Sew and Tell – Do it Yourself Quilts Update

July 27, 2012March 19, 20133 Comments

Today’s Sew and Tell is a little different. Instead of featuring a finished project made by one of my customers, I’m excited to share with you some finished jelly roll blocks from one of my quilt- along followers. Scroll down to the end of this post if you want to join the fun!

These pictures come from Diane in Canada and she finished up this week’s homework in a jiffy! She had an older strip bundle lying around that she put to good use.

Diane’s fabric is Greenfield Hill by Denise Schmidt for Westminster. Instead of randomly sewing the strips together, she matched up the pretty jewel tones into coordinating pairs.

“Sew” far, “sew” good, Diane! I think your use of color will be striking if you sew each row in a different color, “strippy” style, or if you have the colors cascade across the quilt in an orderly fashion (like green, red, blue, black, etc.)

For those of you eager beavers out there like Diane that are ready to move on, I’ll give a sneak peek of what we’ll be working on for next week’s lesson. If you select 100 of your blocks and sew them together into 50 pairs like this you’ll be one step ahead.

Next week’s post will include complete directions on how to finish the quilt top, so make sure you grab your one yard of tone on tone or solid coordinate to go with your jelly roll. I’m going to use Ruby Red Kona Solid to go along with my Vintage Modern jelly roll shown above.

In case you are just joining us, you can click the links below to catch up and follow along with this tutorial in it’s entirety. My main reason for starting this tutorial is to teach you that yes, you can, make a complete quilt from start to finish, all by yourself!

DIY Quilts #1.1 – The Jolly Jellyroll Quilt Supply List

DIY Quilts #1.2 – Jolly Jelly Roll Quilt Blocks

What Was I Thinking???!!

July 25, 2012March 19, 201318 Comments

What was I thinking? I’m trying to have a zen experience with my quilting by breaking up the negative space in my Modern Quilt with lots of different quilting designs. But I think I went a little overboard with all the small scale background fillers!

I actually do like the texture the quilting is adding to the quilt, but when you see how little of the quilt I’ve actually finished compared to how much is left to quilt, you’ll start to pity me…

The picture below shows about 1/4 of the quilt finished. I’m adding larger scale textures in each of the charm squares and a smaller scale background around each of the hands. I’ve quilted 12 out of 42 charm blocks which represents about 5-6 hours of solid quilting so far.

I am having fun quilting different designs in the blocks though. I’ve outlined some elephants, practiced my pebbles and grids and even quilted the alphabet on the lined paper fabric! Here are a couple more closeups, just for fun!

I’m linking this blog post to the Free-Motion Quilting Project and WIP Wednesdays so I can share the insanity!!! This will definitely be a long term project. But if I quilt 1 block a day, I can finish it in under a month!

I used a clean toothbrush dipped in water to erase the blue pen marks once I quilted them.

For those of you interested in what materials I used, I started with 1 charm pack of Moda’s Bungle Jungle by Tim and Beck, and 2 1/2 yards of White Kona Cotton Solid. I sewed together a layer cake for the backing.

I am doing all the quilting with 60 weight polyester thread in a light gray. I chose Superior Threads bottom line in both the top and bobbin. It breaks too easily in the top thread for my taste – but it is very fine and blends beautifully. My batting is wool which gives a nice faux trapunto look to the little hands.

I hope I get more done by next week! I think I’d better go work on my jelly roll quilt now…..

Sew and Tell – Breast Cancer Survivor Quilt

July 20, 2012July 10, 20123 Comments

This week’s show and tell star has a very special quilt to share. Shirley G. from Texas is a breast cancer survivor and made this quilt as her therapy.

I’ll let Shirley explain, in her own words:

“I made this quilt from your Loralie Harris Still fabric line. I bought your fabric on line several years ago when I was recuperating from a lumpectomy, chemo, and radiation.

“After I finished my quilt, I loved it so much that a made another one for a young woman that I called my “bosom buddy.” We met by chance when she sat in the chair beside me and took her own chemo treatments as I took mine every 3 weeks for 6 months. By the Grace of God, we became close friends and remain so today even though I’m old enough to be her mother.

“Many of my family members and friends gave me little mementos as they prayed for me during my treatment. After I finished my quilt, I decided to pin many of the mementos to the quilt. My grandson was attending Texas A&M during my treatment. You will notice in the right hand lower corner his contribution to my quilt!

“I wish the picture was clear enough for you to see the contribution that my surgeon gave me for my quilt. When she surgically removed the chemo port from my arm 2 years following all of my treatment, I asked her if I could have the port. She was so surprised when I told her that I wanted to hang it on my breast cancer survivor quilt! She had her attending nurse wash the port and line very well and gave it to me. To this very day, it hangs on the top of my quilt. We all had lots of laughs about that. I later mailed her a picture of the quilt which she proudly showed off to others in her office!”

