Sewing With Sharon

After a super-long hiatus, Sharon and I have finally had a sewing day together and it was wonderful! I honestly could feel myself regaining my quilting mojo as we got into the day. The sound of our machines chugging away, the soft wafting of classical music playing, occasional spring bird calls drifting in through the open window - ahhhh, it was all so very much NEEDED! 

We both have finishes to show for our time, too, which is always the boost one needs to get moving onto the next project. Here's what Sharon finished - a layer cake quilt that she started at retreat a week ago is now a finished quilt top.

 The layer cake was one of the recent French General lines. One can never go wrong with FG fabrics. She simply divided the entire layer cake into pairs, then cut off 2 2.5-inch strips. This left her with a 5.5" square which she surrounded with strips and corners. At retreat she finished this as far as stitching all the blocks into vertical rows. Here on Tuesday morning, she stitched the horizontal rows, and VOILA! a finish!

For my own finish, I finally took the baby quilt off the long arm machine. I loaded it onto the long arm back in mid-September, and had it nearly all quilted. On the last pass across the quilt, I began having issues with the top thread breaking about every 8-10 inches. It was so daggone aggravating. I just left it. And left it. And then Reagan was born, and we had the holidays, and then we left for Florida. Well, you see how things sorta' lagged there for a good, long while.

The quilt was intended to be finished by the end of September when Reagan was to be born. I could not solve the breakage issue, and I already had one quilt ready to give her, so I put off dealing with it. This is a sweet fabric line called Effie's Woods by Deb Strain/Moda. I was gifted a lot of it - including the panels - and I had it sewn up in no time. Here's the post I wrote 4 days prior to Reagan's birth in which you see the quilt on the frame.

I did the last of the quilting Monday evening (yes, I still had breakage) and Tuesday, I bound it. I hope to wrap it around our sweet baby Reagan very, very soon. I'll get a proper picture of the quilt as well as the baby in the quilt, too.

With those two finishes out of the way early on, we both moved on to other projects. Sharon continued with yet another precut project. After her layer cake finish, she pulled out a jelly roll project using Tildas! Oh, that scrumptious fabric! She has a fast and easy design that is a twist on the popular "race" quilt.

After binding the baby quilt, I moved on to a scrappy 4-patch project from last fall. I wrote about it here. I didn't realize I'd made so many 4-patches - I'd separated them into groups of 10 and had about 150 total, so it seemed as good a time as any to begin sewing them together. With Sharon's input, I decided it best to just keep it simple, so with a whole stack of a rather neutral Aboriginal Dots (iykyk; one of the KF designs) I am in the construction phase of a really awesome scrappy 4-patch Kaffe quilt.

 And I'm gonna have to come back with a picture for you. It's dark as I write this and I just know I wouldn't get a good photo in poor lighting. 

Now, about that thread-breakage issue on the long arm . . . I am not yet convinced that it is entirely corrected. I will soon load on another smaller quilt and fiddle with the tension. I do believe minor tension adjustments, a bit of oil, and a new needle will solve my quilting woes.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

Another Mondo Bag

You already know that I made a Mondo Bag for quilter friend Becky in our Frankfort Girls quilting group. Read all about it here. In that post, I explained that I'd made a total of 4 Mondo Bags, but that wasn't exactly the truth. However, telling the truth would have revealed other secret sewing, so I told a Christmas fib.

Now the truth: I have made 5 Mondo Bags!

I could not divulge at the time that I was secretly making a Mondo Bag for Sharon.  Because of our schedules, my traveling, illness in her family, and miscellaneous holiday obligations, we never did coordinate gift-giving. 

So I dropped by her place one random day well after Christmas when she wasn't even home, and left this at her door. Merry Belated Christmas, Sharon!

This was a bag that very nearly DIDN'T get made. I knew when I made Becky's that I was using my last pattern, so I ordered a couple online. I would use a partial jelly roll of that luscious fabric line Roman Holiday (we both love it so much!) - I knew I had it somewhere in my stash. It would be perfect for Sharon's Mondo. When the new patterns arrived - well after Christmas - and I was ready to start Sharon's bag, I could not find that jelly roll anywhere! Waaaa! I searched and searched. 

And get this audacity - after I'd exhausted my extensive searching efforts, I asked Sharon if she knew where it might be in my sewing room! 

I finally gave up searching and decided that I'd use another beloved fabric, French General. It's still gorgeous and it's definitely a worthy second option.

