JRS Quilt-Along Quilt Top

I finally took the time this weekend to finish the last block for my Jelly Roll Sampler Quilt-Along quilt top. I only made nine of the blocks (instead of 12) because I was really getting burned out on the fabric. I have to say though that now that the top is all put together, I like it much more than I thought I would. It's definitely not my favorite, but it's not as horrible as I thought it might be. A while back, I bought an extra yard of one of the prints from the Oddysea line that I really liked. I'm glad I did because I was able to use that as the outer border.

My plan is to use a solid brown or green as the backing with a little pieced strip of Oddysea to break it up. I'll be making a scrappy binding out of various left-over jellyroll strips.

On a side note, I was quite the busy little quilt-top-piecer this weekend. Keep your eyes peeled for more to come. I pieced three tops, bringing my total tops ready for basting up to four. I like the assembly-line method of piecing several quilt tops at once, basting several at once, quilting several at once, and binding several at once. Too bad I don't have enough pins to baste four quilts (I'll be pushing it with two).

Anyway, that's it for now. I hope you all had a great weekend.

Block 8

I was five blocks behind in Moose Quilt's Jelly Roll Quilt-Along (she's posted all the blocks and the finishing instructions so I'm WAY behind). As part of my sewing time last night, I worked on block 8. (I'm such a lazy presser. This block would look better had I taken the time to press it, but oh well.)


I'm getting sick of the Odyssea line. I really like certain prints in the collection, but not all of them. I'm also not doing a very good job of choosing the fabrics for each block. This is the third one that I haven't cared for because of my fabric choices (not enough contrast with the center nine patch). I also think that my dislike for the fabric made me fall behind and I'm only moderately compelled to finish the rest of the blocks.


My brother-in-law asked me to make a quilt to auction off for a boy in his neighborhood with cerebral palsy. When this quilt is finished I may donate it along with the other one (more on that to come) since I'm just not loving it.

Block 6

So I'm learning that I'm still a rookie when it comes to fancy piecing, or rather any bit of small piece piecing. I also think it's hard for me to envision what the final blocks in this quilt-along are going to look like, making it hard to pick out fabrics. I really liked the pattern for this block, but now that it's put together with the fabrics I chose, I'm not in love with it. Hopefully, once the quilt is all done, the blocks that I'm not super fond of will blend together and I won't really notice them.

Click the image to see it on Flickr.



See block 7 below.

Block 7

I had a hard time piecing this one. I think I unpicked those angled pieces about ten times. When I work on projects like this quilt-along, I'm really forced to stretch out of my comfort zone. I guess that's a good thing in the long run, but it can be frustrating. To me unpicking is a sign that I failed somewhere. Good thing I can put my perfectionist mindset aside with these blocks. Otherwise, I'd never get any of them done.

Click the image to view it on Flickr.

Block #5

For some reason, I really struggled with this block for the Jelly Roll Sampler Quilt Along. I like the color combination, but I had to unpick a few pieces several times. Ah well, chalk that up to gaining experience.

Playing Catch-up

After my back went out last week, I didn't get the chance to do very much sewing. But, I certainly made up for it the other night. I've been nursing this terrible sinus headache/earache/toothache over the last few days and was so sick of it that I just needed to get something done to get my mind off how much my head was killing me.

So, I made block #4 in the Jelly Roll Quilt Along (ignore the lack of pressing).

Click the photo to see the full image on Flickr, along with the other participants' blocks.



And I made the Buttercup bag for Terre. I was pleased that it only took me two hours instead of four like the last time.


She ordered the floral print from Joann's and had it sent to me since she lives about five hours away. It's a really soft cotton. I interfaced the lining pieces with the curtain that I've used on all the other bags I've made to give it extra strength. Because the fabric was thinner quilting cotton, I was able to add the decorative piece where the buttons are sewn.


After finishing those two things, I got nearly 1/3 of the way through quilting my Life Is What You Make It quilt. I didn't want to do straight line quilting so I played around with some of the decorative stitches on my machine and decided on a wavy line that runs the width of the quilt. I think it's going to look great once it's bound, washed, and scrunched up. Photos to come when it's finished.

I also went to my first quilt guild meeting on Thursday. It was really fun to meet some of the girls whose blogs I frequent and admire their talent. Some day I'll be as good as them.

