When The Move Is Completed...

I am going to be so focused on finishing both WIPs (works in progress) and a few brand new projects. 

Here are a few WIPs I am itching to get back to. Some are more urgent than others, but I'm looking forward to finishing them all.

This is one of my urgent WIPs. The Frienzies made this quilt over a year ago, then there was a big saga about getting it quilted (lady doing it suddenly retired; returned to us unquilted; searched for a new quilter, and so on). Finally, it is now quilted - and look at how awesome!! I volunteered to bind it. Then as if this quilt needed more saga material, my machine that has the walking foot went in for repairs. I have the machine back, and now my sewing space is a wreck. I hope to be working on this binding by the week's end.

And while I'm binding, I might as well go ahead and do this big cutie. I have no particular fabric picked out for her, so I probably will find something in the stash and make 20 miles of binding. It'll be nice to finally have it completed.

You saw these blocks that I made last month at retreat; I have made several more but I've lost count of how many are needed; I must take stock and finish the remaining blocks so I can begin putting them all together.

Then there are things to be quilted. Many things, actually, but the ones high on my to-do/must-do list are baby quilts.

I have this quilt top sewn together and another one that is identical. It will take no time at all to quilt them, and you can bet that this will be happening very, very soon. I also need to quilt Pinwheels, shown below.

Now, you know I have more quilt tops to be quilted, and pretty high on the list is Fall Leaves that I rushed to make last year; I really would like to have it quilted this fall, so I will prioritize it.

Then there are all the new projects calling to me from the depths of the tubs and bins I have moved all over creation in the process of consolidating these 2 sewing rooms. I will share those soon, as well as an update on the progress I am making toward finishing this major move.

 

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

Moving and Consolidating

Just so you know, this post is wordy and does not contain any quilt pictures. 

There is a reason I have been so absent on the blog lately. I am not sewing that much because I am attempting to consolidate 2 sewing rooms into one. For an admitted fabric hoarder, this has been quite a challenging task.

HISTORY: 

We have lived in this house since September 1992. Emma was 5 weeks old when we moved in. We have a 4-bedroom house, with the 3 kids' bedrooms having had many changes over the last 32 years. The biggest of the kids' bedrooms is roughly 27' x 14', and it is the room I currently use as my sewing room.

That big bedroom was originally Emma's, then Erin's, then Emma's again, before it became mine. Only Adam's room never changed through all those years until he graduated in 2001. 

All through those first 9 years, I did not have a sewing room. I sewed out of a large downstairs closet which was originally going to be a laundry room. 

In 2001 when Adam went to college, I moved out of the sewing closet and into his room for my first proper sewing room. It worked very nicely and I was quite content here. Over the next 10 years, however, I had more "stuff" than the room could contain, and I either needed to downsize my sewing stash, or move to a bigger room. 

In 2012, after Emma had been a year and a half away in college, she initiated the move between her room and the sewing room - switching the two. The biggest of the 3 kids' bedrooms ultimately became the sewing room. In early 2013, I fixed the room to suit my then-current sewing needs, and I am sure I never imagined that I would one day fill it to the brim. Refer to this post for a look at things in those early days (scroll down to the 6th paragraph).

In the fall of 2019, we removed one guest room and moved the long arm machine in. At that point, I had a sewing room AND a long arm room! Without a doubt, quilting had taken over as a major activity. 

This summer - 2024 - I find myself once again making changes to our bedrooms.

CURRENT:

I want to once again have 2 guest rooms. With both daughters having families, and grandbabies bound to be coming for overnight stays, it just seemed senseless to have only one guest room in a 4-bedroom house. I am consolidating the long arm room into the big sewing room. And gosh, this is a huge challenge for me!

A cleaned off cutting table resulted in removing the table, which is going into a garage sale. I have no further need of it and no room, either.

All the stuff lining the walls are the tubs that were previously under the table. It's not exactly visible in the photo above, but under the window is a dresser that has been moved to the wall there by the design wall.

Here is said dresser moved to said side wall, lifted onto risers and set up to be the cutting table. I hope it works okay.

 

And this view shows the space where the dresser was before. I shake my head at the layers of stacked tubs surrounding this room. I have so much that needs to be sorted and purged and down-sized. It overwhelms me.

This picture pretty much shows things as they currently stand. DH and I installed a ceiling fan OURSELVES!! The long arm machine is mostly in place. Once the remaining bars are on the long arm frame, I will get a feel for how much space I'll have to move about. It's hard to judge with all those tubs in the way, so perhaps I will have to stack them out in the hallway before bringing the machine to the frame. Once that machine is on the frame it will be too heavy to move, so getting placement right is super important.

