Birthday Party

While we were in Michigan, someone special had a birthday. Since neither of us are too rigid about much of anything, we celebrated yesterday while she was here to sew.

If you guessed that we were celebrating Sharon, you would be correct. Oh, there was wine and cheese and fruit and nuts! Wait, we do that most sewing days…well, add gifts and it becomes a party. 

We have been known to feed one another's habits, so I just had to gift her with some absolutely scrumptious yardage of this neutral by 3Sisters. We are both fans of the many lines of 3Sisters fabrics, she much more so than I. Now you can see what I bought while shopping in Michigan. The perfect neutral to feed Sharon's love of all things 3Sisters.

Here are some more random pics; While it is most definitely a neutral, it’s quite a busy print! There are so many elements to look at, to read, to study. We petted and pointed all over Collages from the new line called Favorites.

Initially, I envisioned her using this in a 2-color quilt - say red/neutral or navy/neutral. But the more I thought about it, those soft pinks or blues that 3Sisters is known for would also look lovely. Then as we studied this piece more closely, it became evident that cutting this into small pieces might be hard to do. Why not piece a quilt with large blocks of this? Well, Sharon certainly has some decision making ahead of her.

In the mean time, she might just stare at this gorgeousness for awhile.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

Pinwheels

Who doesn’t love a freebie? Ranking right up there with finishing a quilt, having a free quilt made from excess bits is an exceedingly pleasing accomplishment. I believe this unplanned and totally adorable little pinwheel quilt is about as cute as can be for a freebie. 

 

My freebie quilt began way back in April at the quilt retreat. While making the sashing units for Paris Flea Market Find, I decided not to waste those cutaway portions of the flip-and-turn corners. I had a gazillion of them by the time I had all the triangles made. If you click here you can read up on the initial phase of this quilt. I sew my seam for the second HST while I am doing the original seam. My seams are quite narrow, but I try to make them as uniform as possible so I don't have to trim. Most of mine were close enough that I didn't have many needing trimming.

It was a fun few sewing sessions getting all the HSTs pressed and turned into pinwheels. I quite enjoyed the process, and was determined that I would make enough for a nice-sized mini quilt or even a baby quilt. I really didn't want any leftover pinwheels, so I had to piece some setting squares that would ensure that all pinwheels were used. Easily accomplished.

Looking closely, you surely will be able to see those pieced setting blocks but I feel certain that once this is quilted and laundered, the crinkly nature of a quilt will mask all that. I am just thrilled that I used so much of the leftover fabrics of the original quilt.

A handful of pinwheels are made with the florals from the border fabric on PFMF, so I sprinkled them throughout the quilt for random pops of variety. I selected my border for this pinwheel quilt out of my ever-diminishing stash of 3 Sisters fabrics. This is Sanctuary.

This little quilt measures 36.5 x 39.5. I expect to get it quilted straight away and put it aside for the little granddaughter coming in September. This will be the first for her; yes, several more are planned. *smile*

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

Reveal Day!

Finally, I can share my newly finished Paris Flea Market Find quilt! She is quite a beauty, wouldn’t you agree?

This quilt tells a story of how a well-established fabric stash can pay dividends. My good sewing sister and fellow fabric stash expert Sharon and I often talk about future quilts we want to make and wonder how we’ll ever use up all the fabric we have accumulated over the years. At some point way back last fall, Sharon suggested we make Paris Flea Market Find, a pattern by It’s Sew Emma that she had. Each of us would use our respective stashes, of course.  Happily, neither of us bought a single inch of new fabric for our quilts. That is very satisfying, I must say.

We cut our quilts out ahead of the retreat at Needles n Pines. We waited until the April retreat to begin sewing. I shared snippets of our beginnings: a sneak peak at mine is here; a sneak peak at Sharon's is here.

My stash for this quilt was a very nice collection of 3 Sisters fabrics: Paris Flea Market, Sanctuary, and Promenade. Sharon used another 3 Sisters collection called Etchings.

While at retreat, I finished all my blocks and all the sashing strips. I’d not prepared or cut any cornerstones or borders. You can bet I did that ASAP upon my return home and I had the quilt top (flimsy) stitched up straight away.

Having a finished quilt top used to be my goal when making a quilt. Now that I am using the long-arm machine more successfully, I occasionally quilt up these flimsies. A totally  completed quilt?!! Whoa!

I put PFMF on the long arm on May 29 and took it off on May 30. I then spent a bit of time considering binding options, and once again the stash provided precisely what I wanted! See this post for the binding story.