The construction was as straightforward as ever; and in about an afternoon I had the bag finished. The panels are created with random 2.5-inch squares, and then magically when sewn together a fantastic bag results! Ingenious!

Sharon sent this pic yesterday, indicating that she is using and loving her Mondo Bag! Yay!!

Now, in the meantime, I think I have figured out when I must have used that partial Roman Holiday jelly roll. "Roman Holiday Jelly Roll quilt" is a picture file I found on my laptop while searching for evidence of my missing jelly roll - ha! The jokes on me! Am I becoming forgetful?!

Made in 2021, I vaguely recall intending to use lots of Roman Holiday remnants. I am sure that all the 9-patches in this quilt are made from that jelly roll.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

I'm On a Roll Now

Yesterday I loaded another quilt onto the Tin Lizzie, and after supper I quilted it! My goodness, but it feels so good to have this growing confidence on the long-arm. From the closet of quilt tops, I bring you French General Charms. This quilt top was made in May of 2016 when Sharon and I together, made Charm About You, a quilt that looks like it made with lots of setting triangles, but in fact, is sewn together in straight rows, and then cut - yes CUT! - and rearranged to form the on point effect. One drawback is that points are lost when adding borders, but I'm not too bothered by this. From afar, it's still a beauty and the missing points are of no consequence.

One little thing occurred while I quilted, and it is a very strong indicator that progress is definitely being made. After I roll the first pass up I have learned to always inspect the stitches to make sure the underside looks good. This time, while it didn't look awful, I did think the tension could be improved. So I adjusted by a quarter-turn of the tension knob, and by gosh, that made a huge difference in the beauty of the stitching. I felt so smug about diagnosing and adjusting on the spot like that. Bit by bit, I can feel my confidence growing.

I just love this border print. What a statement it makes with its big sweeping floral design and that deep gorgeous burgundy-red. Luscious. The charms are from an older French General line Rue Indienne; I'm cannot immediately identify the border line.

And VOILA! It's quilted! At 72" x 48", it didn't take long. Despite my growing confidence, I discovered that my learning curve continues. I had a devil of a time keeping track of my stitching on the center portion of this quilt. The center is made with a haphazard placement of colors and squares - quite different from quilting well-defined blocks, such a stars or churns or 9-patches. This will be my next skill to master.

Here's a few more random shots. I have not yet trimmed the sides, so better, full-on pictures will be forthcoming.

Today, Sharon will be here to sew. We've not sewn together since December! Lots of catching up to do! Before she gets here, I have an extremely cluttered, messy quilting room to tidy up. She is used to my messes, but right now it's a whole lot worse than usual. Yikes.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Small Jelly Roll Quilt is Quilted

 In the midst of attempting to get all the Christmas decorations and the tree finished, I have another quilting accomplishment that I want to share.

I don't even have it trimmed yet, so I will definitely provide more details as I complete the final steps. But it is definitely noteworthy that I am getting better at loading, at cleaning my machine, at free-motion quilting, and at overcoming my fear of mistakes.

This was made in 2019, started in September when Moda celebrates its Jelly Roll Day, and I finished the top in November. 

The only reason it is done now is that I had both a piece of batting and a piece of backing that was the perfect size for this small quilt. Rather than to stack it up and think about doing it, I just got to it. DONE! That is a very good feeling.

More details to come, as I trim and bind this quilt.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Another Long Arm Finish and a Correction

My friend Kay made this lap quilt out of beautiful French General reds and creams. I had the pleasure of quilting it! Proof that I am growing more and more comfortable with using the long arm machine! Yay! 

Who ever thought I'd need a 5-year learning curve?!

So here is the 54-inch square quilt, all dolled up with my special brand of meander quilting. Ha. Who am I kidding? For me, this is always a wish and a prayer, at best. I know I need practice, and that is exactly what this quilt and most of the others have been, for sure.

Love those stars! French General fabrics are generally the prettiest of reds and off-whites, and this does not disappoint. I do not know any details, like what line or lines the fabric is, nor do I know the name of the pattern. If anyone can provide such details, I'd sure love to know. 

And, how nice that the fabric goes nicely with the beige dot backing that has been my go-to. Looks like it was planned, doesn't it?

Now, for the correction part of this post. The last post contained my 2021 goals list, with all the finishes marked off. Well, I missed one! Here is a corrected list, with # 7 crossed off; it was done back in April or early May as a graduation gift. 