This is the room in which the long arm has resided since 2019. It has served me well, but now this room really needs to be a guest room again, so onward I proceed. Once I've cleared this, DH will paint and steam vac before we set up a queen-size bed and night stand. (I am reserving the option of using closet storage and dresser storage in this room for quilting room overflow.)

A master organizer would have no difficulty with a move this gargantuan, but since I am not of the organizing ilk, the task has been a definite challenge. 

FUTURE:

I still have a lot to do - First, set up the sewing tables for Sharon and me. Second, deal with all those tubs and their contents. Some will be put in the garage sale; some will be trashed; some will be given away. 

Stay tuned for further developments. I simply have to see this through to completion in order to get back to sewing and quilting. The longer this move takes, the more time lost for those more satisfying endeavors.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

A Long-Awaited Reveal

The year has been filled with far more things than quilting, so 2024 is definitely seeing a markedly reduced number of quilt finishes. We are celebrating today the near-finish of Tiny Nine Patches! A whopper of a quilt, she needs only to have her binding attached and a label secured, then she will truly be finished. 

Many previous posts have chronicled the long journey this quilt has made from start to finish. Here's my Reader's Digest condensed version.

She was actually started before I knew what she was going to be. I was making 9-patch blocks out of a huge tub of 1.5-inch squares and strips - all scraps. The amount of scraps in this small size had gotten completely out of hand, so I decided that it would be easiest to just make 9-patches and then figure out what to do with them later.

During the process of completing the 'niners' I found a fun sew-along or a challenge hosted on Instagram by Taryn @reproquiltlover. It looked like a very doable effort, so I joined in. This post describes my initial sewing as well as discovering Taryn.

By February, I was well into the 300s for completed 9-patches. I'd also purchased my background fabric. I loved it in the store, I loved it laid out with my blocks, and I still love it in my quilted finish. It has the look of a faded old quilt and it so nicely sets off all the little 9-patch gems.

I didn't begin sewing the blocks together until we came home, and when I did, I couldn't believe how quickly the entire top went together. I even changed my mind midway into creating a straight-set quilt, opting instead an on-point quilt. Read about that in this post.

Making this has taken me on so many reminiscences! I come across a bit of fabric here and there and there and am reminded of the quilts I made with them. Most have a story, and don't get me started if you are here and we begin pointing out different blocks. I have fabrics from my old projects plus bits from my grandma, and also from a handful of friends. Some represent quilts I have gifted, while others are quilt tops hanging in my closet waiting to be quilted. 

The quilt measures 100x80 inches. In previous posts, I talked about making it a square quilt, but I cut one side down a bit so that I could get it on my long arm machine! 100 inches is just way too big! I calculate that there are over 5400 pieces of fabric used in this 22x20-block quilt. I also have 1.5-inch pieces in the 4-patch border. 

I've linked up with Cynthia and her weekly Oh, Scrap! link party. Go have a look at other scrappy endeavors!

Happily, my small scrap bin is nearly empty!

Yay for a finish!

Hope you have a great week! Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

September Has Arrived

Never one to be mindful of timely posting, I am just now getting around to posting my first-of-the-month missive in which I recap last month and look ahead to all that September promises to offer.

My August collage is short on quilts, isn't it? But gosh we did have a ton of fun with family and friends. Here's the rundown of highlights.

TOP ROW: Even though her birthday is at the end of July, we celebrated Sharon early in August. You see her here admiring a gift of some 3Sisters fabric. Pappaw Kevin gets in a little swimming with granddaughter Cate, who takes to the water like a fish. We had a family gathering one Sunday afternoon, and the final picture in the top row shows 3 little cousins - Boone, Cate, and Archie. Absolutely adorable kiddos!

MIDDLE ROW: At that same family gathering, our older generation posed for a picture. Seated in front is my Great Uncle John, my mother's uncle. He's in his mid 90s. Behind him is his daughter Marilyn, Mom's first cousin, then two of my aunts - Carol and Ann - who are my mom's sisters-in-law. Finally, there's Mom. The center picture shows her again, this time with Cate. What a treat for Mom to spend time with her great-granddaughter! The last picture in the middle row is of the quilt top made with Inverted Fat Quarter Stars. I wrote about it in my last post.

BOTTOM ROW: I attended a quilt retreat with some dear quilty friends and made a super-simple quilt with some remnant yardage I uncovered in the sewing room. On the final day of the retreat, I worked on the stars in the middle, and as the month closed out, I was heavy into taking out the big sewing desk I've used for the last 10 or so years in an effort to make room for the long arm machine to come into this room.

