At Last! Quilting!

It's been nearly an entire year since I last quilted successfully on the longarm. I've limped along to finish two small quilts, but now I have all the kinks worked out and I'm just sailing along!

I loaded on Copycat Quilt (I've made 2 like this previously) and almost literally zipped across this quilt like a pro. It was exhilarating! This is a baby quilt for 6-month old granddaughter Annie. I made it at the quilt retreat back in April. Click here to read about it and other Kaffe Fassett quilts I made during that retreat.

I always do free-motion quilting, and I decided to do a curly-que design, which I have done before, but this time I made the swoops and loops a bit tighter. That took a bit longer to do, but still I was done in just a few hours.

Yesterday, I rolled it off and added on the binding. Talk about gratification! I used 3 different machines! Sewing the binding strip on Old Bernina, finishing the last pass of quilting on the longarm, and then stitching the binding onto the quilt on New Berninam because it has a walking foot - all three machines in the course of an afternoon! Whoop!

The backing is pieced. The supply of KF options in my stash is more than adequate, but yardage lengths are not, so I put these two girly-looking prints together.

I also pieced the binding.

Since I already know that my daughter loves KF fabrics, I am fairly confident that she will approve of all these diverse fabrics. *smile*

Have a look from different angles. It was such an easy quilt to construct; the hard part was determining which fabrics to use! Evenings this weekend will be for hand-stitching. Or while listening to an audiobook.

 

I know this quilt will see frequent laundering - after all, it's a baby quilt! Can you just imagine all the crinkly goodness that will appear over time? It will get so soft and cuddly. I hope Annie just loves and snuggles all over it. 

Speaking of Annie - have I shared a recent photo? She's getting to that fun giggly and smiley stage at 6/7 months old. I have always said that her sister Cate was the happiest child I've ever seen, and Annie is just as happy. Always has a ready smile for Gramma Jayne and just loves to snuggle with me. I am smitten, to be sure!

A burp cloth on her head, playing with a cereal bowl, an abundance of teething drool - and she's smiling just as big as you please. What a truly delightful little baby. Grandchildren are absolutely the treasures of our golden years, aren't they?

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

Mini-Trip Around the World

Last spring when I made my big Trip Around the World quilt, it became clear that I would have a substantial leftover stash to reckon with. I do love the challenge of using scraps, remnants and leftovers, so I came up with the idea of making mini TATW blocks. I've never heard of companion quilts, but this one could be considered a companion to my original TATW, shown below.

I made my first block back in August. I was tidying up the mess made from completing the TATW, and decided to play for a bit before storing it all away. This might be a good example of why it's good to allow oneself to play around from time to time. This is when I came up with the idea of making mini-blocks.

I decided that I'd make 12 blocks, set together 3x4, resulting in a reasonably sized couch quilt. Yesterday, I finished the last of the dozen blocks I needed.

For setting the blocks into a top, I plan to trim off the outer points and square up each block. What I will use for sashing and cornerstones remains to be determined. I purposely used a dark fabric - this is dark navy - for laying out the blocks so that I could get a visual. I like it, but I don't love it. I will stash dive to see what other options I come up with.

Here are a few more looks at the blocks. I am eager to complete this top!

This quilt is listed on the to-do list of sticky notes posted on my sewing machine. It's the one on the upper right.

I hope some productivity is happening in your sewing room! I must move on; there's always another project waiting on the horizon.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

Old Business

More regular posting would mean that I do things in a more timely fashion. However, we all know that I am anything but a regular at posting, so I'm going to share my September wrap-up, at beyond the halfway point of October. 

A quick glance at this collage indicates that our time was spent with granddaughters more that with sewing. We also had a few days of travel inserted into the month, also keeping me out of the quilting room. 

TOP ROW: The long-arm troubles were briefly corrected which allowed me to finish this sweet little Pink Pinwheel quilt which finally found its way to its final home. It was supposed to be done before Annie, now 6 months, was born. The second picture shows darling Cate doting on little sister Annie, who is growing and thriving in perfect form. The third picture is Reagan, showing off for us on a FaceTime call.

