S.W.A.K. is the 4th quilt in the Piece and Quilt with Precuts book by Christa Watson. I am so happy to finally be able to share my finished quilt after all the sneak peeks on my Instagram!
This quilt uses Charm Packs for the half square triangles (HSTs). So keeping with the spirit of the precuts theme, I decided to use Airmail (quantity 2), Modern Background Ink (quantity 2), and Bella Solid White (less than 1) Charm Packs. Here is the first lesson: Not all Charm Packs are the same size! Seriously. You'd think they should all be 5" square, but with the pinked edges the square is sometimes larger or smaller.
I used my Frixion pen to mark the diagonals on all the lines and centered the two pieces the best I could. However, it didn't help with the finished size of the HST. The pattern calls for 4-5/8" HSTs, but mine were so inconsistent due to the charm pack size that I made the decision to trim them to 4-1/2". So I then started my long process of trimming all 168 HSTs.
I used my design wall to lay out the entire quilt before I made the blocks. I realized with the Red and Blue blocks I could make the fun Xs and Os in different colors.
Because I trimmed my HSTs, the final version of my quilt is slightly smaller than what is listed in the pattern, but it's crucial to have consistently sized HST to have a square quilt! I tried spray basting this quilt for the first time! Christa gave a demo of spray basting in her Start Up Quilting Craftsy class, and I was definitely intrigued. I must say, I think I have fallen in LOVE with spray basting. It makes quilting so much easier without having to take out pins all the time. I followed the square spiral walking foot quilting instructions in the book, and I can only imagine how hard that would have been if there were pins!
So what are my overall thoughts about the pattern and the book? It's a great book that goes from piecing instructions to how to quilt that specific design. Christa has great instructions and great tips throughout the book to help build your skills.
You can purchase a signed copy of the book from Christa's Shop or you can purchase a copy using my Amazon Affiliate link.
Don't forget that the blog hop continues through August 30 so be sure to check out all the other amazing designs and quilters!
Last but not least, since I spent all weekend migrating my blog to be self hosted and now can have Rafflecopter giveaways… Here's a giveaway for an E-copy of Piece and Quilt with Precuts! The giveaway is open until the Midnight CDT on August 31. Good Luck!