Yeah, still quilting

I'm going to ride this wave for as long as it lasts. Come Christmas, I'll have most of my list done already!

Here are a couple more (and I have 4 finished tops waiting to be quilted). I am finally getting the hang of the free-motion quilting: my bobbin tension is okay (I slowed down and took smaller stitches on the curves), and I've settled on stippling as *my* style.

These two are scrap quilts.

The pinwheels from this one were assembled from the Tranquility cut-offs and extra jelly roll strips. I had the pinwheels done a long time ago, so putting the rest of the top together took a single afternoon. I just let the pieces line up with random colors, alternating larger and smaller pinwheel blocks. I think it's every bit as cool as any planned quilt.

And this one was put together with all scrap fabrics, using the Dresden Plate template. I think it'll be sandwiched and quilted next.

Whereas many of the quilts have  been strip-pieced, this one took a bit longer, with every single triangle sewn separately. My friend DeeAnn thinks it looks like nautical flags. If so, there are some pirates nearby...

I think it's very retro-looking.

Batik Jelly Roll Lap Quilt- Part 3

Wordless because I have no words...

Batik Jelly Roll Lap Quilt Top- Part 2

Here's where we left off yesterday- with the center blocks done, and top and bottom border pieced and sewn on.

I used 10 strips to make the 16 individual blocks (technique shown yesterday- 8 were used for the top and bottom border). But I needed 20 blocks for the whole border, so I selected these 10 strips and sewed them lengthwise as before.

However, I only cut 1 square from each sewn section because I only needed 4 corner blocks. I set the rest of the sections aside.

Here's the entire center panel, assembled.

I decided it needed some contrast- so I used 4 black Jelly Roll strips for a border.

I cut the remaining strips from the corner blocks into 5" sections.

I assembled 2 of each 5" wide section for the top and bottom wide borders. The border was 2 1/2" short, so I pieced one more color to the end of each border (from another Jelly Roll strip).

I used the remainder of the extra piece strip (from the end of the top and bottom borders) and sewed it together with 4 other strips (cut to match the length of the first one), and cut it into 5" sections.

I pieced those sections with the remainder of the first wide border sections, and voila! The top is about 50" square.

This never happens for me- it all worked out perfectly without extra trimming!

The entire quilt top (except for the black border) was pieced from a single Jelly Roll. In fact, I have 5 strips left over. I could have used them for the intermediate border, but I really like the contrast that the black provides. I could use them for the binding, but I think I'll use black again, for the lovely contrast.

This technique looks wonderful with the batik fabrics, but it would work with any set of strips (commercially assembled Jelly Roll or strips you cut yourself).

Time to quilt!

Batik Jelly Roll Lap Quilt Top- Part 1

I bought a Moda Calypso Batiks jelly roll (40- 2 1/2" x 42" strips) and waited for it to speak to me.

Yesterday, it did.

The jelly roll, opened.

I selected 5 blue/green strips and 5 red/orange/yellow strips.

I sewed each strip set together lengthwise, and pressed them open.

I trimmed the upper edge, and then cut the strips into 4- 10 1/2" squares (the size of the square depends on the width of your strips, since this works with any size strips).

I faced one dark and one light square together (strips running the same direction, all matched identically), and sewed all around the outside edges- all 4 seams.

And then I cut them into triangles.

Pressed open, I got 4 different sets of 6 1/2" blocks, 4 each.

There are a bazillion ways to arrange them, but I settled on this one. The larger blocks are 13" square.

Then I selected and sewed and cut another set of strips.

Again, there were a bazillion ways to arrange the border of single blocks, but I settled on this one for the ends.

I'll need to make 4 corner blocks for the side panels, which I will do today, and a wide outer border. The above was one afternoon's work, and this technique will work with any jelly roll (or any hand-cut set of strips).

I love love love love love it. I'll finish the rest of the quilt top today (it'll be around 50" square, lap quilt size, which is what I've been making lately), and I'll post the rest of the process pics tomorrow.

Dresden Plates, the easy way

My friend Beverly Lesche pointed me in the direction of the Missouri Star Quilt Company's tutorials, and lemee tellya, they've been responsible for a whole lotta damage around here. Their Dresden Plate tutorial was a real eye opener...


So: mostly wordless, except that many of my words were: wow wow wowee wow

 20" foundation blocks, 20 pieces per plate

I'm going to machine quilt this one, so machine appliqueing was the way to go. I love this blanket stitch.