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! 


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Another Friday Finish

Again, two, in fact!

The best thing about unexpected time off from work is, a lot of quilts get finished! This week, I bound two.

The first one is winging its way to Idaho. A former classmate needs a heart transplant, and this quilt will be raffled at my class reunion next month to raise money for the surgery.

This was a fun quilt to make, started in a class at Sew-ciety in Castle Rock. The pattern is Dash in a Box from Quilter's Dream. Here is the post where I introduced this quilt -- in 2013!

I bound it using Susie's Magic Binding, with orange as the main color and bright blue as the accent.  Thank you to all the staff at Ruth's Stitchery for helping me decide on binding colors!

The second finish is the September Jelly Roll Party sample for Ruth's Stitchery. The pattern is Leaf it to Me from Cozy Quilts. I loved the colors in Daniela's sample so much, I tried to copy them the best I could. I used a Hoffman Bali Pops in the "Nirvana" color for the leaves, and another Hoffman Bali batik for the purple borders.

The border on this one is "Jean's Genius Binding," which makes the quilt look like it has no binding at all. I love it!

Which reminds me, I'll be teaching both Susie's Magic Binding and Jean's Genius Binding at Ruth's next Saturday, August 20. If you're in the neighborhood, bring a ready-to-bind-quilt and we'll bind it that afternoon!

Back to work on my "Ugly Christmas Sweater" quilt. Winter is coming!


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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!"

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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?


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A Friday Finish

You know jelly roll -- "strip" -- quilts are my favorite. This one may become your favorite, too!

[Sorry it's not the best photo. I forgot to take a picture before it was hung in the shop!]

"Rolling Fields" was the February Jelly Roll Party quilt at Ruth's Stitchery. The pattern is from Legacy Quilts, and the fabric is "Thyme with Friends" by Kris Lammers for Maywood Studios. I was especially excited to use this fabric line because Kris is a friend from Idaho!

Because my photo isn't the best, here is a shot of the FQ bundle from the Maywood website:

Aren't the colors just delightful? The pattern requires two jelly rolls, but no background fabric. And it's so fast and easy, I bought enough jelly rolls to make it twice more!

Lalala, I've been shopping! Come back Sunday to see my stash additions!



From the desk of your

Friday Finish

This Jelly Roll Party quilt was a big hit with Ruth's Stitchery customers. Five "jelly rollers" made their quilt with the same fabrics as the sample!

The fabrics are "Cold Spell" by Laundry Basket Quilts. I love this collection particularly, because it has both batiks and cottons. For years, we quilters thought we shouldn't mix cottons and batiks. Edyta Sitar proved that rule to be wrong wrong wrong!

The pattern is "Winter Solstice" from Cozy Quilts. The only change I made to the pattern was using my favorite "Corner Clipper" ruler rather than sew and flip triangles for the star points.

Oh -- and the white "patches" in the border are class information signs for the shop!

Big snow predicted for Colorado this weekend. It's a "sew-day!"

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First Friday Finish

of 2016!

This is the "No Measure Bargello" pattern from Cozy Quilts. It was the January Jelly Roll Party at Ruth's Stitchery. We're beginning our fourth year of Jelly Roll Parties!

I used the "Lakeside Gatherings" jelly roll and yardage. The pattern calls for two identical strips of each fabric, but my jelly roll didn't have duplicate strips. So I used strips that were similar in color and pattern.

Also, the pattern calls for copying the dimensions for the cross-cuts to butcher paper, then pressing it onto the background before cutting. Since my printer wouldn't print on the butcher paper, I just measured the width of each cross-cut and used my 24" ruler to make the cuts.

I think it turned out just fine -- and so did My Little Sailor, who is waiting for this quilt to be shipped to him in Japan!

Big weekend UFO-busting plans here, how about you?




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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?

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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!



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WIP Wednesday: True North

I have five of nine blocks finished for the May Jelly Roll Party sample.

I'll scatter the "red chain" blocks when I have the remaining four blocks sewn. Pattern and fabric details on Monday's post.

Linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

I have a new "Hats for Sailors" knit to share tomorrow!



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Design Wall Monday

I'm working on the May Jelly Roll Party sample today.

I fell in love with the new Bonnie & Camille collection, Day Sail for Moda. When I saw this pattern on She Quilts Alot Facebook page, I knew it had to be a Jelly Roll Party quilt!

So far, I have only one block made. The directions are well done. I am so appreciative that they include pressing instructions.

Ruth's Stitchery has ordered the pattern, or you can order it direct from She Quilts Alot.

Tomorrow is My Little Sailor's birthday -- it's already March 10 in Japan. Happy Birthday, Jacob!

Duncan misses you -- so does Mama!

From the desk of your