Here's what's on the wall right now. I really felt the need to sew the other night and I remembered seeing the pattern Jelly Jive when Jerry was here the last time. I decided to play around and this is what I cam up with. I'm not going to border this. I'm just going to layer it and quilt it! It will finish about 52" x 68"
I know this is not something that everyone would love, but for some reason, I REALLY like this. It's quick and very free-form. It kind of reminds me of the Tears of Joy quilt I made last year and I already have an idea of another variation of this. I'm going to pull some scraps and sketch it out later this evening.
Looking at this quilt has got me wondering something. How do you sew your rows together? Do you start at the top and sew down? Do you add one row at a time or do you work in pairs?
I often start from the bottom and work my way up. Actually, I will sew a couple of the bottom rows together and then sew them together. I then sew a few more rows and add them to the already connected rows. Once I have the bottom half together, I sew the remaining rows (from the bottom up) and then sew the two halves together. I believe it is simply a matter of personal preference, but I'm just curious. :-)
Life had been quite frantic recently (pretty much since Lynn's wedding in October), but I did accomplish a few things. First of all, Mom and I were in cahoots about a Christmas quilt surprise for Terri and Danny. Even though she didn't make it to Christmas and see them open the gift, I know she was there in spirit. It was really fun to plot about this project and Mom was sure to tell me (and Ann) what she wanted written on the card. I was almost giddy when I dropped off the wrapped gift at Terri's and even more so when she called me after it was opened on Christms Eve. We were both sad that Mom wasn't there for the "grand opening" but know she was watching and smiling! I even relayed the conversations that Mom and I had while planning this surprise, and that made us laugh. The quilt is Share and Share Alike from Transparency Quilts by Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr.
It's big - 88" x 107" - but easy and quick to construct. I quilted it much like they did in the book, with a simple all-over meander. I used a grey thread and like how it looks throughout the entire quilt, even the black border.
The other day, before Nikki and family arrived, I decided I wanted to make a quick donation quilt so I found some 5" squares that had been sitting around just begging to be used. I looked through some notes that I had made about an easy way to set charms on point and not have to deal with setting triangles. I sewed the charms in an 8 x 12 layout (side by side) and with just two strategically placed cuts and re-sewing I had a quilt top that had the charms on point. I added borders, quilt and bound it and now it's ready for donating. I had this entire 52" x 64" quilt done in a day and a half. YEAH!!
Of course, I didn't take pictures during the process, but I plan on doing this again so I'll post a tutorial. What do you think? I like it, and it was easy!
Here's a quick run-down on my numbers for 2012.
New Quilts Done, Done, Done (pieced, quilted and bound): 21 (22 if I get busy and finish the Jelly Jive quilt pictured above)
New Misc. Quilted Projects Done, Done and Done (purses, table runners, coin purses, etc.): 16
UFOs Done, Done and Done: 11
Quilts ready to Be Quilted: 17 (probably more if I opened another tub of shame, but this is the number I'm going with now)
UFOs still to do: ?? and I'm not going to count them!
Happy New Year Everyone!
Check out what other quilters have on their design wall today.
Go to Judy L's Patchwork Times.
4 comments:
I really like Jelly Jive. Since I don't usually end up with such narrow rows, I don't have any help to offer. Larger rows, I work in pairs, then sets of four, etc so that I can sew as many small pieces before dealing with the larger piece. Not sure it translates to your project.
Like both your quilts.
I'd love to see a tut on charms on point. I'd love to try that!
I'm so glad you were able to finish the quilt for Terri and Danny. It turned out beautifully. I would expect nothing less than Mom to have already told you what to write in the card.
Being a new quilter, I do what I'm told about sewing rows together. This is to avoid the "I'm glad you did that" moment. Ha!
Having a design wall really helps keep track of which row to sew. I think I would start at the bottom. I would avoid sewing pairs together because it might lead to confusion and then the finished quilt wouldn't turn out correctly. That could be an unfortunate error. ;-P
I'd sew sets of 2 rows together first, then sew 2 of those together, then keep on going in the same manner. When I sew blocks, I sew two together, then make sets of 4 blocks, etc. It's a trick I learned from that famous quilter, Mary Ellen Hopkins!
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