Some Friday Finishes

I may not have been blogging much, but that doesn't mean I haven't been quilting! 

November's Jelly Roll Party at Ruth's Stitchery features not one, but three easy strip quilts. All three are included in one pattern, "Strip it Three Ways II" by Nancy Rink Designs. The three quilts in this pattern are named "Earth," "Wind," and "Fire." (Hmm, sounds like a rock group I remember!)

When I started the sample for this class, I thought I would make only one of the three quilts. The first one I made is called "Earth." It's made with Robert Kaufman's Kona New Dark Palette roll up. The background is Michael Miller's cotton couture in the color "Earth." (I got a kick out of using that fabric for the "Earth" quilt. Note: the actual fabric is more of a brown color than it looks on the computer screen.)

Friend and long-armer Denise, of Pickle Dish Quilting, quilted this one with my favorite figure-8s design. We like Omni thread from Superior for quilting -- it comes in so many colors, and slides through the long arm machine like a hot knife through butter!

So "Earth" went together so fast, I decided to whip up "Fire."  I had two Wilmington Jewels "Wanted . . . Red or Alive" strip sets left over from making a 12th birthday quilt for my great-nephew. The strip set has red, orange, yellow, grey, and black strips -- so I selected only the bright colors, plus a few batik scraps. I used Northcott's Artisan Shimmer in grey with silver metallic dots for the background -- I think it looks like smoke.

Denise quilted this one with a "flame" pattern using a unique variegated thread from Superior called "Lava."

Fair warning: there are corrections for this pattern at Nancy Rink Designs.

The third, and last quilt in the collection is "Wind." Because my blog co-editor is a US Navy Sailor, I thought more of "water" than wind. The jelly roll I used is "Hearty Good Wishes" by Janet Clare for Moda, along with some scraps from her "Nocturne" collection. The background is also from "Nocturne."

Click on the photo so you can see the cool, wavy quilting design Denise's daughter, Kristina used for this one. Isn't it perfect?

So, choose one or all three! 


From the desk of your

More Sunday Stash

Looking forward to greeting my friends from Around the Block Quilts today. They've been on a Row-by-Row Experience road trip to Santa Fe, and will stop at Ruth's Stitchery on the way back to Cheyenne. I can't wait to show them "my" shop!

In the meanwhile, here are some more stash additions from my own road trip to Idaho last month. It's pattern week!

Next year at Ruth's, we're doing something other than a strip quilt every month. The odd-numbered months will still be "Jelly Roll Party." First Friday of every odd-numbered month (January, March, May, July, September, and November) we'll make a different quilt using 2½" strips.

On the first Friday of the even-numbered months (February, April, June, August, October), we'll have Fat Quarter Fun. Quilts made using fat quarters! I can't wait to start putting together unique fat quarter bundles for each sample quilt.

Do you have a favorite strip or fat quarter quilt? Tell me the name of the pattern in the comments!

From the desk of your

Some Friday Finishes

Just because I haven't been posting, doesn't mean I haven't been piecing!

Here are some finishes from this month:

1.  The very first "modern" quilt I made was pieced several years ago. I finally had it quilted by Vivian at Ruth's Stitchery.

The fabrics are all Kona cottons. The greens are from a FQ bundle, "Poseidon." The pattern is from Northcott.

Sorry I forgot to take a photo before Anne hung the quilt in the shop! The colors are much more intense in person.

2.  Robert Kaufman fabrics chose their own "color of the year" for 2016. It's "Highlight," a vivid yellow reminiscent of the first highlighter pens -- remember those?

I used Tula Pink's "Houndstooth" pattern from her book, "Quilts from the House of Tula Pink." The single black block is a Hoffman batik called Raven. I call this quilt "Crow in the Wheatfield."

3.  The third finish is the sample for the May Jelly Roll Party.

It's called "Vintage Tulips" and I used Bonnie and Camille's "Vintage Picnic" jelly roll, along with a few older Bonnie and Camille fabrics. 

Snow predicted for Colorado this weekend -- 

maybe it will be a "sew day!"

From the desk of your

What's on the Design Wall?

I absolutely love the quilt that's on the design wall this week. 

Not only is the design named for my co-author and Younger Son -- Jacob's Ladder -- the fabric is by one of my favorite designers, Jen Kingwell.

