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!

Slow Sunday Stitching

With some measure of embarrassment, I share the project I've worked on the past few days. Many of you long-time followers will have been assuming that it was finished, as my last post (in 2018) about this little project indicated that I was super-close. Inevitable!

No, not inevitable. The smallest of stumbling blocks is sometimes all it takes for me to just stop. The stumbling block facing me with this was losing track of my quilt markings. The plan for large-stitched Baptist fans became a "suggestion" of fans the further I quilted toward the borders. 

This week, I decided that regardless of how messy my fans looked in this table topper, done is better perfect. So, I've free-handed some semblance of quilting lines around the entire border of this quilt. I remind myself that perfection is not the goal. Finished is the goal. 

Still recovering from the week-long sinus infection I've had, this type of stitching is all I've managed this week. So many near-finishes await me, but this one will have to do until my head clears up.

I'm linking up with Kathy and her Slow Sunday Stitchers.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

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!

 

Continued Slow Stitching

My goal of having this table topper done by Christmas is beginning to concern me! This slow stitching business is just that - slow! However, it continues to be a work in progress, and it is nearing completion.

It may have been ignored for too long back in the earlier fall.

Lately, I have been keeping it on my footstool so that whenever I sit down, I can easily access it and get to stitching.

For the most part, the center portion is quilted. I have a few small places to stitch - like when I ran out of thread and such. Then it's on to the borders. Since I don't have a plan, I guess I will continue with the Baptist Fan motif all the way out to the edge.

A couple of good long evenings - maybe with a movie queued up - and this can finally be done!

Linking up with Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching party. Is everyone facing deadlines?

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Slow Stitching

I am determined to finish quilting this little Roman Holiday table topper - before Christmas! I am doing big-stitch quilting on it, yet like I so often do, I get side-tracked by other projects, and it sits ignored in the quilting room. I have recently brought it back out and leave it on the footstool near my chair in the family room. While I watched both Buckeye basketball and football on Saturday - two wins!! - I worked on this topper.

Those big stitches are becoming rather haphazard. I think that comes with the infrequency of my work on it. If I were more focused, I would know where I was going with those markings made however long ago.

Maybe you can guess my attitude concerning the haphazard quilting - no big deal! Done is better than perfect, for sure. This attitude keeps me plugging away on this little beauty.

I am linking up with the friendly folks partying over at Kathy's Quilts for the Slow Sunday Stitching event. I wonder how many  more quilters are trying to finish things in time for Christmas??

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Works In Progress

I think I start too many projects. Emphasis on START.

On Monday I had a full day set aside on which to sew with Frienzies, and when I went to the sewing room ostensibly to get my stuff ready to go, I had a heck of a time deciding which project to work on.

Aaahh!

I could not make myself focus! I truly want to work on them all, and of course that is impossible, so how does one pick? If I would finish one before starting another, I wouldn't waste so much time deciding.

It came down to choosing out of five options - three needed the sewing machine; two required hand-work. I will tell you what won out after I show you the five contenders.

First, I thought about taking the jelly roll squares - a red pile and an off-white pile. They would have been fun to sew together into the quilt top. Above, the individual blocks are laid out on the bed creating a pleasing red chain one direction and an off-while chain the other. Here's when I started it.

Next, I considered taking Diagonal Madness. It is always fun to sew Kaffe Fassett fabrics with the Frienzies, as so many of them have their own Kaffe stashes and quilts. The diagonal placement of the colors and squares requires attention; could I muster that with the Freinzies? Here's when I started it.

Another contender was the Quilter's Planner sew-along quilt. All the individual blocks are made and now the quilt top needs to be constructed. The background comes together in long strips. The directions have lots of numbers/measurements. I knew I would be talking and visiting - not concentrating, in other words. Again, could I muster that? Here's when I started it.

I have been working diligently on my Roman Holiday table topper with my big-stitch quilting. I have every intention of finishing it before Christmas, so it was a definite contender. I did take it along with me on Monday, but I did not take a single stitch on it. Here's when I started it.

The winner was Lake Effect, the 10-year project that I have basically avoided for about 3 months now. I was at a place where a break just seemed right. I am currently all revved up to do some back-basting, and this was how I spent my Monday. And, happily, several pleasant evenings since. *smile*

While I do seem to lose a lot of time spinning my wheels with indecisiveness, eventually, I manage to focus.

Of these five WIPs, I honestly think I can get Roman Holiday completely finished, and quilt tops for Diagonal Madness and Jelly Roll completed this month. I will allow myself to save the Quilter's Planner for December, and of course, this Lake Effect will take years. I have called it a 10-year project; I am just two years into it, so I have plenty of time left. No hurry, for sure. The fabric was purchased in April of 2017; here's a 2018 post about hexies for Lake Effect.

How do you overcome indecision in the sewing room? Help a girl out with suggestions!
Happy Quilting, Friends!

Christmas Prepping

 In an effort to finish off some works in progress (WIPs) that are cluttering up my sewing room, I picked up a small project that will take just a bit of time and focus to be complete. And the bonus?? It's a small Christmas quilt, so I will have a pretty piece to add to my holiday décor as a wall hanging or table topper.

I am fuzzy on all the particulars surrounding the creation of this little quilt, but what I do recall is that I had dug into my tub of Roman Holiday/3 Sisters fabric remnants and found that I had the makings of these HSTs. I pieced them until I ran out, then used other remnants for a pieced border.

