Quickie Pillows

I found some fabric in my stash. Yeah, big surprise.

It's been there for oh, maybe 25 years. I just keep moving it around, telling myself I ought to make some pillows with that. 

It was pretty stuff. Remnant picked up over at the upholstery store over in Waynesville. They had a sister store that carried quilt fabric. I loved going over there with Grandma way back in the day.

So last week, a day or two before the family reunion, I decided that these pillows needed to be made. I had a package of 16" forms, so I got busy and made these two pillows, envelop backs, simple construction.

I tried them out on the front room sofa, then on a chair in the family room.

The fabric looks like bark cloth, but I don't think it is. The tag on the piece of remnant said 3/4 yard, and I got it for $7.49. Two pillow covers for $7.49! Gosh, why had I waited so long to make these?

In this photo, you can see the sofa in the screened porch; I have since moved these pillows to that sofa, and they seem to belong on the porch.The leafy design of the fabric seems most suited for that more casual setting.

So, I'm very happy with my new pillows, and I still need to make some new one for the family room sofa and the front room sofa. Maybe now I'm motivated.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

Circleville Quilt Show

The quilt show sponsored annually by the Goodtime Quilters of Circleville, OH, was held this past weekend. It's hands down one of the best local quilt shows around and has been for a long while.

I wish I could say how many I've attended over the years - I know I'd have to go way, way back to figure it out. I can't say that I've had 25 years of consecutive attendance, but I know I've gone for over 20 years.

I want to tell you about a new vendor (new to me, anyway)  at the show this year - Ohio Barn Quilts. What a sweet lady! I had such a pleasant visit with Joan White about her company in Oregonia, OH (near Lebanon). I was so interested to learn how her business has evolved over time, and her care in insuring that her products withstand wear and tear of both the mailing process and a variety of weather conditions. 

 Joan's booth was so colorful! The variety of blocks she offers is impressive, and after studying her website a bit, I learned that she offers custom colors to match particular color schemes.

As I've shared here in previous posts, I have made 2 barn quilts - one for our house here in Ohio; one for our house in Florida. I have considered making more, so I was particularly interested in seeing her variety. If I make more, I would want to keep it super simple. Joan has some very complex designs!

If you know of anyone who'd love a barn quilt on their home or barn, Joan would be the perfect person to contact. It would be a great gift for someone, quilter or not. The barn quilt craze is not waning; we see them everywhere!

Another vendor I visit every time I attend is Sewing The Good Life with Annette and Craig. I visited with them in Daytona this past winter; I knew I'd see them again here in Ohio. They are practically neighbors! Their Jeffersonville, OH, home is only about 30 minutes from me. And, yes, I bought more Tilda fabrics while I visited! *wink*

Now here are a few pictures I took of quilts at the show. I mostly took pictures of quilts made by friends. Enjoy the pretty quilts! I wasn't as fastidious about taking pictures as I was in Daytona.

Pieced and hand quilted by Frankfort Girlfriend, Sheryll.

 

Pieced and hand quilted by retreat friend Lisette.

One of the winners. I'd love to make this someday.

 

 

Another of the winners. Gorgeous, but not one I will make.

The quilting on this one is amazing.

Wouldn't this look gorgeous as a wall hanging?! 

Okay, that's all. I didn't allow myself to dilly-dally, with our reunion planning in full swing last week. We had 20 here yesterday, and despite the heat, we had a wonderful day. 

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne 

Filling In Border Garden

Gardeners are often found pruning and perfecting their gardens. I have been no different with my Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt. A few months ago I was telling folks I'd finished it. Then while I was pondering borders options that appealed to me, I decided that this flower garden still needed some more attention. I needed to fuss just a little bit more with the quilt. I wrote about all of this here.

With the half-hexie flowers prepared, I stitched them into the quilt over the course of a couple of evenings. Now, I am adding the outer path hexies to complete my garden.

Five path hexies are all that I need to close the gap on this path. It takes very little time to complete. And just like that, my goal of softening the curves on my GFG has been achieved. *smile*

In the spaces that I have completely enclosed with paths, I am removing the last of the foundation papers. Then I've begun pressing the edges for a crisp, sharp edge preparing for the next step - appliqueing to a border. 

