Slice Rug

If you've read my blog over the past year, you know that I've made a lot of jelly roll rugs and taught a lot of classes. You probably remember seeing these on the blog before. I still like all of these and all the ones that I haven't posted here.

There's a new version of the rug called Slice Rug, and of course I've made one of them.

Here's the rug I made yesterday. It measures about 18" x 31" and is pretty darn quick and easy to make.

I am very pleased with how it turned out and know that I'll be making more so stay tuned. 

I'll be in Cleveland at the Original Sewing & Quilt Expo for the next couple of days. If you are in town, stop by and see me.  :-)

A Test and Finish

On Friday, I posted some pictures from a couple of rug classes that I recently taught and included pictures of the "rope" coiled up on the table. To see the other pictures click HERE 

I love how it looks! Besides looking really cool, I think there is a psychological benefit to coiling it this way. If you've made one of these rugs, you know that the process of making the rope is a long and tedious one. I think that seeing the progression and getting a general idea of how the rug will look (in reverse) keeps the maker motivated. 

Yvonne, who blogs over at Quilting Jetgirl commented on my last post that it would be fun to go back and compare the coil to the finished rug. I think she's right so I decided that I needed to make another rug and take pictures along the way. Okay, I admit that I used her comment as an excuse to make another rug; but I really did want to make the comparison. 

So, purely for the research aspect of rug making and to respond to Yvonne's comment, I made a new rug yesterday. 😉

I started with a Moda Jelly Roll - Collection for a Cause - Sunshine by Howard Marcus. I've had this roll for quite some time, having purchased it for another project. When I started working on that project, I decided that this was not the best fabric for the quilt so it got set aside. Gee, I'm using stash so that's another good excuse reason for me to make this rug.

I rearranged the strips a bit, kind of taking a guess on how I wanted them to appear in the rug. I try not to fret too much at this stage of the game, but sometimes that's a challenge. I knew that I wanted the dark on the outside of the rug and a couple of colorful rings throughout. I also did not want the lightest fabrics right in the middle so the rug, so I opted to put the grey fabrics there. I also chose to put a floral print in the center, instead of one that reads solid.

Once I made my decision, I started with the dark fabrics and made my rope. As I was sewing, I coiled the rope and this is what it looked like when I was done. I liked this!

Remember when I said I wanted the dark fabrics on the outside? You actually sew those fabrics first, so they ended up in the middle of the picture above. Plus, unlike the rug where you see about .75" of each fabric, you only get a very small piece of it at this stage. I'm ok with that and still love the look.

Of course, now I want to make a circular rug! Ohhhhh, will it ever end?  😂 

Here's the completed rug. (Getting good pictures of these rugs are such a challenge for me. Sorry!)

I got the rings of color I wanted, but I'm not totally thrilled with the big grey area in the center. I'm sure it will grow on my though. 

Thanks for the comment Yvonne, and the excuse to make another rug.

Happy Sunday Everyone!

Quick Catch Up

As usual, I've been quite busy here and blog posts have fallen by the wayside. I've got a few minutes and decided to post a few pictures of recent projects and classes, just so you don't think that I've forgotten about all of you or being lazy. :-)

Here's a T-Shirt quilt that I recently made. I was given a variety of size shirts and needed to play a little with the layout. I'm glad I chose the shadow effect. The recipient liked the quilt, which is always a plus.

This is my version of Poinsettia Millefiori which is a free download by Michael Miller Fabrics. The original quilt is by Marinda Stewart and measures approx. 44" x 59." 

The fascinating thing about these One Block Wonder/Stack and Whack type quilts is that no two look the same. This was fun to make and the quilt is at Chestnut Ridge Sewing in Millersburg, OH. There is a class scheduled for this in July, and I'm looking forward to that. I think there are a few open spots, if you are interested. :-) 

I've recently taught a couple of rug classes and while I am really not great at remembering to take pictures during class, here are a few I was able to get.

I love the greys and blacks of this rug!

This blue rug is made with twenty strips and is from a single fabric - ombre confetti metallic. This exact fabric and a variety of the color colorways is available at Chestnut Ridge Sewing. 

I love the placemat size rugs and this is looking awesome!

I've changed the way the "ropes" are coiled a bit because I've found it so much easier with which to work. Of course another big plus is the fact that we get a glimpse of what the rug will look like when it's complete. (It's actually in reverse, but it still gives you a good idea.)

Even though the picture is blurry, I love these browns together and think the rug will be striking!

Isn't this just plain wonderful?

This is so colorful and fun and can't wait to see it as a rug!

This is so soft looking and it's just beautiful!

I'm loving these fabrics!

This is going to be striking!

As you can see from the pictures, I've been busy and that makes me happy!

Sewing/Sister Time

I've been away from the blog and most of my electronic devices for a few days now, as I am enjoying our annual "Sister Time." I do want to drop in and post a couple of pictures of what's happening.

There's a lot of laughing, sewing, eating, and reminiscing going on and it's been wonderful. Lots of projects are being completed, many of which were UFOs and that is pretty darn awesome. There's also a lot of learning and practicing of new techniques, which means there is also a lot of collaboration and opinion-giving taking place. It's fun to watch and be a part of that.  

 Paula is learning to do the actual quilting! 

Pat has been very busy, as usual.

Terri has already made a big bag and is now working on making bowl cozies. 

