What Happened to the Jelly Roll Race?

Hi there!

Remember this... it's a Jelly Roll Race that I was working on a few weeks ago.  It was made from three jelly rolls that I got at Jo-Ann's. Before I took this picture I thought it was too narrow so I put borders on it.  Then it sat on my design wall for a while and the more I looked at it the more I didn't like it.

After searching online for inspiration on what to do with it I decided to cut it up. So I took the borders off and cut it into four large pieces...

and then sewed it back together. 

And I ended up with 2 baby size quilts. 

The first has a border and is named "Bindama" which is Japanese for glass (fishing) floats.

The 2nd one is named "Sea Glass" and does not have a border.

You might be wondering where I got the names for the quilts.
The colors reminded me of the glass fishing floats and pieces of sea glass.  I first saw glass fishing floats when I was stationed in Okinawa.



I'm really glad I took the risk to cut the jelly roll race top because I really think they look much better this way.

All in all the jelly roll race is a quick and easy way to use up 2.5" strips but I don't think I will be making another one. There wasn't enough randomness in it for me. Too many of the same strips were next to each other.  But at least now I know and I can mark this off my to-do list.

That's all for today. As always, thank you for stopping by.

Connor's Quilt

Hi everyone,

This has been an emotional and busy past couple of days. As I mentioned in my last post, my youngest son, Connor, was moving to Florida.  We spent Monday and Tuesday packing up his room and all the household items and furniture I brought him. The shopping for stuff was fun...I spent the day with my best friend and scored a lot of good stuff from thrift stores and the dollar store. And as long as I didn't think about the outcome of the shopping I was fine. But as my son and husband drove away on Wednesday the emotions were front and center.

But I've stayed busy since then and though I'm missing him like crazy, I am so proud of him.

Anyway, this blog is about quilting so today I'm going to share with you a quilt I made for Connor last year and finally took a picture of before packing it up.

We spent the better part of 6 months looking at patterns until we found a pattern called Convex Illusions by KwiltArt. The pattern was for a quilt that finishes at 60" X 60" but Connor wanted it bigger so I added an extra border. Unfortunately, I did not measure it before I packed it but it's about a queen size quilt. The fabric was sourced online. One bundle - Anthology Batik Fabric Tonal FQ Bundle in Neutral was purchased from HeartsDesireFiber on Etsy.  I also got a Batik Fabric Bundle in Red but I don't remember where I got it from.

The quilt is called Illusions and was finished on December 10, 2017.

           

 

Unfortunately, it's wider and taller than my husband and I didn't have time to pose it better but hopefully, you get the idea. 

Well, that's it for now.

Lullaby - My French Braid Quilt

Hi there. I'm back for a quick post. 

Life has gotten a little less busy but we are now working on getting my son packed up and off to Florida. I spent most of the day yesterday shopping for his new apartment and still have a few more things to buy this weekend. On Tuesday we pack the moving truck and then on Wednesday he and his dad are starting the 1787 miles to Jacksonville.

In the meantime, here is a quilt that I finished before the craziness started.

It's called Lullaby and was based on a  French Braid quilt I found on Pinterest by
Snippy Sisters. There wasn't a tutorial on it but I was able to figure it out using this tutorial I found at My Quilting Infatuation.

Once I figured out how to make a French Braid it was a pretty easy quilt to put together and since it was just a baby size quilt it only took about a week to complete minus stitching on the binding by hand. The quilt finished at 39 x 50. I quilted each braid and then loosely quilted straight lines.

So without further ado here is my quilt Lullaby.

 The back of the quilt is a print I found at Joann's on clearance a few years ago and bought because I knew I would use it someday. Great purchase!

This picture shows my color inspiration for the quilt...my car deodorizer. 😀 I was in the car thinking about the quilt trying to figure out what color the two sides of the quilt was going to be and my flower deodorizer was right there and I had a light bulb moment.

Lucky enough I was able to find the fabric in my stash so this whole quilt was made entirely from my fabric stash. Woohooo. I love when that happens.

I hope you like it as much as I do.

As always,

Wishing I Was Quilting

Hi everyone....it's been awhile since I've posted but life has been really busy lately. I wish I could say that I've spent that time quilting but unfortunately I haven't.

My husband and I have been in Florida with our youngest son (He's 22 but will always be my baby) looking for an apartment for him because he will be moving there in just 2 weeks. (Don't get me started on how that makes me feel). Since I knew we would be gone, I sent my sewing machine out to be serviced and it isn't back yet. 😞😢   

I think I'm suffering from quilting withdrawal.😰 

Hopefully it won't be much longer now.

Before we left, I started a Jelly Roll Race quilt and though I've finished the top I haven't gotten around to picking a back, making the binding or any of the other steps I need to do before quiltinq it.

Anyway...what else have I been doing? Ohhhh, I brought fabric. YAY!!! Have you heard of Kitchen Table Quilting? If not, you should check it out. I've gotten a few patterns from there (all reasonably priced) and she recently had a Stash Sale that I took advantage of. 