MIDDLE ROW: The vacation I mentioned found us in New Hampshire where we met up with Charlaine and Ken, friends we've made in Florida. Charlaine is one of the quilting friends I've made, and we attend the Thursday sewing day in Nobleton together. The middle picture are two patriotic blocks I've made for a sampler quilt I started. Then, I pulled out a long-ignored hand-quilting project that I've gotten busy on again. 

BOTTOM ROW:  Dear Baby Annie is all smiles and sweetness. It's incredible how easy-going she is. Cate is all giggles and smiles when Gramma Jayne and Pappaw Kevin are around. (And probably all other times, too; she is a happy, smiley girl!) And Reagan celebrated her 2nd birthday at the end of September with a little party at the other grandparents' house. We are loving all the time we've been able to spend with these sweet granddaughters this past month.

Now, for the sewing portion of this post. This is the current view of the front of my sewing machine. It serves as a message board. 

I've shared before that I like keeping these little notes to remind me of future quilts I want to make. Having these notes right in front of me every time I sit down at the machine prevents me from losing focus. Gotta stay on track! A quick glance give me direction when I feel directionless. I do, often, and it really helps to keep these front and center.

The top right note refers to the sew-along on Instagram hosted by @reproquiltlover. FFP stands for Fancy Four Patch. I've made a few blocks, shown below.

The note under FFP says Generals' Wives Quilt. It was a hugely popular BOM from several years ago. I never got on the bandwagon, but I sure did admire all the ones I saw made, both in person and online. I have borrowed the patterns from quilting friend Terry, and have decided that I ought to go ahead and work on it. When I start, though, remains to be determined.

The remainder notes contain brand-new ideas that I've never mentioned here before. Others are project that I am currently working on - WIPs, in other words. (Works in Progress) I added a really, really old UFO - Tulip Applique. It is the oldest UFO in my quilting room. I have referenced it before, but haven't dwelt on it by any stretch for the last 20+ years. Lately, though, I have been thinking more about it; I feel as though I've progressed enough with applique that I can more confidently finish it.

We've just had our annual family weekend at Hocking Hills, and it was so special with three sweet grandbabes to love on. Above, I am holding Annie and Reagan just as they were nearing bedtime on Saturday evening. The grandparents (DH and I) absolutely love this annual event; we are grateful to the daughters and their fellas for indulging us with this special time together.

 Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne 

Sewing Room Discoveries

I spent a bit of time yesterday tidying up in the quilting room.

Another way to phrase that would be that I avoided the long-arm machine by tidying up the quilting room.

But in my avoidance, I did find some surprises. And I thought it worth sharing here.

I have a boatload of 9-patch blocks. I've made these to fill time. I wanna sew something, but I just don't know what. My tendency is to make these when I've got pretty scraps littering my workspace and when I find that I just don't know what to do next. Filling the gap, you know?

Aren't they pretty??! Standard 2.5-inch squares can be turned into the cutest little 9-patches. And so easy! I've amassed quite a nice collection here. It may soon be time to take these to the next step - a quilt is in the brainstorming stage. I love this part of the process.

I've got such a diverse collection represented here. Where else will you find Kaffe Fassett fabrics mixed in with Tilda? Then throw in some patriotic fabrics, some vintage fabrics and some reproduction fabrics. That will be some wild and crazy mixture, for sure. I don't know whether all these will end up staying together or if I will pull some out. From previous scrappy endeavors, I do tend to remove all KF fabrics and use them together. Everything else will likely stay. 

Besides all these wonderful 9-patches made with 2.5-inch squares, I found some made with other sizes. And I also found various sizes of 4-patch blocks. Yeah, I do "play" a lot. It's a matter of having a "need" to use scraps! I don't throw out anything!

Above are two stacks of 9-patches and two stacks of 4-patches. All these are made with 2.5-inch squares.