And that consolidation effort continues. I have the aforementioned desk moved out and headed to a yard sale. I have taken everything off the cutting table (shown below, but loaded up with stuff!) and it is ready to be moved out. Once it is out, I will dismantle the long arm machine and move it to this room. That will all be accomplished in - perhaps - another week. I hope!!

This picture shows you the other end of the room. Gosh, I have things piled high! The good news is, though, that this table is now empty and much of what you see here has been sorted and reorganized. And, of course, the work is ongoing. My goal is to put a lot in the yard sale, or make significant donations to Goodwill.

The long arm machine cannot be moved until this quilt is finished and removed from the frame. Tiny Nine-Patch Challenge has been loaded for over a month, sadly. I was having issues (seems like that happens a lot!), but I finally have corrected the problem. Yay! I stitched quite a lot on it yesterday. It will be my goal to finish the quilting today.

The Frankfort girls will be here for sewing tomorrow morning, so I will need to stop the upstairs sewing stuff long enough to tidy a bit downstairs and make some refreshments.

Time waits for no one! I might just now be getting around to welcoming September here on the blog, but I am keenly aware that the month is marching on! My main goal will be to finish quilting this quilt, bind it plus another one waiting in the wings, and - most of all - complete the major portions of the consolidation of 2 sewing rooms into one. That will be quite enough!

Oh, yes. One more thing. We are due to gain a granddaughter in about 3 weeks, too! Yippee!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

Inverted Fat Quarter Stars

I tell you what, my attention can be turned to a new project in the blink of an eye. A simple, innocent scroll through Instagram or Pinterest often results in my dropping whatever current project I'm focused on in order to 'Hurry! Let's see what this is like!' And whoosh, I'm off to try it out. You may want to read about the "squirrel" syndrome.

Case in point. This Inverted Fat Quarter Stars quilt came from my having seen a picture on Pinterest that struck my fancy. I clicked to the source and found a lovely new-to-me quilter and blogger Penelope Handmade. Immediately, I dragged out two matching FQs to give her technique a try. Her specific blog post for this block is very straightforward, and I just couldn't help myself. I ended up making more.

And over the past couple of months whenever a few moments availed themselves for a quick sit-down at the sewing machine, I have continued making these Inverted Fat Quarter Stars. 

(from Penelope Handmade)

The original quilt in the blog post shows a quilt that is decidedly brighter and more floral than the reproduction-style I have made. Actually, I can see myself making more of these and doing one in florals. It's such an easy block to make, and the style would look good in a variety of colorways, IMO.

Two things I encountered along the way. First, I don't like to do as much trimming as this block construction requires, so I altered the sizes on both parts of the 'no-waste flying geese." That was a big time saver for me. 

The second issue was that I discovered after all my blocks were constructed that I'd made 6 pairs incorrectly. Look at this earlier layout to see if you can detect my error.

The correctly-made star blocks are supposed to have the outer background and the center square of the same fabric, leaving the star points to be different. In the blocks shown above, six pairs are made in which the stars centers and star points are the same. I though I would just use them, and move on, but laying them out became problematic, so I just accepted that they needed to be corrected and did it.

I don't know how I let myself make this mistake on so many blocks (6 pairs! 12 blocks!), but I did and now that I've unsewn and then resewn correctly, I don't think I will ever make them wrong again! Arrgghh!

 This quilt is perfect for stash-busting. Years ago when I first began my fabric stash, I started by collecting fat quarters. Consequently, I've got an entire dresser full of them. Making this quilt was a good way of using them. Just pull one, find a complimentary mate and get to sewing. Easy to do and the blocks come out so big! Twelve inches! I made this quilt 6x7, so a decent-sized quilt with just 42 blocks.

Here are a few more shots of the flimsy. You are also getting some views of our remodeled bedroom. I still need wall art and additional decorative touches, but the biggest parts of the job are finished.

It feels good to share a finish. I haven't been nearly as productive as usual, because I am getting other things done. Are things getting done in your quilting room?

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

Scrap-Keeping - It Might Run In the Family

On many occasions I have chronicled here my determined efforts to use my scraps. I save a lot of bits that other quilters might throw away. Try as I might, I just cannot allow myself to trash perfectly good pieces of quilting fabric. The stuff has gotten so dang expensive, and the waste is unacceptable for me.

Yes, I save a lot, and have done so ever since I began quilting over 40 years ago. All this time, however, I did knot know that saving scraps might possibly be hereditary. In a recent dig through my grandmother's tubs of fabrics, I learned that she too saved her scraps. I'd like to think that perhaps my penchant for saving scraps was acquired from my grandmother. How nice. 

