First Memory Quilt Finished

A work colleague saved her children's baby clothes hoping to have quilts made out of them. After being unable to find someone to make the quilts, I volunteered and this is the final result. It was hard to cut up such beautiful clothes (even though they held no significant memories for me) but the look on her face when the quilt was finished was worth it. 

 Again it was a chance to play around with free motion quilting.

Pink and grey were the colours her daughter liked best. The quilt is 48 x 60 inches and all quilting fabric came from my stash.

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts. 
Happy stitching
Jenell.

Bright Birch Finished

I have been on a free motion journey. I decided to quilt my Bright Birch myself and mix it up a bit. So free motion meander was trialled and used on 14 of the 20 blocks in this quilt. I haven't meandered before and after a rough start found a rhythm. There are lots of photos in this post.

 Each block was quilted individually and the thread was colour matched to the background fabric. Six of the blocks were quilted with different designs to add variety for the eye and to have a break from meandering.

A spotty stripe was chosen for the backing which complemented many of the colours on the front. it also hid most of my quilting which was in lime green on the reverse. Unfortunately the photo below of the back is not showing the backing in all its bright glory.

I love this scrap quilt. A simple pattern by Crazy Mom Quilts and an easy make. I will definitely make this again. I think it would be a good leader and ender project preparing the strips and the scrap bucket is always always out of control.

Linking up with Finish it Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.

Happy stitching.
Jenell

Colourful Times

I have been pushing along on my WIPs. I have started quilting my Bright Birch quilt using mostly a free motion meander. This us the first time I have free motion quilted on such a scale and if you stand back far enough and close one eye it doesn't look too bad. this quilt is so cheerful with lots of colours popping in the birch strips.

At least this quilt is heading towards a finish and hopefully will be useful to someone.



I have titled this post colourful times as bright quilt backs have also been on the agenda. Using fabrics from stash a orange backing for a blue and black charity top and a lime green backing for my mystery quilt top challenge have been prepared. the first Mystery quilt top has been completed as a quilt and shown to our group. a good push to get on with finishing mine. I am looking forward to getting on with those next.

 All the blocks for the Bernina Zen Chic Playing with  Triangles QAL have been completed. I need to cut the setting pieces and row ends and join the whole thing up.

The Gravity quilt top is also completed. I loved making this top. The pattern was so clear and easy to follow. the consensus is that it will need to go to the quilter. My little machine won't suffice for this big sucker. Looking at the photo I feel as though I have hung this from the side and not the top.

Lastly, I really need to finish up the two t-shirt quilts I started around Christmas and get them to their owners. A black and white striped binding for the blue quilt and a pretty floral for the pink.

Again, no full finishes but I am getting closer. All in all a busy time ahead. Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts.

Happy stitching.
Jenell

Progress made but nothing finished

I feel like I am on the sewing treadmill at the moment. Lots happening but it seems as if I am going nowhere. Does anyone else have times like that in their sewing life?

When I look back over the last month, (so much for my promise to myself to blog more) I can see that I have been working on many individual things but not much is crossing the finish line. it has been so darn hot here this summer that working on the larger items has not been very appealing. I have still been busy sewing or cutting each day, just not completing fully. So here is some of what I have been up to.

Two t shirt quilt tops have been completed. their backings and bindings are ready. I just need the heat to ease to be able to keep going.

Raffle Quilt - Our group has been working on a raffle quilt. This is the finished quilt top. They are an amazing group of ladies. 

Gravity Quilt - I love this quilt and do not really want to give it away. It has been a dream to make. All 6 large pieces are now put together just waiting to complete the top.

So that is just a little of what I have been working on. There is more lots more, just nothing finished.

Good luck with your finishes.
Happy Stitching
Jenell

All Linked Up Finished

I am still pushing through with my Gravity Quilt and have been surprised at how easy it has been to make. (I may have just jinxed myself, but so far so good).

The finished quilt I am sharing today is 'All Linked Up'. The kit was purchased from Connecting Threads and was the first quilt kit I have ever used. It made the process very simple.The pattern and fabric were both by Crazy Mom Quilts.The fabric was from her Good Neighbours line. Working with a lot of white was also new for me as I tend to lean towards darker and stronger colours for backgrounds. All in all it was a great quilt to make, quick until it came time to actually quilt it. Procrastination was the key word here.

My fantastic husband helped me to baste it and then it sat for a while before quilting. My little old Bernina did prove to be up to the task of quilting this 84 x 95 inch quilt.

There were so few scraps at the end of this quilt as they went on the back and were used as the binding. I did keep the fabric that was supplied for the binding and used it to line my zippered pouches.

All Linked Up has now been gifted and it is time to get on with the other 22 WIPs. Linking up with Finish it up Friday.

Happy Stitching

Jenell

Beginning the year

Happy second week of 2018.

The visitors have all gone home and we are back at work. Life has settled once again. It has been rather warm here and some days sewing larger items is rather uncomfortable due to the heat.

I have started on my Gravity Quilt by Jaybird Quilts. I thought it would be a difficult make but the instructions are clear and the centre blocks have come together so quickly. I am going to enjoy finishing this one.

The Gravity Quilt needs to go on the back burner as my Patchwork group are starting on our raffle quilt this weekend. We are using shot cottons and they look so jewel like.

That has been my start to the year. I hope yours has gotten of to a good start.

Happy stitching
Jenell

Heralding 2018 with a plan of a plan

Well 2017 ends here in less than 36 hours and it has been an interesting year with many new starts and not so many finishes on the quilting front. I thought I would set some goals for 2018 and hopefully make myself more accountable to myself.

 I have never really set myself specific goals previously but rather just coasted from day to day and project to project. Having a sticky beak around the online world I came across Quilting JETGirl's  2018 Planning Party which sent me off to complete an audit of my WIPs and have a think about what I would like to achieve in 2018. So here goes:

1. Quilting Goals

• Be more regular with my blogging - if for no other reason than accountability to myself.
• Take stock of what I have. I just counted 19 WIPs and there are probably a few more lurking. It would be good to halve this number.
•  Get on top of the scrap crates. They take up a lot of room and desperately need sorting and using.
• Save for a machine with a bigger throat space, I am looking at a Juki.     
  ( pushing those big quilts through a 5 inch harp space is a killer)
• Start my Christmas sewing earlier - I put myself under far too much pressure this year.
• Participate in #30minssewingdaily with @mellmeyer on Instagram.
• Complete the one QAL I am participating in (Playing with Triangles) possibly/hopefully in the QAL time frame.

2. Life in General

• Dance every day and find the fun.
• Streamline the way I keep on top of the all of life's necessary chores.

An accountability partner might not be a bad thing.

So that is it. A plan for 2018. I am linking up with Yvonne at Quilting JETgirl to make this all a little bit more real. My fingers are crossed for your plans. May you have a productive, bright and fun 2018.

Happy stitching 

Jenell