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

1 in 8

I love these fabrics?  Aren't they the greatest?  I love them for so many reasons....

My niece-the-quilter gave them to me.
I love pink.
I love that salmon can be pink and that the "white" one is pink when compared to white.
I love the hot pink.  It is really HOT!
I love they are Konas and feel like a dream.
I love that I have leftovers.

Here's what I don't love.
I don't love that we still have to have a month devoted to breast cancer.
I don't love that 1 in 8 of the females reading this blog will get breast cancer (at least in the US).
I don't love that we do not have a cure.
I don't love that too many women I do love have had breast cancer.

If you're a reader of my blog periodically, you may have read this post entitled a Quilter's Fairy Tale last year.  This is a tribute to a special friend who successfully fought IBC (Inflammatory Breast Cancer).  But it was a terrible battle.

This year I happen to be reading the book "The Emperor of All Maladies" by Siddhartha Mukherjee. Subtitled "The Biography of Cancer" -- it is fascinating and horrifying at the same time.  I am particularly interested in the references to breast cancer early in the book.

Would you believe the first documented case of cancer was breast cancer and was noted in an Egyptian papyrus believed to be from the teachings of Imhotep who lived around 2625 BC.  It's a very clinical description.  The next documented case of cancer appears to be IBC and Atossa, the queen of Persia, around 440 BC. What's the irony in that?  The first two cases of documented cancer are still being battled today!

Since it's October and Breast Cancer Awareness Month -- and this is a pink pink pink quilt -- I'm linking to Amy's Creative Side's Blogger's Quilt Festival.  If you have a chance, check it out.  She does a wonderful job of providing an opportunity for all quilting blogs to post and for us to wander through a quilt show of blogs.  There are prizes and voting and, most of all, inspiration.  I'm going to link under the "Throw" category (I did think about 2 color but I thought that was stretching it!) -- not because I'm soliciting votes but because I hope a bunch of women will read this post and make sure they are doing breast exams and getting mammograms -- and pestering other women they love to do the same.

Details on the quilt:

• Modified from Cozy Modern Quilts by Kim Schaeffer
• 65" x 65"
• 21 shades of pink from Robert Kaufman's Kona line
• Phillip Jacobs fabric for lattice
• Quilted with Lava by Superior (no rush to do that again although I love the color changes)
• Bobbin was So Fine by Superior
• New overall pattern I wanted to try -- learned a lot and will use again

For a giggle -- here's how I started my month!  It's given me some opportunities to talk about breast cancer to people I might not have -- servers in restaurants particularly!  I'm happy to stay they are still intact. I wasn't sure if we would get through the month together.  I now think we will.

I hope you are

Playing with fabric you love
Finding inspiration at the Bloggers Quilt Festival
Doing breast exams and getting mammograms!

Jan

And then there were three!

The journey of Lollypops continues.  This is not the first, and is far from the last, post on my ongoing relationship with Kim McLean's Lollypop Quilt.  I will spare you all the links; if you're interested, you can click on Labels on the right side of the blog. Suffice it to say, I've chatted about this before.

I love the Tour de France!  Also not a new comment.  I also love Wimbledon!  So the last two weeks have been perfect for handwork. As I've had a few minutes, I've run up to my little quilting room and pulled out this block that I prepared months ago, and have done a little stitching. My tension on my stitches is a little wonky -- you can see some puckering in the block --but that will "quilt out" right?

This block that is prepped has fewer motifs to appliqué so it will be next.  My personality is to start with the hardest (or most unpleasant) first and get it done so the balance is easier (or less distasteful in some circumstances -- that's not the case here).  It's not distasteful in the least -- it will just take longer.

The last prepped block looks like a breeze, doesn't it?  Bigger motifs, fewer small circles, and fun colors.  And this is the actual design -- no editing from me.  While I now have three (of 16!) blocks completely appliqued and two more ready to go, I had a moment of epiphany and realized that if I put everything aside and just prepped blocks and appliqued like a madwoman, I probably could not finish this quilt by the end of the year.  Really?  YIKES.  I need to get my act in gear and be more deliberate about this wonderful quilt.  I love it.  It makes me happy.  BUT. Piecing makes me happy.  Long arm quilting makes me happy.  Giving people finished quilts makes me happy.  But not getting this done before I'm 90 doesn't make me too happy!  I need to give this some thought and decide on some priorities and commitments.

Let me say -- this little gem from Superior Threads is a lifesaver!  I would never have enough different colors to appliqué all these bright colors.  I do have four spools of silk thread and I like them a lot but sometimes the colors just work better.  What a beautiful rainbow!  I highly recommend it if you have an appliqué project in your future.

I hope you have something that you are working on that makes you happy!

Jan