Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Finished and Gifted

It was a really good week of quilting for your girl over here. Whenever I can work that long arm machine I am a happy camper. I delayed trying to fix a few problems she was having, yet when I finally did address them I found that they were minor. My dithering cost me a good bit of quilting time.

Remember I explained that I put a 6-inch extra piece onto the top of the quilt so that I could practice on getting my stitches just right? Look at how close I came at the bottom - If I'd used a 7-inch strip, it would never have worked! 

I did not have a particular backing set aside for this quilt, so I used a piece of fabric that honestly does not go in any way the fabrics in the quilt. Yet now that it's done, I really don't see that it was a terrible option at all. I actually think it works rather nicely.

I made the binding from the excess that I cut away from the backing, and stitched it up pronto. The longer I worked on it, the more I liked it. I gave it to DD Emma, who is going to gift it to a special little girl. And if they decide they want to use it as a picnic quilt, then I'm good with that, too.

Because I expect this quilt to take a lot of use and washing, I machine-stitched the binding. I was so glad to be finishing it so promptly. A real feeling of accomplishment!

I hope there is some momentum in here somewhere to keep me going! I have so many loved ones that I would love to gift quilts to. Every year I think I will work really hard to make that happen, and every year I fall short of that goal.

 

To see the flimsy in full, click here. I failed to take a picture of the fully-laid out quilted version on the bed. It was cool to read that post and revisit my thinking on it back then. I remember wondering why on earth I ever wasted my time on it. Ha! And now I'm glad I did!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne
 

Friday, July 11, 2025

Newsflash!! - I Used The Long Arm!

In what appears to be a most monumental hiccup in the universe, I have actually quilted a whole quilt in the last 24 hours. If this doesn't call for some massive celebrating, then I don't know what does!

Yes, I decided to at least clean, oil, change the needle, rethread top and bottom. I then needed to see about fixing the issue I'd been having (all the way to last fall!) - upper thread breakage. 

My guess was that I needed to loosen the tension knob. I did this, and I now have a fully functioning long arm machine. Yay!

Because I knew I might have to do some experimenting with settings, I wanted to use a quilt that really wasn't that special to me. I made this Good Life Tag Sale a couple of years ago, and had sort of earmarked it as a quilt suitable for a picnic blanket. I added a 6" border at the top. I planned to use this for testing the settings. It was a good idea!

I was also glad for that extra border for another reason, too.  Because I was a bit rusty, I needed that bit of practice space for recalling my muscle memory. 

 

Tag Sale is a pattern by Carrie Nelson that I have made previously. Good Life is a fabric line by Bonnie & Camille for Moda. I added random extra fabrics in to have enough for the quilt which is roughly 80" square. This version turned out to be so very busy! I typically like a little more orderliness, so that is why I designated this quilt as a suitable picnic or beach blanket.

I am so happy that I finally have faced this problem (which wasn't as huge as I'd been thinking it was), fixed the machine and finished a quilt! Now I can load on one that I'm super-duper crazy about!  

I will take the quilt out of the machine this weekend, figure out what to use for binding, then finish her up. I am so eager to get many more done!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne 

Monday, July 7, 2025

HSTs (Half-Square Triangles)

A really basic unit for quilters is the HST. So many quilt blocks can be made using HSTs and so learning some easy, fool-proof methods of constructing them will make perfection easier to accomplish.

HSTs from a previous project.

The method of our grandmothers has been put out to pasture in favor of a newer, more reliable method. Now, don't get me wrong! Thousands of gorgeous, beautifully pieced vintage, antique quilts can be found which illustrate careful and accurate HST construction. And lots of quilters still use this hand-piecing method with perfection. 

Today's quilter, though, almost always prefers speed and accuracy. 

The earlier method was to cut individual triangles using a template, the two sides right angle sides would be placed on the straight of grain. The hypotenuse would then be on the bias - the edge that one must be very careful not to stretch. The hand-quilter would take the two colors needed for the HST and carefully stitch those bias edges together. 

The current, more accepted and faster method eliminates, to a degree, the opportunities for stretched bias edges. Cut squares (there are charts available with dimensions for the desired HST size) and draw a diagonal line on the back of the lighter fabric. When two fabrics are paired right sides together, use this line as a guide for sewing a quarter-inch seam. After sewing along-side both sides of the line, cut ON the line and the result is 2 HSTs. Carefully press them open without stretching the bias.