Jen's fabric line is called "Just a Speck." You can see why in these close-ups of the quilt top:

Isn't that the most fun? I'll use a fabric from her Lollies line for the backing. The fabric has eight different prints -- great for scrappy piecing!

I've made several Jacob's ladder quilts in my day. In fact, one of the very first quilts I ever made was a Jacob's Ladder -- for Jacob! This one uses 2½" strips. The pattern is from Cozy Quilts.

(photo from CozyQuilts.com)

This quilt will be the June Jelly Roll Party project at Ruth's Stitchery.

What's on your design wall this week?


From the desk of your

Tuesday Tutorial: A Tragic Tale

This may well be the saddest quilting story ever told. 

Can you see what this is? Maybe a closeup would help:

This is a beautifully pieced jelly roll quilt, which was washed before it was quilted and bound.

Now before you laugh, and say "Why would anyone wash an un-quilted quilt top?" listen to the reasoning behind this trauma.

You bring home new clothes from the store, and wash them before you wear them, right? So shouldn't you wash your quilt top before it is quilted?

Oh, the humanity.

But you know what? When I read the class instructions for my Jelly Roll Party at Ruth's Stitchery, it included the instructions to bring "wash and pressed fabric."

Noooooo!

Some quilters prewash, some don't (I don't!). But precuts should not be pre-washed -- especially strips! Because the manufacturer is cutting many, many layers of fabric in one swipe, precuts are rarely "on grain." So they tend to fray -- sometimes, a lot!

So please, don't prewash your precuts!

Here are two of my favorite strip pointers. 

First, have you ever opened a roll of 2½" strips and immediately been covered in tiny bits of fabric lint? Try this: before removing the rubber band or ribbon that holds the strips in place, roll the cut sides with a lint roller.

You'll be surprised at how much "lint" comes off on the roller! If you can't find your lint roller (hint: it's on the shelf above the clothes dryer), try using the nozzle of your vacuum cleaner.

Second, have you ever carefully pieced a block using 2½" strips and had it come out too small? It could be your seam allowance -- or it could be that the strip isn't a true 2½" wide. Especially with strips that have "pinked" edges, measure them before you sew!

Sometimes the 2½" width is at the "outside" of the pinked edge, sometimes it's at the "inside" of the pinking.

And sometimes, the strip isn't a complete 2½" wide at all!

Sometimes, the strips are 2½" wide at one end, but narrower at the opposite end. Measure before you sew!

Today is "Do a Grouch a Favor" Day.

Do a Grouch a Favor today. Do it and make the world a better place.
Everyone has been a grouch at one time or another. Some people are seemingly grouches all of the time. It's in their nature. Others are occasional grouches, influenced by events in their lives, lack of sleep, the weather, etc. A few people are good at disguising their grouchy mood. But, they still need cheering up.
 Look around for someone who is in a grouchy mood today. Then, do him or her a favor that will cheer up their day. There's plenty of grouches out there to practice on. Try it on all of the grouches that you see today, and watch the results!

Happy Do a Grouch a Favor Day!

From the desk of your

Sunday Stash: Some New Patterns

I like to buy new patterns and read/admire them for awhile before I buy the fabric to go with. 

First up is a new bag pattern from "Lazy Girl Designs," the Sweatpea Pods. Cathy brought back a sample of the special zipper required for this bag from Fall market. Isn't it cute?

I showed you this layer cake and "City Blocks" pattern last week -- now the Moda Bella Solids that I want to use for the background has arrived, so this will be my next "new quilt" start!

You know how I love "strip quilts." This new book from That Patchwork Place has lots of great patterns that use 2½" fabric strips. I can't decide which one to make first!

This was a "just because it's pretty" purchase. I have a growing collection of text prints, and I think this block will make a great pillow for my "word nerd" friends!

Being an Idaho native, I couldn't resist this embroidery pattern. Even though I haven't embroidered for years!

Do you ever buy a pattern that you'll never make up, just because you like it? Elder Son says "It's OK to buy it just because it's pretty!"


From the desk of your

TGIFF: Jelly Roll Party

Because I've been in Texas, I've missed a few Jelly Roll Parties at Ruth's Stitchery. I'm excited to see my stripper friends this afternoon!

The latest "Jelly Roll Finish" is "No-Measure Bargello" from Cozy Quilts.