This photo contains all those same stacks, and I've added a smaller stack of 4-patches and a smaller stack of 9-patches. So many wonderful blocks with which new quilts will be made. It's kind of exciting to think about what the future holds for all these blocks. Ideas are churning madly through my head!

When ideas are flowing like this, there's nothing to do but get back to work. I need this sort of thing to motivate me.

What motivates you?

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne 

A Near-Month Off

When a blog goes silent for a prolonged period of time, there's usually a reason. My reason is that I am smack dab in the middle of a dry spell caused by my long-arm woes. I am unwilling to blog when all I do is whine and complain. No one wants to read that! And I don't want to write it!

I felt as though I took positive action in July when I took the machine to be serviced and cleaned. It needed it. I've had the long arm for 10 years, and this was it's first servicing. All my optimism with a newly serviced machine was crushed when I found that I was still having top thread breakage. Darn. How could this be?

I've been fiddling around with it - in a rather sporadic and half-hearted way - and I feel as though I am getting close. I've had a long phone chat with Jake, the repairman at Chestnut Ridge. He offered good, sound advice, and even said that I could bring it back and he'd sit with me to show me basic trouble-shooting strategies. 

Pink Pinwheels, below, was on the long arm when my troubles began. I have successfully completed it. A promising development. 

Pink Pinwheels; made with leftover HSTs.

Pooh Quilt - intended to be gifted last Christmas. 

 

After Pink Pinwheels, I immediately loaded the Pooh Quilt. I did great for a time, but then the thread breakage started up again. So daggone aggravating!

Stay tuned. I will have positive news. I am optimistic that I can avoid another trip to Chestnut Ridge, and solve this with my own bull-headed determination.

I tell you all this just to explain why I am not blogging. I have tried to focus my attention on WIPs that need finishing, and I've made progress on those. I know that ultimately, with success on the long arm, productivity will see a massive rebound and I will share happy news rather than complaints. 

Now, let me share some of those WIPs (works in progress) which I mentioned. Bit by bit, some finishes are on the horizon. I've pulled out this hand-quilting project to find that I was further along on it than I'd realized. This motivates me to maintain my focus and finish it off.

A hand-quilting project is nearing completion.

With remnant of my TATW quilt finished in the spring, I began making mini TATW blocks. I've now made 7 blocks with a plan to do 5 more. I will still have remnants, but 12 blocks will made a nice couch quilt.

Mini-Trip Around the World block.

Hoping that not just my long arm mojo returns, but also my blogging mojo does, too! How do you weather the dry spells in your sewing and quilting life? Maybe I need a pep talk.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne 

A Lack of Focus

You'd think that by the time one is approaching her 7th decade, she'd have a better understanding that focus on one or two projects brings far more satisfying results than flitting from one thing to another with no real plan or direction.

The most productive I've been lately was that week in August at retreat. I went with projects prepped and ready to sew. I finished the flimsy for the weather vane quilt I made with the Winnemucca fabric and went on to get quite a few stars made for Aurora. Click here to see visual reminders of those quilts.

The trouble is that new ideas present themselves far faster than I can finish making the ideas I've already committed to! 

The idea about using all the scrap HSTs continues to simmer in my brain, so I work on making those tiny block with even tinier pieces! But they are so darn cute, I just wanna' keep going!

I will need to adjust my focus and get going on this one. I know I will; just a matter of when.

I checked an easy quickie off the list by replacing a zipper on this jacket for my cousin. She'd given it to me while we were in Florida. Since I knew she wouldn't need it through the summer months, I didn't need to rush to finish it. Now that we are on the cusp of autumn, I thought I'd better follow through for her.

The one thing I have focused on more than anything has been making blocks for this pattern I borrowed from one of the Frankfort girls awhile back. I had no more of a plan for making this than I had for anything, yet here I am seeming to whittle away at it.