For those of you that don’t know what a chemotherapy port is, here’s Shirley’s explanation:

“A chemo port is a device that is surgically placed just underneath the skin usually in the bicep area of your arm or in the clavicle area of your neck. It is usually a one time procedure that is done before a patient’s chemo treatment begins. It is placed there so that every time a patient has his/her chemo treatment, the oncology nurse can place the chemo drip IV needle directly into the port instead of the patient having to be stuck with a needle directly in the vein. Also when blood work is required, the oncology lab can draw blood thru the port thus eliminating yet another needle stick directly in the vein. There is almost no pain when they are able to use the port instead of sticking directly into the vein. Once a cancer patient’s series of chemo treatments are completely finished (6 months or so), the surgeon and chemo oncologist together will decide when the port will be surgically removed.

“In my case, the port was left in me for almost 2 years after my chemo was finished so that, heaven forbid my cancer should return, my port would already be in place for reuse. I had a very aggressive form of breast cancer that is called HER 2 positive. After my original 6 months of chemo and 35 days of radiation, I had a drug called Herceptin administered in the port every month for 1 year. Thank God that drug was developed just a year or so before I got my type of cancer for exactly my kind of cancer. God was taking care of me even before I was diagnosed with cancer by letting someone develop the drug that was specifically for HER 2 + cancer.”

Wow Shirley, what a triumph! Shirley’s wish through this quilt and this blog post is to encourage others not to dread cancer treatment. She wants to spread the word that while the big “C” is a scary thing, she is living proof that many survivors do kick its butt!!

From the bottom of my heart, Shirley, thanks for sharing your beautiful quilt!

Share Your Project

If you would like to share a project you’ve made with at least one piece of fabric purchased from me, please email christa@christaquilts.com with your high quality photos and what makes your project interesting or special to you. If you are selected as my show and tell star of the week, you’ll get a $5 gift certificate as my way of saying thanks for sharing!

Sew and Tell – Scraps Galore!

July 13, 2012July 13, 2012Leave a comment

Jill F. from Iowa shares her fun and scrappy geometric quilt with us this week:

Jill made this beauty by collecting assorted fat quarters and 1/2 yard cuts she got from me, plus scraps from her stash. The strips are all 2 1/2 inches wide so it could be assembled from a jelly roll, too!

Here are some quilt vital statistics you may be interested in: the pattern is called Hugs and Kisses by Julie Herman for Jaybird Quilts, and the wonderful brown that pulls all of the scraps together is Moda Bella Solid in Hershey brown.

Jill used her Lazy Angle Ruler from Lazy Girl Designs to cut the wedges of assembled strips. Hey, I have that ruler but haven’t made anything from it yet; I guess I’ll give it a try!

Jill made this quilt to go in her four-year old son’s room and is using extra blocks for a coordinating quilt for his little brother. It’s always amazing how many blocks you can get when you start pulling scraps from your stash – they seem to multiply!

She did a great job of making the quilt seam super scrappy, yet pulled-together.

Way to go Jill! How did you know my favorite colors are brown and green? That’s probably what attracted me to your quilt!

Of course I had to include a closeup picture of the gorgeous quilting, done by a friend of Jill’s that’s just getting started with her long-arm business. If this quilt is any indication, Jill’s friend is on the right track!

Share Your Project

Sew and Tell – The Very Hungry Caterpillar Quilt

July 6, 2012July 10, 20121 Comment

This week, Anita A. from Florida shares her adorable Hungry Caterpillar Quilt with us. Isn’t it great? She made it for her first grandchild and it’s only her second quilt!

I love how she mixed in lots of novelty prints and picture book fabrics! Some of them she got from me including Dr. Seuss and Peanuts fabrics. The Hungry Caterpillar fabric is from Andover. Hmm, I better see if I can get that one!

Anita said she found the pattern called “Stars through the Window” on About.com.

She likes the mix of large and small fussy cuts and she tweaked the design a bit, plus added additional borders.

It looks like such an easy and fun quilt to make with fussy cut 3 1/2″ smaller squares for the square blocks and 6 1/2″ squares for the snowball blocks.

I absolutely love the pieced quilt backing she made with solid green fabric surrounding a length of Berenstain Bears fabric.

Anita included a lot of green fabric so that the quilt would be perfect for either a little boy or girl. Her daughter’s favorite color is spring green and she wants to be surprised when her baby is born.

I think Anita’s daughter will be pleased both with her new baby and with the adorable quilt.

Nice job, Anita!

Share Your Project

Sew and Tell – Big Stars Quilt

June 29, 2012March 19, 20132 Comments

Ellie W from Oklahoma made this beautiful star quilt. She is definitely my sew and tell “Star” of the week! I love the brown paisley Michael Miller print that ties it all together.

