting a long width of fabric jellie on your cutting mat is not getting you straight strips, check your pattern, you may be able to make them half the length (2 ½” x 22”).  This pattern uses 3 sub cuts, 10 ½”, so you have that option. Sew the half-jellies together if you’d like to make the full length.  (photo)

4)  Before you sew, organize your fabrics.  Group 18 jellie strips together with the white strips – you’re not using the gold ones (unless you want to). Clip together and set aside to sew.

5) Press/iron two strips right sides together before sewing, they’ll stick together better.

6)  Before you start stitching, fill an extra bobbin. Speaking from experience here.

7)  Use a ¼” seam – test first. If you have scraps, try this:  Sew two 2 ½” strips together, they should measure 4 ½”. Add a third jellie = 6 ½”. The fourth will make 8 ½”, and the last jellie is your target width – 10 ½”.

8)  Sew straight! Try using the needle down option on your machine, so when you pause, you won’t have a zig or a zag.

9)  Press the seams as you go, always towards the darker strip. You could save your energy and press when all five are sewn, but you’ll have to get your fingertips close to the hot iron and many times press a crease where you don’t want one. You also won’t burn as many calories.

10)  Press from the front too, to be sure there aren’t pleats or extra fabric hiding in the seams.  There’s no shadowing when the seams are pressed toward the dark.

11)  Start all strips at the same end, or alternate if you see your strips cupping or curving. If your machine feeds evenly and has good thread tension, you won’t need to switch directions.

12)  To ‘sub-cut’ the sewn strips, trim the selvage edges first. Measure the 10 ½” mark, using the printed lines on your ruler to be sure it’s lined up. The center photo also shows that the center strips measure 2″ on the right side – nice and accurate seam allowances!  The photo on the right – three 10 1/2″ squares, all neatly pressed and stacked.

Aren’t the Georgia designs wonderful? Put together your own color combinations or follow the Dots & Dashes instructions. Happy Fall! Happy Stitching!