Last evening, I finally stitched down the last of the binding. A quilt begun on April 7 and finished on June 9 - wow, who’d ever thought this was possible? Especially a big, full-size quilt!? Sometimes baby quilts can be that fast, if not faster. This quilt measures out at roughly 78x85 inches. 

More pictures? Why, yes, I think that's appropriate! *grin*

As I took this final picture, I realized that the majority of fabric used in my pillow cases are 3 Sisters - Aviary and Sanctuary. I expect that a few random squares also show up in that front pillow. How wonderful!

Now I owe y'all a few pics of the more recent goings on over here, as well as a long-overdue May collage. Plus, I think a proper picture of Sharon's flimsy is also called for; after all making this quilt was her idea!

Soon, my friends, soon.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

Useful Scraps

You may recall that I’d made a whole bunch of HSTs back in April from the cutaway corners needed for Paris Flea Market Find. 

Just on a whim, I made this little pinwheel from 4 of the cutaways, and I really found that little cutie to be quite appealing. For awhile now I have desired a good excuse for making a pinwheel quilt. Perhaps would be just the thing to spur me on.

By leaving that pinwheel and baggie full of HSTs out near my sewing machine, I was constantly reminded that this could easily be started and finished for a sweet baby girl quilt.

And just like that, I started it. I'd taken care to make all the HSTs as uniform in size as possible (note the very narrow seam allowances!). It was a chain-piecer's delight.

In no time at all, I had my pinwheels laid out with the leftover background fabric used in Paris Flea Market Find. I went to my tub of 3 Sisters fabrics for the border print, and voila!! A happy, cheerful pinwheel quilt for one of the 2 baby girls coming soon in our family.

I had to piece about 5 of the setting blocks to make this work,  but you know that will melt away into the crinkly-ness once it's quilted. So YAY!! I am happy for this little freebie! I used all the remnants, didn't waste fabric, and it was a free bonus quilt!

 

Gotta run! The Frankfort Girls are meeting this morning!

 

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

 

Finally - A Reveal!

It sounds pretty pathetic, but I'd like to introduce my first quilt top of 2024. It has taken me until beyond mid-April to finally produce a quilt top. I have never taken so long to share one with y’all! Those three months in Florida really stunted my early-year productivity.

I began working on Paris Flea Market Find (PFMF) at the retreat last week. I made all the 25-patch blocks and all the sashing strips. I hadn't brought the cornerstone fabric or the border fabrics, so the finishing up has been happening this week.

You know what? The long wait for a 2024 flimsy was totally worth it. This is one gorgeous quilt top, I tell you. The fabrics in the 25-patches is from a jelly roll I had called, coincidentally, Paris Flea Market by Moda/3 Sisters. The red star points fabric is from my stash - a 1-yard cut of Paris Flea Market. The light sashing fabric is a Laundry Basket Fabrics neutral which I'd found in a bin at Old Town Fabrics. The floral inner border is Sanctuary by Moda/3 Sisters. That was left over from a quilt I made in 2021. The cornerstones and outer border is Promenade by, you guessed it, Moda/3 Sisters. I just love that these designers keep similar colorways so that various lines can be combined.

As I said, Paris Flea Market, Sanctuary, and Laundry Basket were all fabrics in my stash. I must credit my dear friend and best sewing buddy, Sharon, for coming through with a most amazing Christmas gift - over a half a bolt of Promenade. Not only is this the cornerstone and outer border fabric, there is enough remaining to use as backing! And Sharon even came through with the pattern! Lucky me, right?

And here is Paris Flea Market Find, a completed quilt top - her coming out party. Ahh, I just love how delicate and soft it is. What a cozy quilt this is destined to become!

Hopefully, all my quilts this year will come together as effortlessly as PFMF has. I will be one satisfied quilter if they do.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

Additional Jelly Roll News

The jelly roll efforts around here seem to go on and on. Yesterday Sharon came to sew; she had set aside her Scrappy Irish Chain to work on a jelly roll quilt! Yay! It is wonderful, too!

Sharon used the same pattern I had intended to use, Civil War Scrappy from the Lintott book called Jelly Roll Quilts. She did not veer from the directions as I did. Her snowball blocks look great and the quilt is a true beauty! The jelly roll is Luna Notte by - who else - 3 Sisters/Moda. They truly DO make the most gorgeous fabrics. Sharon has made a lot of quilts using this line, and she reminded me that I'd gifted her the jelly roll she used for this. Sweet!

So she came yesterday with the blocks already made. She'd been busy! Her task for the day was to lay out the quilt and stitch the top, which she did, as you can see above.