Ellie loved the pattern and teal tonal fabric so much she made a total of 3 bed sized quilts! She sewed them with different fabric placements to show off the teal Gingko Tonals fabric which she got from me.

At right is one of the other quilt tops she’s working on with the teal fabric in the sashing. I love how the brown pieces on this quilt form a square. That would be a perfect spot for some really jazzy quilting!

Ellie made 16 blocks, set 4×4 for a queen sized quilt. For a king sized quilt she made 25 blocks, set 5×5 plus an added border. Hey, I could whip up 16-25 blocks in a few days…

Ellie says she loves to make herself one big bed quilt every once in awhile, and she likes to give the others away as gifts so she can get started on the next one!

Here’s a general idea of how to make one of these big block beauties:

Start with a 6 1/2″ center square for your star. For the star points, cut four 6 1/2″ squares of the fabric that will show as sashing (the paisley fabric in the picture at left). Sew two 3 1/2″ squares of the cream star fabric onto one side of the paisley for the points. Line these squares up in the corners “snowball-style” and trim off the ends. Then add four 6 1/2″ squares of the teal fabric to complete one 18 1/2″ block.

Share Your Project

Sew and Tell – Christmas Runner

June 22, 2012June 22, 2012Leave a comment

Barb N from Idaho recently completed this beautiful Holiday runner and is this week’s Sew & Tell star!

Barb made it as a commission piece for a client of hers who wanted an extra long table runner, 90 inches in length. What a great way to use up a piece of vary narrow but very long batting! It’s a simple to make yet very effective piece.

Barb chose “Holiday Hoot” from Alexandar Henry for the middle and cut it wide enough to really show off the print. She surrounded it with a thin red sashing (Nature’s Gift by Deb Strain) and then a wider piece of Chistmas teal (Adoring by Sandy Gervais , which she got from me). Don’t you think she did a great job of blending fabrics from 3 different collections?

This is what Barb had to say about her holiday runner, “With such a great focal fabric, I let the fabric do the talking and simply machine stitched around the rectangular borders to give it hold and definition. I also made matching placemats and a smaller version of the runner.”

Be sure to check out Barb’s blog at mountainquiltworks.blogspot.com.

Share Your Project

Loopy Quilting

June 20, 20122 Comments

I made this cute pink and brown baby quilt a few years ago and wanted to share the loopy quilting I did in the border triangles surrounding the blocks. My inspiration was taken from the loopy pink and brown fabric in the blocks.

This quilt was super fast to make. It’s a simple rail fence set on point.

The blocks are made from 2 1/2 inch strips. I sewed 9 coordinating pink and brown strips together (3 strips each of 3 different colors) and cut them into 6 inch finished sized blocks (6 1/2″ unfinished).

I made a total of 18 blocks with cream colored setting triangles. I added a 2 inch inner border and 5 inch outer border. It finished around 41″ x 50″ – a great crib sized quilt.

Here’s a closeup of the loopy quilting – a great way to finish a quilt in a hurry!

I made the top before the Jelly Roll craze but it would be fun to make a scrappy version using pre-cut strips, too.

Sew and Tell – Call for Entries

June 15, 2012June 14, 20122 Comments

Many of my customers and friends regularly email me pictures of completed projects that they’ve made with fabric purchased from me. I love to see all the talent and creativity out there and to I get excited when fabrics are used in new and different ways.

This got me to thinking… I would love to see more of these finished fabric objects (FFO’s), not only to share with my blog readers, but also to inspire me to spend more time sewing!

So, with that in mind, I want to announce a call for entries that I can showcase on my blog.

To participate, simply email me at christa@christaquilts.com with nice clear pictures of your finished quilts or sewing projects that you’ve made using at least one fabric purchased from me. Include as much detail as you like, such as the reason you made it, your inspiration, and anything else interesting about your creation.

If I feature your project on my blog, I’ll send you a $5 gift certificate to use on any purchase in my shop, as my way of saying thank you for sharing!

If I get enough responses, I will be happy to feature “Sew and Tell” every Friday.

Spaceship Circuit Board Quilting

June 13, 2012March 19, 20138 Comments

I’ve been following along on Leah Day’s Blog – The Free Motion Quilting Project. She posted a design called “Circuit Board” and I was excited to see it because it was very similar to a free motion design I had stitched on a quilt I made for my oldest son last year.

I wanted to add some texture to the Spaceship block I made for him (which he designed several years ago. ) I didn’t have a name for this free-motion design, but now I do!

I really do love quilts with lots of texture and I’ve been having fun trying out different designs and breaking away from stippling. The circuit board quilting is very easy to do – it’s like stippling but with straight lines and 90 degree angles instead of curves. I also added some straight lines to the rocket for more texture.

I was very excited with how this quilt turned out. I entered it into my guild’s quilt show in 2011 and it took a second place ribbon. Yay for me (and my son)!