I'm linking up with Kathy and her Slow Sunday Stitching party. Let's hop over there to see what beauties these sewists are creating.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne 

I Might Be On A Roll!

As sporadically as I seem to be with using the Tin Lizzie, I know it's too soon to claim that I'm on a roll. But I like this feeling of getting quilts off the design wall and out of the closets, onto the longarm machine and QUILTED!

So maybe, just maybe, I can begin a habit of quilting the many tops hiding in this quilting room and beyond. 

Autumn Leaves is quilted as of Tuesday, and it all went very well, with no thread breakage or tension troubles. Before the next quilt goes on, I will change the needle, clean out lint, and oil the working parts. I've learned my lessons about ignoring or delaying these essential steps. 

I went straight to work on the binding. I only guesstimated that I would need 7 strips (pshaw! who measures??). I was just a tad shy of having enough. *smh*

I stitched the border on and shared it at quilting with the Frankfort Girls yesterday. 

So let's get a complete look at this quilt. She's all ready for the coming fall season, and you can bet I will use it!

Do you think my backing is perfect? It was a gift I picked up last fall from my friend Jan. She was having a massive sewing room clear-out. As a grateful recipient of her generosity, I knew it'd be perfect for this quilt and backing fabric is so easy. I love how quickly I can get a quilt loaded on when I don't have to piece a backing.

It's super-nice to have a finish. My output of finished quilts has seriously decreased in recent months, unfortunately. I hope to boost my numbers over the next several months. We'll see.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

The Next Quilt Up!

After quilting Good Life Tag Sale a week ago, this week found me loading another one on the Tin Lizzie. 

 Fall Leaves has hung on my design wall since I finished it way, way back in October of '23. I left it there intentionally because I wanted it to continue calling me to quilt it!

Hiding behind the Fall Leaves flimsy, I found these sweet reminders of ideas from over recent years. It prods me more than a little bit to see these and revisit some ideas I'd forgotten.

But first, this quilt gets my attention. I loaded it on in relatively quick order, and cleaned out the machine from lint left over from Tag Sale. 

I've quilted only just a bit; I wasn't sure what sort of free-motion design I wanted, so I have gone with loose loops. I think it sorta' looks like wind whipping the leaves along just like the real thing. What do you think?

I doubt I get much time with this quilt this week. We are preparing to host a family reunion this coming Sunday; so cleaning and cooking will take priority most days. I will sew on Tuesday with Sharon. That will be my big day, as things look now.

Hope you have a productive week! Whether sewing or preparing for guests, make it a great week!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne 

Partial Hexie Flowers

Back in May I finished the hexies for my Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt. I shared the reveal in this post.

At the time I really did think I was finished. 

As time has passed and I've considered border options, I just wasn't thrilled about those deep curves along the top and bottom of the quilt. 

 

The side curves are fine with their gentle, soft, undulating curves. The top and bottom, though, have deep ravines. I thought I'd be okay with them and just fill in with my solid border fabric, but I've since had a change of heart. I wasn't going to be happy with curved borders so deep. To solve the issue, I have decided that partial blocks of flowers are in order. Filling in these deep ravines will result in a softer, more gentle curve for the top and bottom - a lot closer in depth to the gentle curves on the sides.

 

I played around just a bit with how big these partial flowers should be. This 5-hexie outer bit with a 2-hexie inner bit will be perfect. Once I have these all inserted into the quilt, then I will outline all with more of those low-volume shirtings that I used for my paths.

This work has been perfect for evening tv watching. Currently, we are spending most evenings watching the Tour de France on Peacock network. Thank goodness for replays! We are about 6 stages behind in our viewing. Lots of stitching time remaining.

I just know I will be much happier with the bordering results by adding these partial flowers. I'd love to move this quilt along to a total finish by year's end.

I'm linking up with Kathy and her weekly Slow Sunday Stitching party.  

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

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
 

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 

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