UFOs and Scrap Redemption

Hello friends. I've been busy doing some quilting for customers, but also some piecing of my own this week. It's hard to believe it's November, and my poor Scrap Redemption list is not any more complete.  What have I been doing??

For starters, I've been cutting out the squares and rectangles for my scrappy Burgoyne Surrounded quilt.

This past weekend I pieced together some sample  blocks that measure 15" square. I put two up on my design wall to see how they will look. The small squares are all 1" finished. The long, narrow strips I have on the sides and bottom are for the sashings, and the ones in the photo aren't finished yet. I think this will look really great as a quilt but it's really a LOT of sewing. I'm piecing the little four- and nine-patches in between my other projects. As Bonnie Hunter would say, I'm doing them as leaders and enders. :)

 My other project, which is ongoing, is string piecing. This is really fun, and what you see spread out upon my floor are a random sampling of 5-1/2" blocks I've sewn to paper foundations. The narrow rectangular blocks on the right are the leftover paper pieces I had after cutting my 5-1/2" foundation squares - they measure 3" x 5-1/2". Many of these are not yet trimmed, but that's something I'll save for another time.

If you're interested, there are a lot of string-piecing tutorials out there on the internet, but really all you need is a foundation, and a short stitch length on your sewing machine...and STRIPS (otherwise knows as "strings") of varying widths. I save strips from trimming backings, and end of yardage, and from random projects, and put them in a box. They're usually pretty narrow or crooked, but it doesn't matter. You get a folksy look from them.

As you can see, I've been playing around with a layout. I think I'll piece these into 15" blocks with a solid center, and maybe with a strippy sashing. The fun part is, I can just let the design take me where it wants to go! Maybe I'll post something from EQ5 to show what it could turn out as.

Hope you are all having a good week. It's raining here in Washington (good sewing weather), I hope the sun finds you out there!

~Jennifer

Catching Up

Last week's quilting:

The first photo is a volunteer quilt for wounded soldiers. I have 3 more to quilt for my friend Paula, who makes many of these quilts for such a good cause!

I quilted a meander in the sashings, with continuous curves in the block triangles, and a small feathered wreath in each block center.

One of my regular customers made this quilt (second photo) out of bright pastel jelly roll strips for a friend's recently adopted daughter. It's such a great strippy pattern. I'm actually cutting out strips to make one of my own.

The quilt is quilted with an simple flower meander in the center, and a wavy flower border. The blue thread looks fantastic on it!

I've also been sewing like mad on my scrap quilts. I started piecing the many small blocks for my Burgoyne Surrounded quilt (one of my goals for the year).

The little squares are all 1" finished, so there is a lot of piecing.  I've got about half the blocks done.

I also finished another Bricks and Stones quilt (see below).

I pieced the back like a large log cabin block with a 12" star in the center. It turned out great, it was easy to measure and plan, and I was able to use up a lot of random fabrics in it.

I've completed two more feathered star quilt blocks (the Serenity fabrics look wonderful) so now I'm debating whether to make the quilt with 5 blocks set on point, or make 4 more blocks and set the blocks 3 x 3.

I ordered more Serenity fabrics on the bolt, and they'll arrive this week.

I've also found some new (old) quilt patterns in some magazines that my friend Laura passed on to me - I find it interesting that some quilt magazines, depending on the issue, can have a lot of useful patterns, and sometimes they don't have anything inspiring! I wonder why that is...

I hope October finds all my sewing friends well, warm and cozy! Now I'm off to quilt!!

Who Loves College Biology? My Daughter!

My one and only daughter graduated high school in June, and started college at Digipen Institute of Technology in Redmond, WA this fall. Her goal is a BFA in Digital Animation. She has always loved art and music, and was drawing before she was 3.

She was home over the weekend to share dinner with us, and my hubby asked if she was liking her first semester. "Yes!" she declared, quite passionately, "I love it!"

My husband got a text message on his phone yesterday, with this photo and a note saying, "See? I told you. I LOVE biology!"

Apparently they are studying the human musculature and skeleton in that class. This is what she calls doodling. I'm in awe. I guess I'm bragging, but each time I see what she comes up with, I see that she certainly has a gift. Kind of like what my quilting is to me.

If you're taking classes out there, I hope you're enjoying them as much! :)

Another Award - Kreativ Blogger - Thanks M!

