It's done -- and I'm thrilled

It's done! Since it took four years to piece and applique it, I am taking the position that I have four years to get up the courage to put it on my longarm. I cannot even begin to think about how I will quilt this.

Here's what I know -- every single element will need to be outlined with invisible thread and then the background and some of the petals, leaves, and circles will have to quilted or enhanced.  I cannot even think about that right now!

Thank you, Kim McLean, for such a great pattern (Lollypop) and use of color!

I hope you are finishing a few things occasionally. It does feel good!

Jan

A glimmer....

I believe the "light at the end the tunnel" analogy is way over-used.  But there are times when it just makes a point better than anything else.

So, there is a glimmer of light with this quilt.  I still love it -- and I continue to aspire to have the top finished by November of this year.  That doesn't sound so hard - but this is not a quilt I can work on every day.  Or even every week.

I have five large blocks to applique (of the original 16) and have completed nine of the border blocks (only 37 or so to go -- really -- 37, I think!).

If you have somehow missed my many posts on this quilt, this is Kim McLean's Lollypop quilt pattern and is done primarily with Kaffe Fassett fabrics.  My friend, mom22smartchix, finished her top as of this past weekend and it is fabulous.  We started together and chose different paths in our approach to applique and I hope mine is half as wonderful as hers when I get it done.  We've learned from each other - we've commiserated with each other - we have conspired with each other - but we never competed with each other. And I could look at hers for hours. She's a little wacky and is already planning her second one but that's another post for another day!

I hope you are working on a project that you love and are inspired to finish (eventually!).

Jan

Signed, Sealed, Delivered

I'm happy to say this quilt is in Toronto and waiting for our new grandson who should put in an appearance anytime between now and early March.

I learned a lot on this quilt and for the most part -- it was fun.  Make a mistake?  Just make it work. No ripping.  Just changing direction when something didn't go as planned.

I quilted with a light gray thread and let me tell you -- there is no place to hide when you are quilting solids with semi-straight lines.  No pattern in the fabric to hide your boo-boos.  No busy pieced blocks to hide your "oops".  No forgiving backing that hides your goofs. They are out there for everyone to see.

I know this is a bit unorthodox for a baby quilt -- and I had no idea how it would be received. Interestingly, when we got home, I began to get lots of questions about how I had quilted it as they looked more and more closely. I did lots of starts and stops and burying thread so anytime I "hit" a tree, I stopped, tied off, and restarted somewhere else.  Once I sent this picture of the quilt on Lola, our son understood -- and appreciated the effort even more.

So, I'm looking forward to meeting Rex Webb Steve (our grandson's choice of names for his little brother) in a month or two and seeing that little guy on his birch tree quilt.

I hope you are quilting for someone you love -- whether you've met them yet or not!

Jan

Do over

Sometimes quilting just requires a "do over'.  This quilt is one of those.

I made this quilt for my niece-the-quilter 8-9 years ago and did straight line quilting since I did not have access to a longarm.  I called it "Tequila Sunrise" because she is a huge Jimmy Buffett fan. But alas, as it turns out Jimmy Buffett did not sing "Tequila Sunrise" but I think the name is perfect in spite of my feeble attempt.

As with this black and white quilt I did for my now daughter-in-law, the stitching started pulling and breaking over time and it needed to be fixed.

So, I loaded it on the longarm.

I quilted it with a curvy pattern so it wouldn't overlap the straight line quilting.

I pulled out the old stitching.

It was a little work but I was happy to do it....and happy to have it done.

It's now back home where it belongs and I'm thrillled it's "fixed" and should hold for another 8-9 years.

But --- I have one more to do and then I think I will have fixed all the quilts that I can remember that I quilted this way.  I want my quilts loved.  I want them used.  And I want them to last.  So a do over is an easy decision -- start to finish, it's easily done in a week and the binding is already done!

I hope you are avoiding do overs and starting the new year with lots of creativity!

Jan

Planting a forest

Ever had an idea that seemed logical in your head and once you executed it - you weren't so sure?  That's what's going on here.

This started out as a version of crazy mom quilts "birch trees".  I love this pattern and bought it with the intent of making it for our new grandson who is to put in an appearance in early March.  I started piecing the brightly colored birches - I studied her version - I pondered lights and darks.  And then it took a right turn.

And I began to wonder if I could do more realistic birch trees.  And would that make sense for a baby quilt?  So I began to do a search on Pinterest and Google and came up with a beautiful and sophisticated wall hanging from tallgrass prairie studio's "night forest".   Isn't this lovely?  And I loved the contrast of lights and darks and all the different fabrics she used.

I still wasn't sure but I was intrigued and decided to try it.  It's for family, after all, and if it's a little too "out there" or non-traditional, they won't have trouble telling me.  So I started and had no idea what I was doing.  I went through my strings; I pulled some pre cut strips from my bins; and I dug into my strips from men's shirts.

I had forgotten how much I Iike improvisational piecing.  I just put away the ruler and started cutting.  It went together quickly and when I did something I didn't intend to -- I just made it work.  This is what the first version looked like when I added strips.  The first image is the finished top and there was some evolution in design -- but not a lot. No pinning!  Just cut, sew, and repeat.