HSTs from an earlier project.

Now they are ready to be trimmed to the precise size required for your project. 

Trimming. That's the focus for the remainder of this post.

And that brings me to my current project - Cotton Ridge Farm. I am at the point of making all the HSTs for the sawtooth borders. The pattern has two complete HST rows around this quilt. That's a lot of HSTs. Especially after having to make a good many for those blocks in the center of this quilt.

Sometimes I am completely unwilling to make this many for a single quilt. However, I really want to make this; I have the fabric; I have the time; I have the know-how. 

I just need to do it.

 
 
For all the HSTs in the center blocks, I used my ruler and the 45-degree line. I placed the 45-degree line on the seam, and trimmed the two sides. Then I turned the HST the opposite way, and trimmed to the correct size - in my case, 2.5-inches square.

After trimming over half of the border HSTs using this method, it occurred to me that I had a set of Bloc-Loc templates. I should have been using them. So I switched and trimmed the last of the HSTs with the 2.5" Loc-Bloc.


My trimmings pile was extensive!

Now, this is a time-consuming process, for sure. And that is probably the part I grapple with the most. However, I have not one single complaint about the accuracy of these blocks. I am getting almost 100% perfect points with this method after sewing them into the quilt. I will highlight some of those in an upcoming post.

Bottom line: either the ruler method or the Bloc-Loc method will produce fantastic results. Both take time, but both work perfectly. If I am willing to put the time in, I will do HSTs this way every time.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne 

Friday, July 4, 2025

Celebrate America!

As Lee Greenwood sings, "I'm proud to be an American!" Celebrate our great country today! And every day!

independence day

We will be keeping 9-month-old Reagan for the holiday weekend, so who know how much celebrating we will do, but that's okay. It's perfectly fine to substitute time with our sweet granddaughter all to ourselves!

 Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne 

 

 

Thursday, July 3, 2025

The Goals for 2025

Since I mentioned in yesterday's post that I had not made progress on my goals (or as much as I thought I should), I thought perhaps it would be a good idea to do an actual assessment of progress made. Wouldn't it be nice to prove that I am getting things done, even when it seems as if I'm not?

Goals were posted here; I will list them in abbreviated form below along with some commentary for each.  

1. Grist Mill made with my selection of navy and cheddar fabrics

    ~~ I misnamed the pattern I had; same designer (Pam Buda), different pattern (Cotton Ridge Farm). I am making it now, and have plans for it to be finished to the flimsy stage by the end of next week. The pic below shows progress as of a week ago; since then I've added 1 full border (cheddar) and half of the next border (HSTs). After that will come a navy border, another HST border and a 4" navy border to finish it out. 

2. Wensleydale made with my foundation pack and Tilda fabrics.

    ~~ I have a retreat coming up in August. My hope it to have all the fabrics cut (after finding the YouTube video for measurements) and work on paper piecing it at retreat.

3. Aurora made with a selection of blues pulled from my stash. 

    ~~I have not given this quilt a single thought, but I do still want to make it.

4. and 5. - Lake Effect and Grandmother's Flower Garden - both of these are seeing (or have seen) significant progress this year. 

    ~~ Lake Effect: I have the long side border attached, and have removed excess hexies from parts that were too wide. I am stitching these extra hexies to the bottom border, and will attach when it fits. I'm getting so close, and I am doing a pretty good job of staying on task with it.

    ~~ GFG: I made fantastic progress on this quilt while in Florida (Jan-Feb-Mar). I have a soft yellow solid for a border. I've taken no further time on it. Here is the last time I blogged about it. I'm actually considering making a few half-flowers to fill in around the top and bottom edges so it will be less curvy.

6. Winnemucca Fabric

    ~~ I have considered quite a few patterns; I have added a few extra fabrics to the grouping (non-Winnemucca). I have not begun anything yet.

7. Smoked Cheddar - A finish!! Happy about that.

That's all. I cannot believe I didn't have a goal involving the long-arm machine. I need to be using it. I will definitely put forth some effort in that direction in the next 6 months. 

