Jelly roll fun!

We had a great time at guild yesterday, doing our jelly roll race!  I think there were a dozen people participating, and quite naturally someone started off by sewing without thread, it was a scream!

This is what mine looked like after I finished (sorry, I didn't win!); next time you see this it'll be a real quilt with borders!

This is one made by Jocelyn (she was quilter of the month with the trunk show this month) - good inspiration!   I think Jocelyn made this one when we had our jelly roll race at our WeeBee Quilting bee a few months ago.  She did a beautiful job finishing her's, didn't she?

Here I am working away diligently... what a tangled mess my strips were!  I don't think there's any way to keep them from tangling, unless you stretch all 800 inches across a roller. 

At this point I think I'm on my first round of five, LOL.  I had to decide early on that in a jelly roll race, the strip edges don't have to meet up EXACTLY ...

And now, in no particular order, we have a few winners!

Azalia (left) and Serita!

Natalie (left) and Chloe!

Jackie (left) and Linda (me)!

The fabrics combinations were awesome!  I saw one other person using blues, there were several batik sets, two people had black-and-white combinations...

Nadine chose African fabrics for her's...

I think it will be simply beautiful when she finishes, she does such lovely quilts!

We had a great time doing this jelly roll race, there was laughter all over the room.  My next one will definitely be black and white, they looked so good sewn together.  Of course, black and white is a classic combo anyway, you can't miss with it!

Sew forth and sew on

behind the scenes

Three things to be happy about:
(1) solving a riddle
(2) crinkly laugh lines
(3) autumn shopping sprees

It's guild day again - already!  Where did the last month go, the time just flew by.  The saying goes "time flies when you're having fun" but I think it flies whether you're having fun or not! 

But thank goodness quilters know how to have fun, whether we're working on our projects or just doodling around some other way.

Today in our workshop we're having a jelly roll race, yaaaay!  Because I've been on a strict fabric diet lately, rather than buying a jelly roll (or two) I decided to shop my stash and cut my own.  Let's hear it for the stash! 

I needed 40 strips and I'm really pleased (and feeling like a clever girl!) that I was able to pull enough fabrics to get those 40 strips... I'm using blues this time, cutting three strips from each fabric.

I took my strips to the quilting session at the senior center on Thursday and trimmed off those pesky selvedges.  I had to laugh, because I also took my new favorite trail mix and everybody was getting hooked on it!

I got this trail mix from Costco and it's a great snack because it's not sweet ... but it's HOT!  There's a liberal amount of wasabi in the mix!

I trimmed off all the selvedges at the center, so I was able to start sewing the ends together when I got home.  Some people sew their strips at a 45 degree angle which is pretty - but I take the lazy way out and just connect em straight on.

I decided not to worry about matching fabrics or which ones got hooked onto which, because when we do the jelly roll race there won't be any way to control the colors anyway.  So, I just let them fall where they may!

So here's the finished product, rolled on a paper towel roll to keep them from tangling...

let the race begin - wish me luck!

Sew forth and sew on

Wee Bee fun

Yesterday was jelly-roll race day at our bee and oh boy did we have a lot of fun!  We came prepared with our jelly roll strips pieced end-to-end and were rarin' to go...

 except for a little detangling action!  Details... always details...

And we were off!  I was inspired...  I was fantastic...  my machine was a-whirring!!

... I was sewing without thread! 

Just after Lynora took my picture (about 2/3 of the way thru my first round) I realized my thread had slipped the needle at the very beginning ... all I was doing was making neat little holes in my strips!  Well.  Dang.

Okay, I got me set up again and I was off!  I was inspired ... I was fantastic ... my machine was a-whirring!!  I asked Marlene to take my picture, quick!!

I'm rolling now!  at this point I'm on my third round.  Of course, I'm also far behind everybody else!

And the winner is...

Gwen, better known as Miss Speedy!  She finished in about 45 minutes, isn't it beautiful?

Other pretty finishes...

and last but not least...

mine, woot woot! 

We had a great time doing this race, I highly recommend it!   This is also a quick and easy way to make a baby quilt, just use fewer strips instead of the entire jelly roll - thanks go out to Heirloom Creations Shop for their YouTube video. http://www.youtube.com/user/HeirloomCreations.

And so, with the food eaten, the leftovers divvied up, and the room put back into order, we said our goodbyes til the next time...

Sew forth and sew on

When is a jelly roll not a jelly roll?

Three things to be happy about:
(1) the spire of a redwood
(2) colorful backdrops
(3) the artistry of sushi chefs

Someone asked about the small quilt I sent off to Australia in the Little Quilt Swap; it was the one I named Superstition.  I tried to pull a picture that I already loaded but blogger is so undeniably slow at loading those pictures!  You can see the quilt here, it's the one on the left.  Also, it's in my photo stream on the right side of the blog.


By now I'll have to go ahead and accept that fall is here!  Not only is it colder and the leaves are falling, but it gets dark earlier, even after the fall-back of the clock.  And speaking of that, when I went to change the time on my bathroom clock, I was shocked to see this:

Do you see how corroded that battery is!?  Lately I noticed that the batteries in my camera seemed to be expiring way too soon, but then I wondered if it was only in my mind.  Now this clock battery gets me wondering if I've been using from a bad batch?  Or could it be the steam in the bathroom caused this battery to corrode??  It's never happened before and I'd hate to ruin my camera.

I saw these pretty bushes yesterday when I was out and had to take a picture!

I like the play of the rusty-red against the green... quilt color option?  I don't know one shrub from another, but they're not the same kind or they'd be the same color, I reckon. 

So, back to my original question ... when is a jelly roll not  a jelly roll??   

When it's a sushi!

My bee is having a jelly roll race at our next meeting and we're to have our jelly rolls sewn end-to-end before the meeting, so we can start the race at a trot.  I bought this sushi roll back in April, but in my mind I was thinking I had a jelly roll.  But it isn't...

This sushi has 24 strips but a jelly roll has 40... sew I have to make it grow up into a jelly.  No way am I buying an "official" jelly roll, I have more than enough batik yardage to cut 16 more strips at 2-1/2 x 40! 

I pulled these to cut from, I'll have em cut and sewn before next Saturday!

Well today is my guild meeting, it will be good seeing people I haven't seen since the last meeting... I'm looking forward to a fun meeting!  Have a great day everyone.

Sew forth and sew on