Advice for the Stereo Quilt

I'm making steady progress on the Stereo quilt for my lovely customers.  I wanted to comment on the construction for anyone who is considering making this quilt.

The first thing is Julie Herman of Jaybird quilts has developed a very useful tool, the Super SideKick ruler, and I really recommend it for this quilt.  I'm an experienced quilter and I found this tool very valuable.  She has other great tools that I haven't used because I normally don't follow patterns.

Two:  I wouldn't recommend the Stereo pattern for beginning quilters.  I think beginners would quickly become frustrated.  For example, the pattern suggests laying out the triangle and half triangle units, then sewing the rows together.  That would work for an experienced quilter but a beginner would be lost because all those 45-degree angles just don't go together easily.  You need to join two adjacent units, like above, then join them all together!  It's an easy step that I thought I'd share, in case you're a beginner and want to make this quilt

This is my progress, as of yesterday:

I took the second photo to include the fun Christmas tree I got this year.  No needles and no lights!

May your bobbins always be full,

Progress on the Stereo Quilt

It took me a couple of days to get all the pieces cut for this quiilt.  

Yesterday, I joined almost all the  half-triangles together to form whole triagles.

Today, I laid all the pieces out on my dining room design-table.  Earlier this year I bought a portable design wall, one that had been highly recommended.  It didn't work for me, it kept snapping apart!

I pieced the first three row together.  I think this is going to be a great quilt.

May your bobbins always be full,

MQG ~ Riley Blake Designs Fabric Challenge

I feel like I'm "getting there"!  I decided to use the Sashing Stash Fabric the way it was designed to be used, as a short cut to making small units.  In this case I used four little squares for the corner-stones.  I think I kept it modern by not having them all the same, some have the black on the top left and some on the top right.  (It's the little things.)

After I joined the vertical rows, I spend a couple of days walking past and moving the rest of the sashing around.  I really wanted the sashing to be a good mix.

Right now this measures 30 inches square.  I'm going to add a border, then see if it's "done".

May your bobbins always be full,

MQG ~ Riley Blake Designs Fabric Challenge.

Riley Black Designs offered to send MQG members some fabric and issued the challenge to use it in a project.  There were a few of stipulations, the item had to be quilted, you needed to use the fabric they sent - Sashing Stash, and you could only add Riley Blake C100 & C120 solids.  They also encouraged original designs.

I've been making traditional blocks with a modern twist, for the past 3 days.  Next I'll add some sashing and use some of the Sashing Stash fabric, they sent 3/4 of a yard.  I think this is going in the right direction.

May your bobbins always be full,

I don't need any more fabric...

...said no quilter, ever.  Below, is the new fabric that I ordered from Hawthorne Threads.

The top photo is "Water Land" by Jessica Nielson for Cloud9 Collective.  I think this is a perfect collection for some baby quilts.

The bottom photo is "Rain Walk" by Anna Graham for Cloud9 Collective.  The two cuts on the right are canvas, for a new bag I'm going to make, the rest are quilting cotton.

In December of 2012, I went on a 6 month Fabric Diet.  During that time, I only purchased two yards of fabric that were essential for finishing a quilt.  Since the Fabric Diet, I've tried to be prudent in my purchases; the operative word is tried!

May your bobbins always be full,

Some Lush sewing

I recently fell in love with Lush Uptown by Erin Michael.  I was kinda late to the game but I managed to purchase some yardage, there wasn't a great selection available.  I wanted to spruce up the throw pillows on our leather sofa.  I really like the way they turned out.

Some close ups of each pillow cover.

I used my newly acquired mitering skills on this one.

I also managed to score a Fat Eighth Bundle of Lush, and I'm thinking of a quilt.  I used one of the fat eights for the above center panel.

Imagine that!

May your bobbins always be full,

Satchel for Sharon

I have two great daughters; they're adults, of course, and they rarely ask for anything.  The quilt top I just finished was a rare request from Carrie, my blogging daughter, who lives in NC.  On Thanksgiving, Sharon, who lives in Orange County, said, "Whenever you have some spare time, would you make me a bag?"  Bob and I both laughed because I keep busy and never seem to have any spare time.  But my daughters are a priority; and while I was working on the last project, Sharon and I emailed back and forth about what kind of bag she wanted.  She didn't want the first four I proposed, they weren't exactly "it" and not large enough.  I hit the jackpot with this bag, except it was smaller than she desired.

source, pin

I've spent this morning drafting a pattern for a larger bag, and I've decided to add an inside pocket.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my figures will work.  Here's the fabric I've chosen:

I thought it'd be a great weight for the bag, and I won't need to add interfacing.  It's organic cotton canvas from Cloud 9.