Grandma's tubs included one that was chock full of every color of solid imaginable. Like a 64-color box of Crayola Crayons, I've plumbed the depths of her stockpile a few times when I've needed a solid. I recently worked on two quilts requiring solid colors, and found this pale green that would be a perfect addition to my quilt. All folded together, it appeared to be a hefty chunk of uncut yardage. When I unfolded, however, I found all manner of strips and bits.

My project required long strips of fabric, so these pieces ended up working perfectly. How grateful I am that Grandma was a saver of fabric scraps!

The project was a two-at-a-time one. I needed two baby girls quilts, and I had a hankering to use some Kaffe Fassett fabrics in a 'round-robin'-style quilt. I'd made one a couple of years ago when my granddaughter was born. (See picture here.) These seem to appeal to young moms; DD Erin used hers as a floor quilt when Cate was a tiny babe. (See picture here.)

I pulled the solids from Grandma's collection, and had these blocks whipped up in short order. Plus another set identical to these, as well. I've sewn both quilts together and prepared both backings. They are next in the queue for quilting. 

So, thank you, Grandma for saving those scraps! I'm trying to make good use of both yours and mine. *smile*

If you're interested in seeing some examples of the quilts I've made using scraps, click here, here and here.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

Retreat Projects

Last week I attended a 4-day quilt retreat in nearby Jamestown. Several of the Frankfort Girls plus a couple more attended. I thought it would be fun to share some of the projects we were working on. 

Terry: In a patriotic mood, Terry worked on three different projects. Alas, I have pictures of only two.  

The table runner and table topper will no doubt be ready to adorn Terry's lovely home soon. I don't think she used a pattern; rather she made these from pictures she'd seen online. 

Sheryll: In an effort to finish up a couple of UFOs, Sheryll worked on a couple of Kim Diehl projects begun a few years ago. I have only this one picture, but I'm pretty sure she worked on a second one after this. Plus she did some handwork.

Susan: Perhaps the aggravation  award goes to Susan for choosing to work on quite a complicated project. Not her style at all, this Tula Pink project (called Center Stage) was quite involved and at time gave Susan fits. It will ultimately be a gift for her niece.

The blocks were big, but were comprised of much tinier blocks and Susan was fit-to-be-tied at times with construction. It's gonna' have great impact when finished, though, and Susan has been known to create some real beauties; no doubt this will be yet another one.

Jan: As is the norm, Jan gets more out of a quilt retreat than anyone I've ever known. This one was no different. She finished the quilt tops for the two shown below and made a fair amount of progress on another which I did not photograph.

These quilts may look identical, but they are not. The same pattern used with two different fabric combinations. Jan really worked hard on these, then went on to begin at least one more and possibly two - I was rather inattentive at times, so I might have missed more.

Sharon: Yes, my good friend Sharon attended, and she happily finished off a quilt top that she'd been working on at my house for a few weeks. This is a Laundry Basket Quilts kit she'd gotten as a gift last Christmas. 

She finished her star quilt as far as the kit had fabric for, then decided she would make it bigger. She ordered more background fabric, made what remaining stars she could, the moved on to the 9-patch project, shown below.

Sharon had been given a collection of scraps from a dear old friend of her mother's. She sifted through the scraps to come up with a delightful collection of 2.5-inch squares that she proceeded to make into 9-patch blocks. What a wonderful array of vintage fabrics! This promises to be quite a beauty!

Mine: I had good success in my retreat experience. I finished the last of the 42 stars needed for a project I haven't even yet shared here on the blog. In a future post, I will provide some details, but for now I can show you a satisfying stack of stars.

After finishing the stars, I turned to a recently-found project in the depths of a clean-out in my sewing room. A tub of homespun remnants needed to be used up, and in a hurry. So I did the fasted quilt top I know how to make. Plain squares in a diagonal pattern across the quilt. It would be as big as the fabric allowed. The remaining fabric will be pieced for a backing, or turned into pillows.

When I finished this top, I turned to a very old kit I'd made for a retreat back when we were still going to Canter's Cave (2016, I think). I'd prepped about 12 blocks, made one block, discovered a cutting error, and immediately stowed it away for another day. I found it in that sewing room clean-out mentioned above, and decided the time had arrived to deal with it. Turns out the other blocks were all cut correctly. Yay!! I have renewed interest in seeing this little beauty completed, so I intend to stay with it. The pattern is called Best of All.

This pretty well sums up the sewing we did at retreat. This group just blended together so well; we have two more retreats on the calendar for next year.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne