SS Playtime Plus--Finished

I have to admit this quilt has been finished for weeks now, just waiting for me to talk about it.  This is my finish for Sandra at mmm!quilts Playtime Plus QAL.  I call it the SS Playtime Plus, short for Sexy Sophisticated Playtime Plus.  Red, black and white are just timeless classic colors.

S.S. Playtime Plus-Quilt Top

It's finally pieced, my Super Sexy/Sophisticated Adult Playtime Plus quilt top!  I'm so in love with her.  She is everything I imagined and more.  Once I started piecing I just couldn't stop, but I made myself wait to share it with you.

SS Playtime Plus-Rows One and Two

And so the last we talked, this beautiful quilt was all in pieces.  Laid across my cutting board, it wondered to itself, if indeed one day it would be come a finished quilt.  Oh, why must a quilt journey take so long?

I set about reading the fabrics and mapping out their designation.  Since I was only dealing with the first row, there didn't need to be much planning on the black and gray fabric placement...just black, gray, black, gray.  So I set back and let the fabrics do the driving.

It would appear, they new exactly where they are going.

 

 Row two however, would be a bit more tricky.  I wanted to try to keep my blacks and grays distributed nicely in the rows, so for blocks 4, 5, and 6 I moved a bit slower.

 



 

 

I worked by pinning the columns of the blocks together to make sure that the fabrics in the block above it were not repeated in the one below. 

 

Okay, time for a full disclosure confession...I didn't really take any pictures after this point.  I got so in the groove making these blocks, the momentum building full steam ahead, that I finished the quilt top.  Did I just have a premature quilt finish????

 

So I've decided to wait until after Row 3 is released to reveal my finished quilt top.  All I can say is...I'm in Love.

If you are participating in the Fireburst Mystery Quilt, the first piecing instructions will be released on Friday, June 1st!  Hope to see you there!



 

 

I am unable right now to respond to your comments by email due to recent changes with Blogger.  If you would like me to respond please make sure you leave your email with your comment.  I appreciate all your words and hope that Blogger finds a way to "fix" this soon.  I love hearing from everyone.

 

Today I'm linking up with Let's Bee Social and Midweek Makers. 

S.S. Playtime Plus--Cutting

Now is the time to start chopping up fabrics for the Playtime Plus QAL at mmm!quilts.  I had decided on my fabric colors and placements, but needed to slim down my fabric pull.  I may have got a bit crazy with the black and grays.

Technically, the quilt would only need 14 of each color, so I needed to down size them.  I decided on seven of each color.

From there I decided to cut enough pieces for two pluses in each color.  I'm thinking I might have a few pieces left over at the end, but that's okay.  Now as we put the blocks together I can decide which plus will go where.

I can't wait to start piecing all these beautiful strips together!  Sandra, do I have to wait????

Also don't forget that the third week of the New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop is going on right now...as I type! 

Be sure to check out this week's post make new friends and maybe win some prizes. 

Some other upcoming events; on Saturday, David (or as we call him around here Dave the Quilt Engineer) will be highlighted at Melva Loves Scraps in her Quilters Through the Generation series.

You can read a bit more about how he started quilting and why he does it.  Also on Friday the 18th, while I'm parting at our annual Strawberry Festival, you can party with me and your Friday finishes.  Wonderland will be hosting for the first time the TGIFF linky party.

So round up your finishes and meet me there!  Come back and see what UFO I've finally busted.

S.S. Playtime Plus

The S. S. Playtime Plus Quilt or rather Super Sexy Playtime Plus Quilt is about to set sail.  Her first stop on this quilting cruise was the fabric store to scratch that I need new pretties itch.  I've been in great debate since Sandra (mmm!quilts) announced this QAL on what fabrics to use.  I decided on classic red, black, white and a little gray for fun.  I finally landed on a layout.

Although, I may end up swapping the gray and black plus placements. 

I threw my nets in the sea of the stash to see what I  could find.  I definitely didn't come up empty handed.

 Here is the pile of grays and blacks that joined my store purchases.  Now it's back to the map to see where this journey will lead to next.

If you haven't checked out the Playtime Plus QAL, make sure you travel to mmm!quilts for more details.  There will be lots of fun sewing and even prizes at the end!

And don't forget the 2018 New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop will be kicking back off tomorrow with the introductions of eight new quilt bloggers...and more prizes!  It's like a party everywhere you turn!  If you haven't met the sixteen bloggers introduced, you can find information about there here.



UFO Busting #18

Pin wheel quilt finished?  No.  I don't want to talk about.  I've totally bailed on it for a bit.  However, I am trying to bust out another UFO, so I think that makes up for it.  I would have had a cool finish to show you, but I'm experiencing technical difficulties.

This week, I decided to forego working on the Pinwheel quilt (guess I'm going to talk about it anyway) to kick off the Fireburst Mystery Quilt.  I also figured enough was enough.  I need to get the long arm at my cousin's house up and running.  I've spent a year being afraid of it.  How ridiculous is that?

The first thing to do was get the tension working properly.  We spent quite a bit of time turning this and tweaking that.

A little before and after shot of the test quilt sandwich.

We worked until we had the tension darn near close to correct and decided to load a real quilt.  Sometimes you just have to jump in or you never will.  Who would be my first victim?  I chose this baby quilt version of the Star Blossom Quilt.

If something went horribly wrong, I felt I wouldn't cry myself to sleep.  I'm quilting it with an all over meander loop and man did it quilt up quickly.  Well, all but the last 5-6 inches. 

If you've been quilting for anytime you know you can usually tell when something isn't right just by the sound of your machine.  It almost sounded like it was slowing down and I found myself trying to compensate for that in moving the head of the machine.  Then it dawned on me, it has a stitch regulator, I shouldn't have to do that.  So we decided to stop for the evening.  I plan on going back over soon and giving it a go again.  Just curious, if anyone has had that happen before or has any suggestions?  So a finish next week...fingers crossed.

David returned home from being gone for almost two weeks.  He brought me flowers!

Won't this layer cake of Flower Mill and beautiful white on white make a lovely UFO?

Don't forget that the 2018 New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop kicks back off on Monday.  We've got a fresh group of quilters to introduce and get to know.  I hope you will join me in giving them a warm welcome.

If you are participating in the Fireburst Mystery Quilt, cutting instructions were posted yesterday.  There is also a linky party open until the end of June to share your fabric selections with everyone.  Don't worry you have plenty of time. The next set of instructions will not be released until June 1st.

This week I would like to highlight Louise at Quilt Odyssey.  Not only is she kicking back and enjoying a cold one in one of the most scenic backdrops, but she is busting UFO's and chugging along on new projects.  Speaking of her new projects, she recently pieced this hot! hot! hot! version of Sandra's (mmm!quilts) Playtime Plus she is calling Five Alarm Chili.

And she has found time to finish up at least three lingering baby blankets to donate to Little Lambs.

If you missed this post last week, make sure you drift on over to Quilt Odyssey and enjoy the view.

Now it's your turn.  Is it smooth sailing in your waters with stacks of finished quilts bobbing all around you?  Or are you swimming in a sea of UFO's praying you don't get pulled out to sea by an undertow?  Link up below and show us what you've been up to.

   

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