 

While she worked on her jelly roll quilt, I continued to work on mine. Yes, I thought I was finished, but I had extra 9-patch units left over, and I thought maybe I could rework them to make more blocks - enough for another row or two. So I spent the day making enough new 9-patches for two additional rows. I have them attached, and now I am considering border options. More on that some other time.

We finished within minutes of each other, and we got DH to take a pic of our quilts together. Same inspiration pattern, but I switched out the snowball blocks in favor of a floral setting block; Sharon followed the directions and made the snowballs. She had the background fabric readily available, whereas I would have had to spend too much time finding suitable background. My floral was right there in my Roman Holiday tub. No brainer.

So, we each have a jelly roll quilt made this month, both using 3 Sisters fabrics from older lines - Sharon used Luna Notte, and I used Roman Holiday. I admit that we were both pretty darn proud to have completed these so fast. Using such gorgeous fabrics makes one excited to see a finish. We decided we are absolute wizards at the sewing machine. Ha! 

Happy Quilting, Friends!

 
 

Roman Holiday Jelly Roll Quilt

I began my sew-a-jelly-roll efforts early in anticipation of our planned vacation to New England. And yesterday I finished off the quilt top.

Actually, when Sharon was last here on Tuesday of jelly roll week, I dug out my Roman Holiday jelly roll. I wrote a bit about that here. Basically, I matched the jelly roll up with a pattern from the book Jelly Roll Quilts by Pam and Nicky Lintott. I chose the pattern Civil War Scrappy, but for the sake of expediency, I decided to use a single fabric for my setting blocks instead of snowball blocks. After all, jelly roll quilts are supposed to be fast, almost effortless, in their construction. With an 8-day vacation interrupting the project, simplifying was a priority. I didn't have time to fuss with snowball blocks; I wanted this quilt done and done fast!

A quilt with a bunch of 9-patches and plain setting blocks doesn't really require a pattern, but I am so glad I studied the directions for Civil War Scrappy. It explains how to maximize jelly rolls when making 9-patch blocks - match up pairs of strips, cut strips into 17" units, then construct 3 9-patch blocks. Two will be 5 dark/4 light, while one will be 5 light/4 dark. There will be one unit left over. That's good knowledge to tuck away for future use.

Now, back to the background fabric. The pattern called for a neutral, and I didn't have one that suited me. I did have, however, a good 2- or 3-yard length of Roman Holiday floral. It is my supreme goal the older I get to follow the path with the least amount of thinking. Quilters are sometimes notorious for overthinking things like matching. I knew that this Roman Holiday fabric was pretty enough to work in any combination.

Floral setting blocks it would be; no looking back.

I think I made the right choice. Here are some additional pictures; see if you agree. The large floral makes for a very busy quilt, but I am not overly bothered by this. I have loved Roman Holiday fabric for so long, I am happy to use it in all its beautiful glory! Let the profusion of blocks and flowers jump to life in this easy quilt!

 

I always say I will skip jelly roll day next year, but I seem to have a weakness when it comes to ignoring new and fun projects. I will take a day this week to review all the jelly roll quilts I've made in previous years.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

 

 

 

It's Jelly Roll Time Again!

Every September the fine folks at Moda Fabrics celebrate their ingenious creation - the Jelly Roll. I remember when these first came on the scene. In my totally-missing-the-mark way, I determined that this idea would never catch on. 

Yeah. I admit to such narrow-mindedness. 

A more successful marketing brainchild may not be found in the quilting world. Precuts surely are some of the best of the best sellers in the industry.

A few years back, I bought these lovely JRs from an Etsy shop. Roman Holiday by 3 Sisters is my all-time favorite fabric, and finding it these days is quite difficult. 

Two of the JRs have been used, but one remained in my stash, and so, in preparation for the big Sew a Jelly Roll day coming up on Saturday, I have begun a new project.

Few things are more thrilling that beginning a new project, yet beginning a new project with THE very prettiest fabric ever created sure makes me a very happy quilter! Look at that RED!

Yes, I have started early on the Jelly Roll celebration. DH and I will be traveling on Saturday, so I will not be in the sewing room. If I am to participate, I need an early start.

The easy part of this jelly roll pattern is making 9-patch blocks. I am very close to having them all done. Next will be to locate some background fabric for making Snowball blocks. I have plenty of scraps in the Roman Holiday tub to use for the corner squares. More on that as I get to them. I will also share the pattern I am using.

Hope you are finding fun things to work on!

Happy Quilting, Friends!