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Sunday, May 30, 2010

Scattered Dots Tutorial

I was asked for a tutorial for these potholders, which gave me the perfect excuse to make this:
I took pictures along the way.
Here goes.
First, you will need to decide on your dimensions. The potholders were roughly 7" square. The mini quilt is 14" square.
In both cases, I chose a solid for the background. I used a Kona gray solid for the potholders and linen for the mini. The outermost strips are cut 2 1/2" wide. All other strips are 1 1/2" wide. In this case, they are 14" long.
Then I cut my colored strips 3/4" wide by 14" long.
I traced my spool of thread onto the backside of my material to create the "dots." If you don't have a spool handy, the dots are 1 1/4" diameter.
You should now have all your dots, colored strips and solid strips.
Line them up so that they are ready to sew and you won't make a mistake with the order. Stitch from left to right using a scant 1/4" seam.
I found it best to iron my seams toward the solid fabric as shown.
Then I cut stitch witchery to the same size as the colored dots, fiddled with their "random" placement until I was satisfied, and adhered them in place. Next I used a tight, narrow zigzag to applique. It is important to find a good match with your thread so that the stitching virtually disappears. These dots could be made in countless ways; this is just the method that I used.
Now you are ready to make your quilt sandwich. I quilted an 1/8" away from the strips and dots. Then bind and you are done.
I hope you have fun with this. I have other variations in mind that I hope to try sometime soon.

20 comments:

  1. WhooooHoooo....I am definitely going to try this...when I am home at my own computer I am saving this tut! Thanks!!

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  2. I was waiting for this. I am planning a pillow in the very near future. Thank you so much for posting!

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  3. Thanks!! Lovely tute!!! Going to bookmark it!! I am thinking it would be lovely to have a wallhanging for my favorite scraps!!

    Blessings,
    KT

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  4. I found your blog while researching potholders on flicker. What a great modern mini quilt. Thanks for the tutorial and lovely blog!

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  5. Beauty! Thanks for sharing your technique, Amy!

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  6. thanks so much for sharing this!

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  7. thank you for this! can't wait to try it!

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  8. Yeah! Thank you very much for sharing this with us! I know have a cool idea for a graduation and a birthday gift!! Thank you again!

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  9. That was super! thank you!

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  10. Looks great. Thanks for the tutorial.
    Munaiba

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  11. Thanks for sharing, Amy! I'll have to give this a try!

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  12. Very nice tutorial, Amy. I just love this mini-quilt.

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  13. Thank you thank you! Beautiful!

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  14. This is such a great little quilt! thank you so much for the tutorial; I'm definitely adding this to my quilts-to-make list!

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  15. you are so creative! i love this mini-quilt and the potholders, too. thanks for sharing this tutorial.

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  16. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this!!! I'll have to put this on my to-do list!

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  17. This would make great placemats as well for a nice cheerful summer.

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  18. Great tutorial! You've been featured on the Quality Sewing Tutorials blog.

    We hand select only the best free tutorials and patterns for the home sewist.

    Grab a brag button!

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  19. This is a great tutorial. I have been looking for a way to showcase some special buttons and I think I have found it... Thanks.

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