May your bobbins always be full,

Keeping it simple

I had a quilt block and a half, leftover from the blocks I made for the quilt top,  I used those to make an interest point for the quilt back.  I turned it side-ways and centered the bottom of the block half-way down the quilt back.  I'm going to hold this and any new quilts I make, to be quilted after the first of the year.  I'm not in a hurry, and I think my long arm quilter appreciates me not loading her down during the Holiday rush.

May your bobbins always be full,

Dolce Quilt Top is finished.

I'm completely in love with how this quilt top came out.  The quilt top measures 49" x 56.5".  I used all 24 prints in the Dolce collection.  The finished quilt will be for one of my cousins.  These are absolutely her colors.  Now, I've got to think about the quilt back.

This is Max.  He's our new neighbors' cat.  He visits our backyard on a regular basis.  This is the first time he hasn't dashed off when one of us came outside.  He comes and munches grass, they don't have grass, and watches the birds at the birdfeeders.  I'm deathly allergic to cats, but I like all animals and am always happy to see him.

May your bobbins always be full,

Making progress

I've slowly but surely been making progress on the Dolce quilt top I'm working on.  First, I cut the FQs into two sets of rectangles, 24 - 4.5" x 14.5" and 48 - 4.5" x 7.5".  Then I cut my accent fabric.

My next step was attaching an accent piece to one side of each piece, top and bottom of the longer pieces.  After pressing the seam to the print side, I attached an accent piece to the opposing side.  Repeat the pressing, and I have this:

Tomorrow, I'll stitch two smaller pieces together, accent edge in the middle, then join that piece with a larger piece.  That will be my basic block.  I have my work cut out for myself.

In other news, I've been contacted by two different women, who both live in Florida; each of them wants me to make her a custom quilt.  Amy wants a queen size modified Plus Quilt and Betty wants a king size Autumn Maple Leaf Quilt, in reds and white.  I'm just waiting for the deposit(s), before I order fabric!

May your bobbins always be full,

I have a stack of fabric!

Specifically 24 fat quarters of Dolce by Tanya Whelan.  I bought these FQs over 4 years ago, when I first started quilting.  I've decided it's time to use them in a quilt, something like this:

pin, source

I also like the looks for the "Upstream" quilt by Cozy Quilt Designs; but I don't like the pattern instructions or methods.

I'll be doing my own thing, combining ideas into a new quilt.

May your bobbins always be full,

The right thing

While I was piecing the Autumn Leaf Quilt back, I opened a new bolt of Kona White PFD.  For the first time, ever, I was disappointed in the quality of the fabric.  I needed to finish the quilt back, so I "pressed on" and used it.

The problem was the fabric was stiff, a bit coarse, and too white.  It didn't match the other fabric I'd been using, which was silky, smooth and off white.  What was a gal to do?  I wrote a letter to Robert Kaufman Fabrics.  Yes, I did.  I figured, what harm could it do!

I expressed my surprise at the difference and I included samples of the fabric from an old and the new bolt, plus a photo of the end of both bolts.  Yesterday, I received a letter from their customer service department stating that they agreed with me; and have decided not to produce this SKU  with the guilty mill.  Plus, would I contact them with my phone number, so they can FedEx a replacement bolt to my home.

I phoned them this morning, at 7:30 AM, and my customer service person was at work.  She said she'd get the fabric out today.  I'm very happy with the outcome.  I mentioned to her that I always purchase this fabric by the bolt, and she replied that I was "well trained"!

Hmmm, I may have to ponder that part.

May your bobbins always be full,

Fabric Giveaway

 I won this flannel fabric over a year ago, and I don't think I'm going to use it.

The giveaway is for six yards of 100% cotton flannel Wilderness Trail by fresh designs for Henry Glass & Co.  Yes, six yards.  Henry Glass & Co. is very generous.  Here's a free pattern on their website:

I'd like to boost the number of "likes" on Janice Elaine Sews on Facebook.

If you want to be in on the draw, leave a comment on this post telling me that you "like" the Janice Elaine Sews FB page.  I'll have Random Number Generator choose a winner on Feb. 9th.

May your bobbins always be full,