I typically try to avoid samplers. I've made several over the years and historically I always end up with a big mess of fabrics strewn all around my workspace. Samplers seem to lend themselves to messiness. Being a naturally messy person to begin with, this is problematic for me. Yet here I am, working on a sampler that was totally absent from my radar as this year began.

My blocks so far have been fun to make, and I don't have a terrible mess - yet. I had a FQ pack from about 20 years ago; maybe that will minimize the clutter. I will provide details on the fabric in an upcoming post. For now, we'll just look at the completed blocks thus far.

If any of you readers have made this quilt, you may be wondering about the outer border each block is supposed to have. I've elected to hold off putting those on because I don't know which neutral I want to use. I will also need a neutral for the sashing strips, so I will think about that when I have a few more blocks made.

Also, the quilt is rather large with 25 blocks. I am only going to make 20 blocks, setting them at 5 long and 4 wide. No rules, right? Just because a pattern is made one way, doesn't mean I can't suit my own purposes and make a smaller version. I mostly am interested in having a patriotic quilt.

You think I am done reporting all the flitting I've been doing? I'm not. I have had an idea to try making another item I might sell if I were to set up a table at a craft fair. I've made a gazillion of those snappy card wallets. Now I'm making tissue holders for a purse or briefcase.

These four are my prototypes; I've experimented with topstitching and with assembly line construction. I will continue to perfect my speed and see if I can mass produce 3-4 dozen of these little cuties.

And what are we NOT seeing? Any work on the long arm and any work on those quilts I took to retreat: Aurora and mini Trip Around the World. I DO still plan to make these, and I will get back to work on the long arm. 

Too many options - and I haven't even mentioned that it's soon to be time for me to take my quilting on the road to History Day next month. I always set up my hand quilting there for folks to see the old-timey methods of our ancestors. It's a day I look forward to, but it does require a bit of planning.

Hope you are checking items off your to-do list! I will find a way to return my focus; I think phases like this occur from time to time. I'll be on track soon; I'm sure of it!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne
 

August Wrap-Up

Just as I was late in welcoming September, I am even more late in wrapping up August. It was a good month filled with so many varied activities and events; I simply must review it so as to preserve all the memories.

Before we get into that, I will show you a peek at the next quilt coming off the long arm machine. It was intended to be a Christmas gift to a special little one, but my machine woes prevented that from happening. It is ready in plenty of time for THIS Christmas!

 All right, the main order of business: a wrap-up of August. What a fun and busy month!

ROW 1: Five members of DH's family attended a Cleveland Guardians game to celebrate b-i-l Mike's birthday. Next, yours truly whacked off her hair! I've not had it cut this short in a very long time! And last, I finally cut into the treasured fabric bought on vacation years ago! We traveled through Winnemucca, NV, and I got to shop very quickly for these fabrics. I love the quilt that resulted!

ROW 2: This row can be the granddaughter row! The two older granddaughters vie for space on Gramma's knee at a Columbus pizza restaurant. We met both families for dinner on a very hot Sunday afternoon. Baby Annie wasn't at all bothered by the heat or the noisy restaurant. She is 4 months at the time this pic was taken. And, again, Cate and Reagan canoodle at the restaurant while waiting for pizza.

ROW 3: The first quilt off the long arm was the pink pinwheel quilt made for baby Annie. I'll be binding it today. The sunset picture is taken looking out across the Ohio River near Ripley, OH. The whole Moonrise (Florida) gang met at a friend's river-side cottage for a cookout. It was lovely catching up with everyone. And last, DD Erin blows kisses around Annie's ears and neck. Isn't that a happy face?!

And now I can put those August duties behind me. Time to look ahead to what September has in store! My main priority will be getting as many quilts run through that long arm machine as possible. I set a rather lofty goal back in January; I am woefully behind. 

We also plan to leave for a 6-7 day trip into New England next week. I want to get some handwork prepared for stitching in the car.

Plenty to look forward to! And one more thing - Buckeye football is back!! Today is our season opener!

 

Happy Quilting, Friends!

And GO BUCKS!

Jayne