My blogger friend, Aunt Pitty Pat, nominated me for another blog award. Thanks so much, M - I'm in awe of your generosity! Aunt Pitty Pat deserves this award too, since she does a lot of creative projects, including Aprons, dolls, and bags and such. I'm a bit jealous, I need to take some of my sewing time and do craft projects and not always focus on quilting!

So, with this award, I have to name 7 things about myself that no one would really know. Well, to keep it honest, there are more than 7 things, but I'll be good, I promise. :) So, that said, here are 7 things you don't know about me:

1. I have a twin brother, who lives in North Carolina. He's a freight pilot for UPS and works for the FAA, and I love him very much.

2. I played Mammy Yokum in the "L'il Abner" musical in my high school, oh, 30 years ago. While I can sing, I just wasn't a match for the leading gal. That's the gypsy in me.

3. I'm not so sure I'm afraid of anything, except being called to the principal's office on Judgement Day.

4. My favorite holiday is the 4th of July. I just love to watch fireworks.

5. Someday, I will enter a quilt in a quilt show and win a ribbon.

6. I commute to my corporate job 2 hours each way, Monday thru Friday.

7. I love to read and write, and someday will publish a compilation of short stories for my family. (Maybe including "The Dead Man's Quilt." Stay tuned.)

I'll post the 7 blog sites that I've nominated for this award in tomorrow's post.

Thanks again, Aunt Pitty Pat!

Feathered Star Marathon - Not Done Yet!

I've begun a Feathered Star Marathon...let's see, a real, running marathon is about 26 miles and 385 yards. That's probably a good estimation of how much I have in my fabric stash...or so my husband would think!

If you don't know the history of the marathon, the event was named after a (theoretical) run of a Greek soldier from the Battle of Marathon to Athens.

I'd like to think that the quilter's marathon is an event named after a mad quilter-woman who, after eating a hearty breakfast and on her third cup of coffee, breaks into the piecing rhythm of a long, drawn out cutting and sewing stint. Could last several hours, or most likely span a couple of days! (In my case, it takes 2 hours to complete each feathered star block, so I can do the math that way...if I want to keep track.)

In early September, I made a trip to EE Schenck's in Portland, OR to their bi-annual Trends trade show. My friend Laura came along, and we had a fun time looking at all the new fabrics coming out this fall, new gadgets, and new gift items. And, of course, I didn't leave empty handed.

One of my impulse purchases was a 37 fat quarter pack of the Daiwabo Serenity collection. Like, I needed it! But the fabric colors and patterns are beautiful.


So, I've finished 3 radiant feathered star blocks for a 9-block quilt. They are turning out wonderful! I'm usually more interested in piecing scrappy ones, like that you see in the second photo. I was working from my stash of feathered star components and almost completed the scrappy one - the bottom row isn't done - the two corner units are still being pieced.

You can really make these stars out of any fabric and they will look great!

So, maybe I'll calculate how many 72-piece stars I'll have to make in order to call it a true marathon. Or, like I said, maybe just calculate the hours...those 72 pieces can really add up!

Innovations - Machine Quilters Conference

A few weeks ago, I went with my cousin and aunt (who were visiting me from Portland, Maine) to see the quilt show at the annual Innovations Machine Quilters Conference in downtown Tacoma.

And, all I could say, in awe, was a sheepish, "wow!" when I saw all the machine quilting talent out there. This show includes any type of machine quilting - from your small domestic machine, to short-arm, mid-arm and longarm quilting.

Unfortunately, not all my photos came out well - some were a bit fuzzy. I tried to capture some of the quilting techniques and patterns these women had used on their quilts.

The one photo I wished had been better was the first prize quilt...it had a lot of micro-stippling, it was really heavily quilted, all on a small sewing machine. Kudos to that quilter!



The first photo of the elephants was really fun. You may not be able to see the detail, but the quilter quilted all the skin wrinkles, so it looked like real elephant hide.

This second photo was just a snapshot from a larger mariner's compass quilt, but I loved how she quilted the koi on the batiks. What a cool fish pattern!

The third photo is of a different mariner's compass quilt. I was trying to capture how the quilter quilted inside the compass. I've seen similar techniques before, but she did a wonderful job on her quilt.


The last two photos show beautiful quilting. The star quilt, based on a Jinny Beyer pattern, has wonderful feathering in the white spaces. I'm totally jealous. I like to do feathers, but - wow!

