Jellyroll Sampler Quilt - Finished!!!

This quilt is for my third grader, although there was some argument as to whose turn it was for a quilt.  All was resolved when their dad explained that over the course of their lives, they would probably be the recipient of many more quilts.  I'm glad my boys like the quilts I make them. :)

You're probably bored of hearing about this quilt, but...the fabric is Hullabaloo by Urban Chiks for Moda Fabrics.  Unfortunately, it's long out of print.  The quilt pattern is from the book Jelly Roll Sampler Quilts by Pam and Nicky Lintott.

Here are some pictures of the quilting.  I really had some fun with with quilting each block a little bit differently, but I tried to repeat some of the motifs in order to tie everything together.





The nicest thing about finishing something is that I can now move onto something else!  I'm linking up with Fresh Sewing Day at Lily's Quilts and Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.

More Quilting - WiP Wednesday

Here is a peek of the quilting for the classic sampler.  Trimming and binding may have to be pushed to the back burner for a while, though.  There's so much going on.  I'm scheduled to help out at the boys' school tomorrow and Friday.  The MIL is arriving soon for the bi-annual visit, which always entails some re-organization.  And the list goes on!

I'm linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced.  I really like the idea of having a mid-week break to take stock of where you are in any given project, and it's great motivation to get them done!

This weekend I'm devoting to my bee blocks.  I just realized February is almost over.  Yikes!

WiP Wednesday - FMQ

Here is a sneak peak of the quilting for my Classic Jellyroll Sampler.  I've been diligently stitching-in-the-ditch -- so time consuming but necessary.  Linking up to WiP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced!

Fresh Sewing Day

January was a great month, busy, but good busy so I hate to see it go.  But wow, it's February. The days are getting longer, finally!

The last few blocks took a while, not by design but because of time constraints. I hope the sashing goes more quickly.  I'm linking up to Fresh Sewing Day at Lily's Quilts!

Block 11 - Arrowhead

Block 12 - Streak of Lightning

WiP Wednesday - Jellyroll Sampler Blocks

Did you notice I got a blog makeover? Mr. Elvy has been working with Illustrator and kindly created a new banner and buttons for me. I told him I wanted something with chevrons, and orange and aqua. He did a pretty good job, no? Okay, onto sewing...

"Card trick" is probably my favorite block from Jelly Roll Sampler Quilts. I started out by trying to simplify some of those HSTs with flying geese, until I realized I was going to run out of fabric. Light bulb moment, that's why the directions were written the way they were!

Block 9 - Card Trick

This second block, Maple Star, didn't turn out quite like I wanted. I didn't pick a fabric with enough contrast between the background and star points (which you can barely see), and the green rectangles have too much contrast. But these block patterns for the Classic Sampler forces you to use almost every scrap of an entire jelly roll, so there's not much room to change one's mind.  Oh well, live and learn.

Block 10 - Maple Star

Hope you all are having a great week. Don't forget to stop by Erin's blog on Friday.  Erin has some pretty neat things happening there, including a giveaway of a New Leaf fat quarter bundle!

I've also been doing some quilting, so I hope to have an FO ready for Friday too.  Fingers crossed.

7 Down - 5 To Go - WiP Wednesday

This post is somewhat rushed, as we are getting ready to go on vacation tomorrow. This is the first Christmas ever that we have not spent with extended family, but we decided to try something new. The weeks approaching the winter solstice are pretty dreary wet ones in Portland. Although I grew up here and have spent very little time anywhere but the Pacific Northwest, it seems each winter is a little longer and a little less bearable. So, we are going somewhere sunny and warm!

I finished these blocks this past week as part of the jellyroll sampler.

Block 5 - Rolling Pinwheel

Block 6- Union Square (I really like this one)

Block 7 - Spiral

I'm linking up to WiP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.  Happy Holidays and see you in 2013!

Sashing Swoon and More Sampler Blocks for WIP Wednesday

Remember these blocks?  Swoon using Heirloom -- yup, I'm finally getting around to sashing them.  It took me a while to get to this point, because I originally wanted to make a king-sized quilt using a 4 x 4 setting.  After the 10th block, when I accidentally singed a corner with the iron, I put the project away for a while.  I have now decided that the original 3 x 3 setting (finishing at 80" x 80") is just fine.  I can't wait to get this done and quilted -- I've got some ideas brewing.

I also finished another block for my Classic Sampler. This is one of my favorites, although I would do it a little differently if I had thought about it in the first place.

Block 4 - Rolling Stone

I'm linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced and am heading over there right now to see what everyone else is up to!

Classic Sampler -- The Saga Continues for WIP Wednesday

Here is the third block of the Classic Sampler -- yay!  These are going much faster now.  I'm almost finished with the fourth block, but silly me, I sewed one row upside down.  I couldn't face unpicking this row, as it was pretty late in the evening, so it will have to wait for a separate post!

Block 3 - Star Choice

I'm loving how the colors and prints are working together so far!  And here is the three-block mosaic: I'm linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced. Head over and see what's going on in the quilting world!

