It is time to meet my Dote Quilt Pattern! I’d describe Dote and colorful and cheerful.
Dote is a simple idea that you can do so much with. It’s a project where your fabrics can shine in this beginner-friendly appliqué project. Sometimes you just need simple shapes and beautiful fabrics to pass through your fingers.
Appliqué
You might remember these appliqué shapes from my pattern Cliff, in fact, you can use the same templates if you like using acrylic templates. What’s different here is that it’s block based, very travel-friendly and ready for all of the scraps, charm packs or whatever you might have on hand. I love an appliqué project with a small block that doesn’t have too many pieces but a lot of color. There’s no way to get bored as you work your way through this pile of blocks.
The Quilting
As for the quilting, I love the mix of hand and machine quilting. Since this is such a colorful project, I knew that it would be a nice touch to add color in the quilting itself. I used a thick orange thread to hand quilt diagonal lines across the project.
Then I went in with free motion quilting to add density and texture. For this part, I used a neutral thread that would blend in, and I quilted in horizontal and vertical lines randomly throughout the background and border. It’s always fun quilting the background like this in an appliqué project, because it makes the appliqué sections pop.
Behind-The-Seams
Before the quilting and after I’d gotten all of my blocks finished and sewn together, I snapped some pictures of the back. Isn’t it satisfying to see the back of a quilt top?
I pressed my seams open, but you could nest them if you prefer that route. There are always many factors that go in to my decision on how to press my seams. How I plan to quilt it is a consideration. Pressing a seam to one direction can add volume and weight, pressing the seams open can give more neutrality to the area, which is what I wanted here.
I love seeing those snippets of color from the appliqués in the seam allowance. Here’s the front before I added the borders.
Dote Quilt Pattern Details
I hope you like Dote and can see all of the ways you can take it yourself. It works perfectly with a charm pack, and since it’s block-based you can resize as desired.
Pattern: Dote Quilt Pattern
Templates: Can work with my Cliff template set
Fabric: I used my Memento fabrics for the appliqués and border, and Rashida Coleman Hale’s Speckled fabric in Creme Brulee for the block backgrounds.
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