Fabric-Related Birthday Goodies

I celebrated my 28th birthday on Wednesday. I had to work. The mister had to work. It felt like a regular day. But then I tracked a package I had ordered the previous week and it was scheduled to be delivered on my birthday. Hip, hip! I ordered some yardage and a turnover of Figgy Pudding to add to my small stash.


I didn't learn about Figgy Pudding as early as the rest of you so I've been searching high and low for shops that still have some of it left.


I'm using Momo's Odyssea for the Jellyroll Quilt Along with Moose on the Porch Quilts. I bought solid Kona cotton in green, brown, and cream for the backing, sashing, and binding. When I ordered the Figgy Pudding, I decided to buy an extra yard of some Odyssea to supplement the quilt somewhere when we're done with all the blocks.


Yesterday, I stopped by my sister's house and was as giddy as a schoolgirl when I opened her gift. There was a new quilt book with really fun quilts for kids;


a quilt journal,


complete with blank pages for sketching


and graph paper for layouts;


some blackboard material for making chalkboard pillows for my two kiddos;


a scrapbook page for inspiration on a family tree quilt (we tossed around a lot of ideas for putting that one together);


and last, but certainly not least, a 24-piece fat quarter pack to make this kite quilt from my new book!


There's some Blush, Bloom & Grow, and others that I don't know the names of.


Yum,


yum,


yum!


Thanks, Hawl! You made my day!


The only downside of my birthday was that my back went out and I haven't been able to stitch an inch since Sunday! I'm dying to make some more progress on my Life Is What You Make It quilt as well as finish off the blocks for my Swirling Stars quilt.

Block #3

Here's my third block in the Jelly Roll Quilt Along. I played around with a few alternate layouts after I cut the fabric, but realized that my OCD tendencies forced me to have symmetry with this block.

Click the photo to view it on Flickr (and to take a peek at some of the other participants' blocks).

Here are all three blocks together (and a cute little hand courtesy of my three-year-old).

Setting Goals

As I work full-time from home and have two little ones constantly underfoot, my time for sewing is limited to after the kiddos are in bed and the weekends when I don't have other, more pressing things to get done. Needless to say, I don't always have the time to dedicate to sewing that I'd like to. So, I've set a few goals.

Now that I've finished my spring quilt, I've decided what quilt to work on next. But I also have several other projects in the works. So, here's my game plan.

1. The majority of my sewing time will be spent working on the Make Life quilt.
   
2. Every two weeks I will make the block for the jelly roll quilt along I'm participating in.
   
3. Additionally, I will make one block a week for the quilt that started it all three years ago when my SIL organized a family quilt group (even though we only had one session).
   
4. Then, if other things come up here and there, I can work on smaller projects like this or this.

I have a lot more fabric that I'd like to work on turning into something, but I'm going to try really hard not to start any more projects and instead work on those that I've already begun. I did manage to take some time yesterday to decide what to do with all my Blush fabric (a charm pack, layer cake, six fat quarters, and some yardage). After deciding what to do, I came upon this post that closely matches what I had in mind. (As a side note, you know that you're thinking about it too much if you lay awake at night or dream about how to make it work.)

So there you have it, my game plan. I think it's totally doable, and outlining the steps will help me achieve my goals.

Jelly Roll Block #2

I wasn't in the mood to sew last night because I wasn't feeling well (third night in a row of evening-onset tummy grumbles). I decided to just get the pieces cut, but I could only cut five pieces ahead of time as the smaller square blocks were made by sewing two jelly roll strips together and then cutting them in two and a half inch strips. I decided to pull out the sewing machine and see how long it would take. Thankfully, block number two came together really quickly (and I was able to match most of the corners).

The block is symmetrical, so although you only see the bottom half, you can envision how the top looks.

Jelly Roll Block #1

I spent some time yesterday afternoon cutting and piecing this block together. I'm definitely a rookie and I did a lot of unpicking and re-sewing trying to get the corners to match. It's not perfect, but participating in Moose on the Porch Quilt's Jelly Roll Sampler Quilt Along will definitely give me some good practice.

The fabric I used is Odyssea by Momo for Moda.



The quilt along reveals the new block every two weeks. I waited a while to start this one and actually finished it on the last day (not that there's a deadline or anything). Block number two was posted today so now I can get started on my second one.