I used a Moda jelly roll, "Lakeside Gatherings" and yardage to make my version. The only modification I made was to make a narrow third border rather than the flange called for in the pattern. I knew a loose flange would annoy my long-armer, as it would require stopping and starting the quilting so as not to stitch down the flange. We must keep our long-armer happy!

CJ quilted a lovely loose paisley design. 

I used the dark anchors yardage for the backing, and inserted a leftover bargello strip to add a little interest:

The methodology for this pattern makes cutting the bargello strips a lot easier. But fair warning: there is a LOT of stitching required for this one!

Today we choose patterns for the 2016 Jelly Roll Party. What's your favorite jelly roll pattern?

From the desk of your

TGIFF: Jelly Roll Party Sample

When the outdoor temperature remains in the 90sF, it's hard to work on quilts! So I haven't done much quilting the past six months!

However, I did manage to finish piecing the sample for the December Jelly Roll Party. It needs to go on display at Ruth's Stitchery November 6, so must go off to Cornelia for quilting today.

It's hard to take a photo of a 78" X 93" quilt on the bed -- but this photos gives you the idea. The pattern is from Cozy Quilts, "No Measure Bargello." The fabric is Lakeside Gatherings for Moda. I'll warn you: Bargello quilts take a lot of stitching! Although the pattern calls for two matching strips of each fabric, I used one jelly roll and matched the fabrics as best I could. In the photo, it's almost impossible to tell that every other strip is a different fabric.

I thought I was sewing the lap size, but it came out big enough for a full-sized bed. Since the colors are those of Pacific Lutheran University, I guess it will go to the Elder Son for his college dorm!

My favorite weather forecaster promises temps in the 80s next week -- I hope he's right!


From the desk of your

Friday Finish

Next week is the official beginning of autumn, but it's still high summer in Texas! 

Lots of traveling this summer has meant not much quilting. But I did get a Jelly Roll Party sample finished.

This is "Olympia" from Cozy Quilts Designs. The fabric is "Reels" from Zen Chic. Cornelia quilted an allover circles design using a light grey thread -- don't you just love it?

Come back next Wednesday for the autumn "A Quilt Block a Day" tutorial. 

From the desk of your

Summer Finishes Catch-up

I didn't do much blogging this summer, but that doesn't mean I wasn't sewing! Mostly, I sewed summer clothes to wear in hothothot Texas. 

Here are some of the quilts I finished this summer. First, a 90th birthday quilt for my Uncle Bob. He joined the Navy at age 17 to serve in WW II, and he still golfs and bowls every week.

Ohmigosh, searching for the post about this quilt, I realize I never blogged about it! This was the July Jelly Roll Party quilt. The pattern is Strip Twist by GE Designs, and the fabric is "Red, White, and Free" from Moda. This is the only photo I have of this quilt, so you'll just have to take my word for it that the pattern goes together very fast. And it's a great introduction to partial seams!

I also finished "college quilts" for friends starting (and continuing!) college. First up, "Prairie Windmills." I actually started this quilt in a class with Kathleen Moorhead Johnson at Quilt Wyoming 2013. When my friend told me her Princeton-bound daughter loves pink, I knew this quilt had to be quilted and bound for Stephie!

I love working with batiks, they press so beautifully. So crisp, it's almost like folding paper!

CJ quilted it with an allover floral design using a Neapolitan-ice cream colored King Tut thread.

I hope you can see the detail of the quilting in this closeup!

The second college quilt I made was for my own Elder Son. He decided to quit selling Jeeps and go back to college to earn his MBA at Pacific Lutheran University, one of my own alma maters. I'm so pleased and proud!

The great thing about PLU student housing is, they have a dorm just for Seniors and grad students.  But the rooms only have XL Twin size beds -- and J-Man has had a queen-size bed since high school.  So Mama had to right quick whip up an XL Twin quilt!

I used Bonnie Hunter's "Sticks and Stone's" pattern and almost all my pre-cut black and white squares. Yay for Scrap Therapy!

I stuck in a few fussy-cut blocks. Love this "skull" one, and

this one to remind Justin of his kitty, Moussa Koussa. They only allow fish for pets in the dorm, I told him he should rename the cat "Fish." 

Of course, I bound it using "Susie's Magic Binding" in my favorite black-and-white stripes and scrappy brights.

It's already Fall in Tacoma, so I mailed the quilt straight to college. It will be waiting when he checks into his dorm!

I have another finish to share, but I think I'll save it until next Friday. Let's get this post published!



From the desk of your