Dear Dottie Sew-Along
Let’s get Scrappy!
Ready to sew your scraps? This project welcomes all colors, whether bright, dark or light. With a clever use of value, this quilt can make any scrap collection shine! It's the Dear Dottie Sew-Along, co-hosted by The Makings of Joy and Stitched in Color.
Over 5 weeks of stitching, starting in November, we'll create the Dear Dottie quilt. It combines scrap sewing and curve piecing.
New to curves? Never fear. If you have some patchwork experience under your belt, there’s no reason why curves shouldn’t be your next step! This pattern includes a trimming step so that you can rescue less-than-perfect blocks. Plus, I’ll be sharing a video of my curve piecing to help you visualize the process.
Jump in to learn and win prizes along the way! You can sew-along, whatever your pace!
the Quilt
I made my first Dear Dottie quilt last year for the pure love of scrap sewing. Scraps are nice to play with. It's not too risky to try something new and they create a natural diversity that makes the finished quilt so special.
I received several requests to create a pattern for Dear Dottie. The right moment came this fall, when I couldn’t resist the siren call of making another myself!
My latest baby-sized Dear Dottie will be finished soon. Meanwhile, I’m planning to make yet another throw-sized quilt during the sew-along. That’s how much fun it is to sew these dottie blocks!
the Supplies
The Dear Dottie pattern includes 2 quilt sizes: baby and throw. You can make either size during the sew-along, or even another size of your own creation. I’ll refer to the throw-size here, as that’ll be most popular. Please consult your copy of the pattern for alternative size supplies notes.
Of course, you can sew your Dear Dottie blocks entirely from scraps. Need to supplement? 10” squares (layer cakes) work well for the dots and you can use fat quarters or fat eighths for the background fabrics. Here are details for those sourcing new fabrics:
for the Throw Sized quilt
Dot Fabrics in 10” squares:
40 squares in a colorful assortment
9 squares in an assortment of white/low volume fabrics
6 squares in an assortment of dark fabrics
Background Fabrics
8 fat quarters in an assortment of white/low volume fabrics
4 fat eighths in an assortment of light fabrics
5 fat eighths in an assortment of dark fabrics
Backing: 3 1/2 yards, 44” wide fabric
Binding: 1/2 yard
Other Supplies
a Square quilting ruler, 4” or larger - helpful for trimming block units
28 mm rotary blade - optional, a nice, small size for cutting the curves
Also, completely optional - the Dear Dottie custom ruler set! Template shapes are included with the pattern. This ruler set is an alternative way to cut your pieces.
the Schedule
Prelude
October 14 - Sew-Along Master Post (that’s this post)
October 21 - Dear Dottie baby quilt
October 23 - Choosing Fabrics for Dear Dottie
October 28 - Sew-Along Prizes!
November
December
Week 5 - Join Quilt Top
December 9 - Dear Dottie Showcase + Grand Prize!
the Prizes
Stitching with friends is great fun; stitching with prizes is even better! Share your Dear Dottie progress on Instagram throughout the stitch-along for a chance to win weekly prizes. You don't have to keep up with our schedule to win. Stitch at your happy pace and enjoy!
Prizes are provided exclusively by Fenceline Fabrics!
Come Sew-Along!
So gather up your supplies and start dreaming of colors and fabrics! If you’re on the hunt for low volume background fabrics, there are a couple of great ones at Fenceline: here and here.
Subscribe to Stitched in Color via email to make sure you don’t miss any sew-along posts!
Will you be stitching with us? Use #DearDottieQuilt to start sharing the excitement!