And the last quilt with the coffee cup fabric was just really neat. Again, there's gorgeous feathering, and if you look closely, coffee cups are quilted in the red space too.

My cousin has a Nolting longarm, one size up from my Proto. We were both taking mental notes of how we could incorporate some of these quilting styles into our own quilts.

I hope you enjoy these snippets of the show as much as I did in person!

Will Catch up on Posts this Weekend!

Sorry my blog friends, I was so busy September that I hardly posted at all, but I've got a lot to share - photos from the Innovations Machine Quilting show, of some of the projects I'm working on, some quilting for donation quilts. I've been working!

Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend!

Bricks and Stepping Stones Quilt

On Saturday, I finished piecing up the Bricks & Stepping Stones quilt I was working on for our guest bedroom. It's a quick-sew pattern from Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville website.

Over the course of the last 2 weeks I've been sewing in 30 minute segments, but this is a quilt that can easily be sewn up in a day if you set aside some dedicated sewing time. :0)

You can see the pattern here.

On Sunday I quilted it with an allover teardrop design. You might be able to see the quilting on the front and back. I was going to piece the backing with a neat design using the same fabrics but my husband thought the quilt was too dark overall, so I used some Thimbleberries backing I have instead.

This was one project I wanted to sew up to reduce all the random fabrics and strips I had that were taking up valuable space. Since I didn't have any other projects in mind for them, they went willingly into this quilt, and I think the result was great!


Bonnie's pattern calls for an 8 x 7 layout (the blocks measure 6" x 9", but I like a stouter look so my quilt is a 9 x 7 layout. It measures around 68" x 78"... a decent sized twin.

The border fabric I purchased many years ago, I think when a JoAnns store was going out of business. I have several yards of it, so this was a good place to use it.

I've already cut out the bricks for another quilt, and have them tucked into a bin for another rainy day. Some of the four-patch blocks are finished, and a couple of strips are sewn to make more.

Bonnie has some other fun quilt patterns on her site for free. I like to go there and be inspired!

Friday Quilting - Melody's Baby Quilts

Ok, I have to admit, I've spent my holiday weekend sewing again!

To start it off, my friend Melody came over on Friday evening to sew and spend some time catching up on our everyday lives. A small group of us has tried to meet on the first Friday of each month this year, but the summer was hit and miss since we were all busy with family and vacations. Mel will return to teaching this week so this was her last good Friday to spend sewing.

She brought 3 wonderful baby quilts to show and tell. They are adorable. She likes to make them and give them away to all the new moms she meets while teaching. What lucky moms!

I love the quick to sew nine-patches and snowball blocks she used in two of her quilts. The first photo I can see star blocks that have emerged as the design was put together.

The second quilt with the dogs is super cute. Melody bought most of this fabric (if not all!) on our return trip from the Sisters Quilt show. It turned out great. You might not be able to see it but she used this neat red plaid as the border fabric. She does all the quilting herself.


The last quilt she used a fun and colorful tropical fish fabric. I previously decided to do a scrap cutting marathon this holiday weekend and have a lot of novelty fabrics - so I decided to cut them into 6-1/2" squares so I can make similar quilts, too.


My problem is that I never seem to have the right coordinating fabrics to go along with all these novelties, so it gives me an excuse to go out fabric shopping.

I do make several I-spy quilts, which also use the 6-1/2" blocks. That's my back up plan I guess.

It has been raining off and on for the past few days so I continued sewing all day Saturday. My hubby was good enough to not complain about the huge mess I was making, in the effort to reduce my stash!



I hope everyone enjoyed a safe and restful weekend. Back to work in the morning for me!

Bella Sinclair Award Recipient

I logged on this evening to find a nice comment and an award given to me from my blogger friend, Aunt Pitty Pat!

Otherwise called "M" in my book, Aunt Pitty Pat is so creative, and makes wonderful dolls and aprons and posts the most yummy recipes, and hosts fun swaps . I'm honored that you thought of me and passed along this award. Thanks very much for the shout out!

The Bella Sinclair Award was created by Ces and you can view the background on her art blog, Ces And Her Dishes.

The award celebrates art in blogs and honors the value of friendship, sisterhood, sharing & caring. Ces named the award after Bella because she epitomizes all these things. You need to read the blog to fully grasp how wonderful this is, and what an honor to receive it from a blogger friend/sister.


Thanks, Ces, for creating such an award, and to all of you out there that will pass this award on to others, to spread friendship, sisterhood and the rest.