One of the fun things about being a Benartex Fabric Ambassador, is that I get to preview new fabric collections about 6 months prior to them being released. So when I saw my friend, Christa Watson’s new collection, I just knew I needed to request fabric to make a new sample with it!
Last month I finished that new sample…I made my ‘Disco’ pattern. The collection was designed by my fellow designer and friend, Christa Watson of Christa Quilts, Inc. and the new collection is called ‘Dazzle Dots’ from Benartex Fabrics. Besides polka dots being just super plain fun to stitch with, the range of colors in this new collection is fabulous, modern and super #colouricious.
I chose to make the Small Lap version of’ ‘Disco’ which measures 48″ x 60″. This version is also very fabric efficient as it needs just 14 fat quarters and 1 yard each of two background fabrics.
Even though the ‘Disco’ pattern includes a template for the L Shape and the Quadrant shapes, I chose to take my Color Girl Quilts Classic Curve Ruler out for a test drive. This is great notion for cutting curves and one ruler allows you to cut any curve and the accompanying L-Shape from 4″ up to 8-1/2″. I cut all of the quadrants and L-Shapes in lickety split time and best of all, accurately (watch the video below)!
If you’d like to purchase this nifty ruler you, can do so from Color Girl Quilts!
Then I pieced the curves following my own video tutorial, ‘Stitching Perfect Curves Made Easy’. You can view it right here. Each block went together perfectly with very little effort.
Another unique feature of the ‘Disco’ pattern and a departure from most traditional drunkard’s path block quilts is once pieced, the blocks are trimmed down leaving only a scant 1/4″ of the background fabrics at the outer edges of the block. When the blocks are pieced together, it appears as if they are touching, overlapping and connecting with one another.
After trimming the blocks down, I was ready to lay out my design. Also unique to this pattern and super fun is the changing background. It’s not just one fabric throughout the whole quilt, but two contrasting fabrics, which provide an extra layer of depth and movement behind the spinning colored disco balls.
Once the quilt top was pieced, I sent it off to Teresa Silva of Quilting of my Bliss for her to add some of her infamous magic machine quilting. She always does a beautiful job no matter if it is custom quilting or just an edge to edge pattern. Here, she did some beautiful modern free motion quilting.
All in all, this new Disco sample came out fabulous, fun and modern and showcased Christa’s new Dazzle Dots fabric collection wonderfully!
Colourwerx 