 

There, I feel better having that record set straight. And, I guess I will go ahead and say that I've made some progress on # 14 today - I have it all cut out and ready to sew at a Frienzies sewing day on Friday.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

 

Sharon's Lucy Is Finished!

Good things are worth waiting for, and getting to show you Sharon's French General version of Lucy is certainly a good thing. This beauty is a true feast for the eyes.

This picture is straight off the sewing machine, so I'm sure it has gotten a good pressing since going home with Sharon this afternoon. Here are some pictures of her process which will give you closer looks at her gorgeous French General fabrics.

The beige and white Sharon chose to use in her snowball blocks provides a truly dramatic, and romantic look. The effect looks like a lace doily mixed with those scarlet nuggets in the 25-patch blocks.

Neither of us is interested in ever making another Lucy. While we love our quilts and are glad to have made them, the amount of work really is daunting. All those 25-patch blocks took forever to complete, and then the quilt itself is quite large so construction was another labor-intensive effort.

Working on the Spring Dreams Quilt Along is a totally enjoyable change of pace - fast finishes and much simpler construction.

Click back to this post to see my floral version of Lucy. The same pattern with different fabrics makes for very different-looking quilts. 

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Christmas Stargazer Reveal

There's something incredibly satisfying about starting and finishing a project fast. The speed with which this quilt went together really sends my creative juices into overdrive. I pulled out the pattern and layer cakes on Sunday evening, and by Wednesday this flimsy was finished.

 

Using just two layer cakes, Stargazer was a cinch to make. The hardest decision was pairing up the beautiful prints and making sure that I had the correct number of combinations - light/dark blocks and light/light blocks.  

I'd had the two layer cakes for years and years. One was dated 2008; the other unknown. I suppose French General has a database of their fabrics and the release dates. Suffice it to say, these fabrics look better in a quilt than stacked in packaging and hiding in a drawer. 

Here are a few more shots of the quilt and closeups of the fabrics. The last pic will show you how excited Gracie the cat was about the new quilt. *grin*

 

 

In the last post, I alluded to being unable to focus on the big project of the blue Kaffe Fassett star quilt I want to make. I think that is because I know what I ought to be doing - I agreed to make a t-shirt quilt for a local woman whose son will graduate in May. I might be procrastinating a little bit.Go figure.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Stargazer Quilt

When fabric designers release new lines of fabric, they frequently also release free quilt patterns for customers to download. Stargazer is one such pattern. I first heard about Stargazer a few years ago from a couple of quilting friends. Designed by Edyta Sitar, it can be downloaded from her website Laundry Basket Quilts.

Several months ago, I laid this pattern out alongside a layer cake with the intent of whipping it up in a spare moment or two. Once I read the directions more fully, though, I realized one layer cake wouldn't come close to being enough fabric. The quilt is made entirely of HSTs using the 10" layer cake squares.

The original layer cake I intended to use was Lumiere de Noel, a Christmas line from French General. I had a bright idea to pull another FG layer cake, also a Christmas line, called Fa la la la la. Such a happy accident bringing these together. They'll make a beautiful quilt.

 I matched up the pairs, drew on the diagonal lines, stitched 'em all up, cut, and pressed them yesterday. Today, I play. Yippee! It is going to look amazing!

This quilt was not on my goals list for 2021, but it should have been. I am so excited to be making a fast, easy, and sure-to-be gorgeous quilt.

Stay tuned for the reveal. Could it possibly be as soon as tomorrow?

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Sharon's Lucy Quilt

 

Same pattern. Totally different look.

You may know that Sharon and I are working on making a Carrie Nelson pattern called Lucy; it is in her book called Farmhouse Favorites.

Mine has been chronicled here in a couple of previous posts (here's one), and I've teased all week about sharing the version that Sharon is making. The teasing will have to stop; this quilt is going to be amazing!

Sharon is using a variety of French General fabrics in mostly cream and red. The fabric across the top is a gray-beige for her snowball blocks. Below is another look. Can a bad quilt come from such gorgeousness? I think not.

Here are some shots from the cutting phase of the process. Ooohs and aaahhhs!

 

And after a day of sewing yesterday, Sharon has blocks! She got 24 blocks finished; here are just a few. They are spectacular, and I am totally loving how the change of fabrics changes the entire look. We quilters know this happens, yet each time, I marvel when I see it.

I am sewing my rows together and will have a completed quilt top very, very soon. Lucy has been a great first-of-the-year project for the two of us. 

I am so energized to stitch. 

Happy Quilting, Friends!