This required me to stop working on the Quiltville mystery for a few days but I'm hoping to get caught back up while I ponder how to quilt this.  I love the negative space but I've learned that dense quilting on a baby quilt takes away any "drape" until it's been washed a number of times.  So, rather than create a "stiff" quilt for "Rex Webb Steve" (the name our grandson has chosen -- we're not monogramming anything just yet!), I'll restrain myself and not over quilt it.

I hope you are finding time to "create" and improvise occasionally and enjoy the process! Looking forward to a wonderful 2015 and more creativity!

Jan

And now there are 10...

......and "only" six to go.  ONLY.  Only?  Only.  No matter how I say it -- it's still six blocks and I'm not working on any of them right now.  My goal to get Kim McLean's Lollypop Quilt appliqued this year won't happen. So - "maybe" 2015. MAYBE. Maybe? Maybe.

Nevertheless, I do love this quilt and I will finish it -- and the border blocks too! It will be huge. It will be a terror to quilt.  It will be a quilt I keep forever. It will be done!

I'd like to say I've accomplished all matter of other things. Not the case. I have started a lot of things -- including the mystery quilt by Bonnie Hunter. Here are the remnants of step 1. Step 2 is about half done.

I have a few things I have to get done by Christmas so I'll work on the mystery quilt as much as I can - but I'm going to have to start focusing on gifts and commitments (not to mention Christmas, baking, decorating, and the best -- family).

I hope you are enjoying the holidays - finishing a few things - starting new things - and loving every minute of it!

Jan

One more time...

Once again, I needed a baby quilt and I turned to my old faithful pattern.  These are darling puppy dog (and a few kitty) prints that were gifted from my friend, logcabinquilting.  This went together like a charm (as it always does) and was in the hands of the new grandmother within a week of cutting the first fabric.  So thankful for generous friends -- and I have many of them.

Speaking of puppy dogs, this is our newest family member.  Farley joined us three weeks ago today and he does love fabric.  He's happy to sneak a scrap (or quilt block) from my quilt room and carry it around. I am not happy with that behavior so we're working on it. He's about six months old and still a puppy -- literally.

I hope you have generous friends, great patterns that never let you down, and a faithful companion of some sort who also loves fabric!

Best wishes for a wonderful family filled Thanksgiving!

Jan

Boo!

Have you ever seen such a wild quilt? This is for our 4 year old grandson for Halloween and was loads of fun to do. Thanks to logcabinquilts who has been reducing her stash (I know - I don't get it either) and offered fabrics to me, I was gifted all these cute Halloween fabrics. Some were yardage and others were small pieces but this pattern is perfect for those. Thank you, LG.

The pattern is from Wanda at Exuberant Color and she has a great tutorial on her blog. Click here for a direct link to her Cross Quilt. But pay attention to her instructions -- they are spot on and it always takes me about two rows of sewing to get my rhythm down right. It goes together like a dream and uses 6.5" strips rather than five 2.5" squares.  Goes together much faster. Thank you, Wanda.

The backing is fun and looked darling on the quilt. Candy corn fleece - what's not to love! And I think is really what my grandson likes the most.

And since this is for a 4 year old, will never be entered in a quilt show, and was just for fun, I decided to try my hand at free-hand quilting spiderwebs (in purple thread).  No rulers - no templates - no real plan.  He loved it and it's pretty forgiving!

So in the end, it was fun, went together quickly, I learned a lot quilting it, and it got to Toronto well before Halloween!

I hope you're finding time to quilt for someone you love!

Jan

Quick! What color is this quilt?

This is a serious question!  I have asked a number of friends and the answers are not consistent.  Now, I'll be the first to say the photography is less than "good" but we're all looking at the same pictures.  So, what color is this quilt when you first look at it?

What about now?  It's a "blue" quilt, huh?  The shade creates a consistent sense of color for some reason that I don't understand and am not likely to spend much time trying to figure out.

These are the wonderful fabrics I got at Houston last year (sigh....).  They are Caryl Bryer Fallert's reproductions of her hand dyes and I adore them. They were a Benartex product. But, I only have two strips left and need to bind the quilt.

I quilted this on my longarm with Glide thread -- it's a pale pale silver that almost has a metallic look.  I had a few problems with an occasional skipped stitch and actually "unquilted" about 2/3 of a pass because of tension issues that popped up.  I'm sure this was something I did and not the Glide.  And I could not be happy with this on the back -- so I finished the quilt, took it off, ripped, and put it back on.  I'm much happier!

So -- this really is a serious question.  I'd love to bind with a dominant color but I can't figure out what that would be!

I hope you are finding time to quilt with fabrics you love!

Jan

# 9

Nine down -- seven to go along with about a bazillion little border blocks.   This block was particularly hard for me to design and I do not love it but I will leave it.  I can be very comfortable pulling fabrics for a red or blue or purple block.  But when it comes to greens, yellows, and oranges (not to mention neutrals), it's not as easy for me.  This one will not be a star but I repeatedly tell myself when I'm quilting that not every fabric nor block can always be the center of attention.  And it's done!