Above is an old (and poorly lit) picture of the quilt parts on the design wall. This shows the pieced border and corner blocks. This old post tells me that this little quilt had its start way back in December of '17. I wouldn't have guessed it was that far back, honestly. Just goes to show that time has a way of getting away from us. Hmm...

I have tried to be diligent and do at least some stitching every day for most of the past week - just 15 or 20 minutes - and at this rate I feel confident that I can claim this as a finish in short order. With the 'big-stitch' technique and the simple Baptist fan design, the stitching goes pretty fast.

Making the stitching even more enjoyable is the new book I have queued up on Audible - The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson. I have been hearing quite a bit about this book lately, and at just chapter 5 or 6, I am quite enthralled by the tale.

(from Google search)

Big doings in the long arm room tomorrow! We have an electrician coming to install a new ceiling light and fan! I will definitely bring updates on that as they become available!

Hope you are having a great week!
Happy Quilting, Friends!

Big Stitching and Buckeye Winning

What a great day in the state of Ohio! Our beloved Buckeyes beat TTUN and all is right with the world - if that sort of thing matters. We are devoted OSU fans here in this house, and it sure feels good to enjoy this day after a fantastic win.

I was able to get some significant slow stitching done during the game, and have made a good amount of progress on the Roman Holiday "freebie" table topper. I had all these leftover HSTs and made this little beauty back in January or February. Late this fall I decided to do some big-stitch quilting on it, and if I can devote a few more hours, I will have a finish before Christmas. Yeah!

You can see my quilting marks and I sure hope those will wash out. I've used a rather heavy hand on marking this; I'm crossing my fingers.

Right now we are watching the NFL battle of Ohio; this household roots for the Browns, and so far that looks like a happy ending for us, too!

I'm linking up with the Slow Sunday Stitching party over at Kathy's Quilts. Hope you will go have a look around! There's plenty of inspiration!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Big-Stitching

It's been quite a long stretch since last posting, and several things await to be shared here. First, in order to participate in Slow Sunday Stitching, I want you to see the big stitching I've begun on the Roman Holiday throw I made last winter.

Earlier this month, I prepped this throw and backing for History Day with the intention of quilting it with big stitches in a Baptist Fan design.

For now, I am stitching only half of these lines. With big stitches, I wondered about density, so after I see how I like this, I will decide whether or not I need to go back through and do the remaining lines.

The thread I'm using is 12 wt. cotton by Aurifil. I like the thread and the big-stitch technique, as I am making relatively quick work of this throw.

The party is over at Kathy's. Hope you can take a moment to snoop around.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Prepped for History Day

In a previous post, I mentioned Greenfield's History Day, and that I was prepping a week ahead (unheard of for me!) to be sure I was ready. I so typically put these sorts of things off until the very last minute.

And it took quite awhile to do the prepping, so I am glad I did it early. I wouldn't be too far off in estimating that it took me a couple of hours to get two quilts into frames.

First, I had to decide on the quilts I would most like to work on. One has several matters to consider - is this quilt worthy of my hand-quilting time? Is it one that I will enjoy looking at up close and personal? Is the size manageable? Those are the questions for the bigger frame. For the lap frame, I looked for something that gave me incentive to finish. It would be small and quick. I think I found two winners.

On my Q-Snap frame that sits up like a table, I pulled out Fall Foliage, a throw-size quilt that I made quite awhile ago. I've tried to track down exactly when I made this quilt top to no avail. 

While digging for suitable backing fabric, I came across a remnant from the quilt, and further digging eventually resulted in finding a decent piece that matched the remnant. Happiness!! After stitching them together I turned my attention to batting. Since this is a throw quilt, I didn't want to cut into a brand new batt, so I pieced together 3 batting remnants and used them for my quilt sandwich. Whew! Such a lot of work! Piecing backings and battings are NOT on my list of most fun things to do. This was truly labor.

Then I turned my attention to preparing the smaller quilt for the lap-frame. Last December I made the HST quilt from some of the Roman Holiday remnants, and I thought it'd be so nice to have that finished in time to actually use this coming holiday season. Could I do it fast enough? Well, I think I can, because I plan to do "big-stitch" quilting on it. Perhaps in a Baptist Fan design? I'm leaning that direction.

Below is the backing I chose - an older red with a holiday vibe to it by Robin Pandolph. It's barely big enough, but I made it work.

I glue-basted the backing and batting (another remnant) together. Then I did the same with the top. On smaller projects, glue-basting is the way to go, in my opinion. This was fast and easy.

So now I'm set. I have all these items set aside in a spare bedroom, and have added necessaries like thread, needles, thimbles, scissors -- all the usual tools. I will take a folding tv tray/table, a cushion for my chair, and 3-4 finished quilts that I hand-quilted. I display these behind me as folks to like to see them, and I love for them to be seen! *grin*

I have prepared a special feature for History Day -- a slide show which I will run on a continuous loop on my laptop. I went back through all my picture files and pulled every quilt I could find that I'd made. I selected over 100 pictures, and created a show of about 98 slides. It was fun to do, and I hope folks enjoy watching it. 

It's been awhile since I've joined a linky party so why not go have a visit with Kelly at her weekly Needle and Thread Thursday party! Looks like fun!

I hope you are having an awesome Thursday!! I have essays to grade, and later tonight - cards with some girlfriends. Busy day for me!

Happy Quilting, Friends!