Oh, and don't forget to stop by here tomorrow through Friday for 20% off everything using the promo code thanks2012.  That includes all the new stuff, Notting Hill, Havana, Chicopee, as well as sale items!  Finally, you can still enter the drawing for the Chicopee FQ bundle at Purple Panda Quilts up through the 22nd!

Classic Sampler Revisited

I'm touching base with some forgotten WIPs.  This is the second block of a sampler quilt I started in June 2011.  Yeah, that's over a year ago!  I'm not going to abandon this project, 'cause I still love the pattern.  Plus, I've already purchased all the fabric, including the backing.  That's incentive.

Block 2 - Rocky Road

Here's my original post, but if you don't feel like going back in time, the deets are as follows:
Pattern - Classic Sampler by Jelly Roll Sampler Quilts by Pam and Nicky Lintott
Fabric - Hullaballoo by Urban Chicks

My 100th Post!!

Somehow the month of November passed me by, and I didn't even realize it. It probably had something to do with work and then traveling to Sacramento for a week to visit the in-laws.  Thus this is my long-delayed 100th post!

I can hardly believe it.  I've been able to stick with this blog for four years now!  Reviewing my old posts, I can see how my interests have morphed over the years.  What does remain constant is the borderline obsessive-compulsive personality behind these interests!

OK, now on to sewing.  I finally finished quilting and binding this quilt top, which I just gifted to by youngest.  He is turning five on Monday, yippee!

I went a little overboard on the pics, but I just loved putting this quilt together so much.  I wanted to be able to document all the things I liked about it.  I originally posted about the details here.  The pattern for this quilt is called "Jitterbug," from Layer Cake, Jelly Roll & Charm Quilts by Pam and Nicky Lintott.  The fabric is Punctuation by American Jane, and the background is my favorite Kona in snow.  

"Simple" was the guiding theme when I first considered the quilting.  I started by outlining each of the quilt blocks.  Mr. Elvy then suggested I do a diagonal grid through the center squares, which turned out awesome.  

Then I couldn't resist doing a little FMQ.  I tried not to be too ambitious, as I was with this quilt.  I wanted to complete the quilting as quickly as I could, so I could move on to other projects.  I stitched little boxes around each patterned rectangle along the border, and then did the wavy line on the white background border areas by tracing lines drawn about one-half inch apart.  I think it turned out quite well.

I completed the binding by machine stitching both the front and the back of the binding with a walking foot.  I love this method of attaching the binding -- it is so much faster than hand-stitching.

Here are a few more gratuitous pictures.  This is how the binding looks like from the front.  Once the quilt is laundered, the stitch-in-the ditch seam in the front all but disappears.

The backing is also from American Jane, although I can't think of the name of the line off the top of my head.  It included a bunch of chickens.

Finally, here's a full picture of the quilt.  It's big enough to fit a twin-sized bed, and I was able to make up No. 2's bed this morning with it. 

 

Punctuation Quilt Top Finished!

I love how this one turned out and can't wait to get it quilted.  I have fabric for the binding but need to find something for the backing this weekend.  My LQS ran out of Punctuation yardage, so I think I will go with a nice Kona or Bella solid in a light blue or green (or both?).  Hmm, so many choices.

The pieced border is my favorite element on this quilt.

Lots of fun colors from American Jane's Punctuation collection.

The deets were discussed in my previous post here.  Now I think I'm going to work on some Farmer's Wife squares to see if I can't get caught up on those.  I also wanted to try to make my own version of a Greek Cross quilt -- inspiration here and here.  I have a Bliss layer cake with only one square missing that I think will work beautifully for this.  Stay tuned!

Pieced border corner detail.

Farmer's Wife QAL - Week 2

I didn't think I could get these blocks done -- I've been sick pretty much since Friday and have not felt like (nor had any time to) sew. I didn't want to fall behind in only the second week, so here they are.

Block 3 - Basket

I'm not so great at applique, so am feeling somewhat iffy about the basket handle on this block. I might re-do it in a matching thread, maybe that would look better.

Block 4 - Basket Weave

Last but not least, I started a quilt from Jelly Roll Sampler Quilts, by Pam & Nicky Lintott. This is supposed to be for my oldest boy, as he really wants a quilt too. I'm not sure how old he'll be when I'm done, though. :)  The fabric is Hullaballoo by Urban Chics.

Block 1 - Tulip

Scrappy Hunter's Star -- almost finished!

I thought I would go ahead and post the almost-finished quilt top, as I think I am running out of steam on this one. I might have to put it away for a while before taking it up again. It lacks a final border, which is in a dark green floral. I say that I might put it away for a while because I am not liking how the two inner borders came together. Plus, I really stretched out one of the sides while piecing it and am thinking of ripping both borders out to start again.


The details: the fabric is Origins by Basic Gray for Moda. The pattern is from "A Baker's Dozen," from the staff of That Patchwork Place. The pattern is kinda neat in that the entire quilt is made from a combined layer cake and jelly roll and measures about 85" x 85" when finished. Almost all the fabric with a few odds and ends are used. I'll post the directions for the blocks at a later date. As you can see, most but not all my points and corners matched up. But, the various prints are interesting enough that I think I can get away with it. One of these days I will have a precisely pieced top. :)