Here's a picture of my goodies...

Reds and grays....yum. Haven't decided on what I'll be using them for but they'll look nice in my stash until then.

Well I think that's all for today.  We're picking up my brother-in-law today from the airport and I need to finish cleaning the guest room and then we're going directly to the Colorado Rockies game from the airport. Oh and then tomorrow we're going to the Goodguys car show and then having a going away party for my son for which I'm making 2 bread puddings and appetizers. 

Told you life is busy right now.

I'll be back soon with a couple of quilts that I finished before I started on the Jelly Roll Race quilt.

Until next time....

Star Blossom Quilt

The first time I saw this Reverse Sawtooth Star Block I knew I needed to make a quilt with this block. But I wanted to make it scrappy. And after much searching I found this Scrappy Sawtooth Star block and added it to my Quilts to Make list.

Time passed and after spending a few weeks organizing the fabric in my sewing loft I decided I had enough scraps to make a scrappy star quilt.

Working from tutorials I came up with a block design using 3.5" squares. 

So after cutting a lot of scraps and fat quarters, I sat down at my sewing machine and started chain piecing blocks together.

It took a little longer than some of my other quilts but it never felt like a daunting task. I don't know about you but revisiting long forgotten fabric is like reconnecting with an old friend. Picking up a scrap and remembering the quilt that it was used in was very rewarding.

The blocks finished at 12" and I made a total of 30 blocks.

I label and name all of my quilts and the name of this quilt is Star Blossom.

And here it is ...

Star Blossom - Front

Star Blossom - Back

The back of the quilt is from a duvet cover that I bought at Ikea on clearance. I paid $10.00 and I have enough left over to make another lap size quilt and a baby quilt plus more for scraps.

Unlike your children, I think you can have a favorite quilt and I think this is my favorite quilt so far.

Quilting on a Dime

When I first thought about quilting I felt intimidated when I went into the fabric store. I was overwhelmed by the number of fabric choices and the prices. Quilting is my hobby not my livlihood. I didn't want to spend an exorbitant amount of money on a hobby but every where I read I was being told that you had to buy quality cotton quilting fabric which did not include the local chain store fabric shops. So I went back to my local quilting shops and online stores and brought quality cotton quilting fabrics that were on sale. I was happy with my purchases but I  was still spending more money than I wanted to, especially on the fabric for the quilt backings.

And then I read a blog that said to buy the fabric that you can afford. And it was a revelation. Since then I have brought fabric any where I find it.

Now I buy fabric that I love and that I can afford.

I've brought fabric from my local quilt shop, chain store fabric shops, online quilting shops, and thrift stores. And so far, I'm the only one who knows the difference.

Small sample of my fabric collection from online quilting shops and chain store fabric shops.

For quilt backs I discovered Habitat for Humanity ReStore. If you have one in your area I recommend checking it out the next time you need fabric for your quilt back. They sell single sheets (queen, king and twin sizes) as drop clothes and in my local store they cost $1.00.

Quilt back fabric from thrift stores.

If you have tips on quilting on a dime I would love to hear them.

That's all for today. Thanks for stopping by.

Until next time.....

How my quilting journey began

My quilting journey started in 2015. Well that's not actually true. It all started in 2008 when I decided to buy a new sewing machine because I was going to start quilting. And then I went to the fabric store and was so overwhelmed that I walked out without purchasing anything and my sewing machine sat in its box.

In 2015, two years into my "retirement", I needed something to occupy my time and remembered the sewing machine waiting in my basement and decided to give quilting another try. I soon discovered Craftsy.com and found a free online class Piece, Patch, Quilt: Basic Quiltmaking Skills and I have never looked back.

Since then I have made 47 quilts. Some I've given away as baby shower gifts, and some as 'just because' gifts.  And just recently I sold my first quilt. (WooHoo!!!).

I've been wanting to do a blog for awhile now. Not to teach anyone how to quilt or to sell patterns but just so I can have a place to post pictures of my finished quilts and talk about quilting.

If you find yourself on my blog and see something you like please leave me a comment. I would greatly appreciate your feedback and your thoughts.

Here are just a few of my quilts.

Home Sweet Home - finished June 2018

Every year my son asks me to make a Fourth of July quilt. This quilt was based on a quilt I found on Pinterest called Ten Inch Surprise. I was unable to find the pattern to purchase so I designed it myself using 10" squares I cut from fat quarters I had purchased from Joann's and Walmart.

These two quilts (Sweet and Little One) are baby quilts that I made when my best friend was invited to a baby shower and needed a gift. I offered to make a quilt for her to give and found a pattern from Happyquiltingmelissa called Disappearing 16 Patch. I cut too many 5" squares so I made two quilts and let her pick the one she liked best. They are more or less the same except for the sashing and cornerstones.

Little One - finished June 2018

Sweet - finished June 2018

  

Scrappy Crosswalk - finished April 2018

My Blue Heaven - finished April 2018 

Carpenter Star - finished January 2016

Adding Up - finished April 2017 

Thanks for stopping by. 

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