Barb made a bunch of cozies and a dress for one of her granddaughters. At least one more dress will be made, as well as a couple of other projects. Barb and Terri are deep in conversation about some fabric choices. 

Kathie finished up a quilt top that she started last year, but I did not get a picture of that. Oops! She is now working on her first rug. Isn't this going to be fun?

I've finished a quilt top and a wall hanging, but have not taken a picture yet. I did make one oval rug and am working on a rectangular one now. Don't you love this teal confetti ombre fabric? I used yardage instead of a variety of fabrics. 

Annie has been busy making carrot table runners that are so darn cute (again, no picture yet), as well as helping Paula with her projects. Her machine has been busy, but took a well-deserved break last night.  She's got things organized and ready to start working again whenever she decides to sit and sew. She's always so organized and I admire that! I really need to learn from her. :-)

 

I love how the back room looks at night when our machines are all set up and ready for us to work.

The sewing room, kitchen, and one bathroom is always illuminated.

We took advantage of the beautiful night Thursday and had a bonfire.

I love our time together! 

Design Wall Monday

I taught six straight days last week (Monday thru Saturday - 2 umbrella classes, 3 jelly roll rug classes, and a stacking pop up class), so yesterday was a catch up day at home. I was pretty successful at taking care of the household stuff, but by 8:30pm I was ready to sit at my own sewing machine and do some mindless sewing. 

Since I have more Jelly Roll Rug classes coming up, including one tomorrow, I decided that I should make another sample. I went to the container where I had previously put some of my packages of 2.5" strips (potential rugs) and pulled out one that I thought would be fun to work with.   

This is a very pretty collection of fabrics, but I didn't notice until after I had sewn them all together and was actually making the rug, that some of the fabrics are repeated four times. I basically just pulled the fabrics from one side, sewed them together, and just started over and added the next side. I kind of wish I had played a little with the placements,

I am almost done with the rug but am not sure that I want to use the final strip of dark fabric.

If I continue and finish sewing the strip, a little over half of the rug will have two rows of the dark fabric and I think that might make it look lopsided. 

I decided to leave it as is overnight and make my decision later this morning. 

See, this really is pretty fabric. I'm just not sure that I love it as a rug. I'll finish it and I'm sure it will grow on me.

What are you working on today?

Check out the quilting eye candy at 

Judy's Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

Design Wall Monday

I've got a busy week again, but I did take time to work on something and it's ready for me to sew, even if I only have a few minutes.

The pattern is Totally Tulips from Missouri Star Quilt Company. 

I'm not making mine as large as called for in the pattern, so all of my blocks are made. I need to add the small sashing strips between the vertical blocks and then add the long vertical sashing. I haven't decided what I'm going to do for borders yet, and won't until the inside is sewn together. 

This was fun and easy, but I have to say that I will be more careful if I make this again. I basically did what Jenny Doan did in the video and pressed willy nilly and didn't pin. I found myself getting lazy and some of the blocks show it. 

I've got a couple more Jelly Roll Rug strips put together and even have another "rope" ready to start sewing the rug. These really addictive. My justification is that I've had to make some for class samples and really perfect the technique before I can teach it. (With a quilt, I have to make a bunch of blocks, but not with this.)  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.  :-) 

Here are some pictures of the last two that I completed.

What are you working on today?

Check out the quilting eye candy at

Judy's Small Quilts and Doll Quilts 

and

Beth's Monday Making 

Design Wall Monday

I'm late posting this, but it's still Monday, so I'm calling it good. 😊

Here's what's on my design wall and a few other things that I've completed recently.

This OSU Champions Quilt is ready for binding. This is the fourth or fifth one of these that I've made because they are very popular with Ohio State Buckeye fans. There are four size options on the pattern from which to choose and it is made using squares and half square triangles. I like to make them scrappy, and I made this one as a leader/ender project. This is the small lap size and it measures 50" x 66".

This is a king size Breezy Quilt, minus the borders. I tested this pattern for Rachel Rossi and am very pleased with the results. I had a border sewn on to this but didn't like it, so out came the seam ripper. I've come up with alternate border options and in conversations with the other testers, we all like the new border idea. I hope to get those sewn on later this week and get this ready to quilt. Stay tuned for updates. 

Here are some close ups of the blocks and fabrics. Jack chose these fabrics because he wanted something a little more masculine than what I had picked. It took me a while, but they've grown on me and I now like them. Oh why do I doubt him when he picks fabric? He's right most of the time!

Rachel has some wonderful tips and hints on making these pinwheels, and I know you'll love them. I'll keep you updated on the pattern release date.

I finished this Jelly Roll Rug, made from Quill by 3 Sisters for Moda Fabrics. I think it's pretty and love the colors.

There are definitely some rough spots in this (mostly around the center when you have to make some sharp turns), but it's really not too challenging to make this. It's time consuming, but not challenging. Using one Jelly Roll yielded a rug that measures 30" x 44". Love it!

Here's a picture taken outside, to try to give you a better idea of the fabric colors.

And finally, here's a 12" Hoop Quilt that I made, just because I wanted to do so.  😄  I love the colors in this and have enough fabric to make at least one more; but I'll use a different outside ring fabric. I have an idea of who I want to receive it and know she'd love these colors.  

What are you working on today?

Check out Judy's Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

and

Beth's Monday Making