This is Kim McLean's Lollypop quilt and if you've read my blog very long, you've been on this journey with me.  And we are only slightly over half way.  YIKES!  I'll give my fingers a day or two to heal and then start another one!

Hoping you are working on something that gives you joy!

Jan

Finally done!

This has been a process that took more than a year and I have no excuses.  But it's done and now in Mr Iquiltforfun's car to be used for whatever he would like.

This quilt is made from jeans from our family and I wrote about it in more detail here. I do like it. It almost glows and that's amazing to me -- these are jeans that have had lots of use! And I mean a lot. My son. My husband. My sister. My nieces. There are ink spots and a bit of paint from a previous home and stains that will never be identified. And I left them in -- they are part of our history.

Edited on 2.20.16 --To reiterate - this is not my pattern and I do not share it. If you'd like to get a copy, you can go to Alicia's Esty shop Lucys Quilts and order it.  She is selling it for $10 and part of that goes to charity.  Worth every penny.

The pattern is brilliant.  At no point do you sew denim-to-denim. The sashing takes care of that. I will make more (I've actually had a request or two from some family members) and I have lots of jeans so there is no shortage of fabric.

I have to say that when I loaded it on Lola I had a little bit of heartburn. Denim. Cotton batting. Black fleece on the back. And lovely Superior So Fine #50 for the top and bobbin. The completely unexpected challenge was that I could not see the quilting. Seriously. I could not tell where I had been on about 60% of the blocks. I would have to stop the machine and feel where I was and then go on memory. Not particularly professional but with a simple stipple, I got it all quilted and fairly evenly.

So, one more finish - and one more off my list!

I hope you are being productive and enjoying the process!

I'm linking this quilt to Amy's Creative Side and her Blogger's Quilt Festival in the scrappy portion. If old jeans aren't scrappy, nothing is! If you want to get lost in eye candy, this is the place to go.  And, to reiterate -- this is not my pattern. I do not share it. You can link to Alicia's Etsy shop in the third paragraph and order it.  Be sure to stop by the Blogger's Quilt Festival and see all the wonderful creations

Jan

I had no idea where to start

I had a request from someone I love and could not find a pattern I liked but had no idea what to do.

So....

I pieced it...

I quilted it...

I marked it...

I took a deep breath and cut it....

I bound it....

and I shipped it....

And, I have to say, I really like it!  It makes me happy that it will be under the tree of some people very important to me!

I hope you are finding time to make things that you love for people you love!

Jan

One of my favorites!

I don't do a lot of pre-printed panels.  I strongly believe that when I am giving a baby quilt to someone I care about, the amount of time spent has value and sends a message.  BUT, I love this panel.  When I saw it years ago, I bought three of them and companion border fabric.  It is called the Hungry Animal Alphabet and it is more for the parents that the child.  If you've seen it, you know what I mean.

How can you not fall in love with this Hippo seated on a Hassock wearing a Housedress of Hibiscus while she uses her Hankie in preparation for her Hamburger and Honey as her Hen watches. You have to love the furnishings -- the Hat and Hat tree against the Herringbone wallpaper and the Heart cut out of the table. But I know I've missed stuff so what do you see and what on earth is the lamp -- I'm used to those being oil lamps and cannot figure that one out. Help. It's making me nuts!

And what about this one?  Aren't the Checked Cafe Curtains clever?

Honestly, I love them all and could have showed each of them to you!

But, you see what I mean about this being more for parents than the baby.  In this case, this goes to my one-and-only great nephew,  Special K.  Love him to death and he may be the happiest baby on the earth.  Such a joy!

I'm also lucky enough to have a fourth panel that was gifted to me by a special friend, logcabinquilting, when she was cleaning out her stash.  More on that at a later date. I'm still trying to understand it.

So, here's your test -- what do you see in this block?

I hope you are finding time to create for people you love!

Jan

Yet again...

I really should count how many times I have used this pattern in baby quilts and lap quilts. It is my "go to" when I want something quick and a little on the less traditional side.

It is from Kim Schaeffer's "Cozy Modern Quilts" book and I have a love-hate relationship with her patterns as some of you know. Her designs appeal to me and I have made a lot of them. Her instructions are a little sparse. The only reason I mention this in almost every post where I have used one of her patterns is to caution anyone buying the book (which I recommend) to read through and make sure they understand the cutting instructions for every component before they start.

This particular quilt is heading to Texas to a young woman who will be delivering her first child in a few months. Married a little over a year, her husband was deployed to Afghanistan and she promptly found out she was pregnant, alone on a base in Texas, family in South Carolina, and not sure her husband would be home in time for the delivery. As it turns out, he is home and will be there for the blessed event!  Love happy endings.

I just stippled it as it's hopefully going to get lots of use and lots of washing. These blocks lend themselves to some fun quilting - but I would never do that for a baby quilt. They need to be much more utilitarian!

I hope you are working on something that makes you happy and enjoying the pleasure of marking one more thing off your quilting "to do" list!

Jan

PS -- these pix are dreadful.  I must have had a yellow filter on!