One finished quilt that was nowhere on my radar when the year began, and therefore not on the goals list, is my Scrappy KF 4-Patch. It was a delight to stitch. I'd used all of my non-KF scraps from the 2.5" collection, and had all the 2.5" squares of KF fabrics just teasing and tempting me. By gosh, I went to work on this and I still love, love, love the result!


 I'm glad to be getting a few finishes and some decent progress on those goals. Maybe I've not done as poorly as I thought. It's good to check in and take stock, I suppose.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne 

Wednesday, July 2, 2025

Hello July!

Reality check! It's almost incredible to realize that we are already in July. July! How fast we find ourselves waving 'bye-bye' to half of 2025. But that's where we find ourselves. Reality check, indeed. 


 I have to say I haven't progressed as far on my list of goals as I had hoped. This means that I absolutely must get myself focused on these goals as we slide into the second half of this year. 

This past month posed more of a setback in goal efforts on two fronts: a 2-week sinus infection and the flooded basement. I am pleased to report that I feel better and the basement is dry. We have had extraordinary rainfall totals in the last 30 days - like nearly 12"!! These last two downpours (3.8") have not impacted our basement. Hallelujah! 

So yes, Goals. I'm gonna' get after it in these next 6 months. Seriously. 

Okay, let's take a look at the June wrap-up collage. Some sewing successes, sure, and happily a lot more family time.  


 TOP ROW: A super-proud Gramma Jayne with her two granddaughters, Reagan and Cate. We don't get too many opportunities to have them together, so this picture is one of my favorites. Early in the month, we discovered the basement flood, and all our plans suddenly were derailed. One big positive in the sewing room was having my Featherweight serviced. I am using it with lots of satisfaction since bringing it home. 

MIDDLE ROW: Late in the month, we were able to correct the basement flooding with a plumber who dug out a new drainage ditch and corrected the issues we were having. Just last Saturday, we attended an annual picnic and fireworks party at our friends' house. Little Reagan and her parents attended the same picnic, and of course we made the most of our play time.

BOTTOM ROW: My mother, 88 years young, cuddles Reagan on Sunday afternoon, when all of us went over to visit. The weather has played such a big role in our world this last month, I thought including a screenshot from the precipitation map was worthwhile. And, finally, the work on Cotton Ridge Farm has continued sporadically throughout the month. I am currently working on the outer border row of HSTs.

Looking ahead to what July will hold, all our home-oriented efforts will be toward prepping for the family reunion we will host at the end of the month. We do this every year, and I think this is #7 coming up. (Note to self: find the date for when we held the first one.) We've got our lists ready, and will be tackling small-ish items.

Sewing plans include finishing Cotton Ridge Farm and getting the long-arm going. I know. I've been saying that since the first of April, but I really will do it this month.

Okay, I'm off to stitch! 

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

Saturday, June 28, 2025

Show And Tell from the Frankfort Girls

We met yesterday a Jan's for a lovely brunch. Jan is well known for her over-the-top hostessing skills, and our theme was National Golf Cart Day (which was actually a couple of weeks ago, but Jan and her husband used to own and operate a golf course, so she went with it anyway). Our place mats were golf greens made of turf; all manner of golf memorabilia adorned the table and all the serving bowls and utensils were green. It was a ton of fun.

Here are 4 quilts that various girls had for sharing. 

First, Jan had just gotten this from the quilter and was excited to show it off to us. We'd all pooh-poohed the idea of making a wedding ring quilt, and she set out to do one! Gorgeous!

Helen had two for sharing. One was inspired by a quilt that Sharon P. made at retreat and then I imitated soon after. Made with a layer cake, this pattern has ZERO waste!

Helen's second quilt was this fast and super-easy 3-yard quilt from one of the books all of us share around.

Our final show and tell comes from Becky, who is all in on handwork lately. She is using 1-inch hexies to make this flower garden quilt from a jelly roll by Minick and Simpson. I believe she called the pattern Jelly Roll Garden.

She is making fantastic progress on it. It will be so patriotic. The paths look rather gray in this photo, but the fabric is actually a print of blue and off-white.

These girls always keep me inspired. I hope everyone has a source of inspiration as wonderful as these ladies are.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne