{Post 1,778} Florals Again

 Another floral quilt to share today. They are growing on me. I should have expected that, right?

I found a fantastic pattern. Several of my friends, after seeing my quilt, have purchased their own pattern. It is called Ridiculously Easy Jelly Roll Pattern. The maker is Michelle. You can find her patterns on her Etsy Shop. Her company name is From Bolt to Beauty. 

Up front I need to say that I don’t usually use actual jelly rolls. I find them frustrating for 3 reasons. 1. They are marked up in price so much for the fabric they include. I am very frugal. 2. The patterns that are written for them either require more than one jelly roll or I end up with weird fabrics left over because they are not used in the pattern. 3. The width of the strips vary from one jelly roll cut to the next. If I have to measure and trim them, are they truly a time saver? So I cut my own jelly roll strips and just use patterns that call for them.

This is another quilt from the box of florals my sister gave me. Last week when I had the exhilarating experience of visiting an actual quilt shop (those have been few and far between), I bought a purple to match many of the fabrics in the florals box. It is called “Spotted” by Moda. The shop was not very large, and this was one of the only few purples. It was the only one that was the right shade. 

The next time I use this pattern, I will do it differently. I know most of you probably have never made it. The center of each verticals row is the same size pieces across the whole thing, and one adds different length pieces at the top and/or bottom to get the zigzag effect. I wish I had just sewn all of those, then arranged my prints in the order I wanted, then added those top and bottom pieces. I am one of those quilters who always wishes she had done something else before completing the piecing. But I am getting over that. Finished is good.

My sister’s favorite color is purple, which, oddly enough, I didn’t know until after I finished this top. Although I love her with all my heart, there are a lot of things I don’t know about her. I only see her in person a couple times a year, and we don’t talk much otherwise. So, upon finding that out, I am going to finish this for her. Amazon tells me my quilting thread should arrive today. I made this four rows wider than the original lap size because I had just enough purple to make those rows and still have enough to bind it.

Here are some pictures of the piecing progress. First, the fabric pull.

Sewing all those vertical rows together!

My top measures 63” x 70” with the additional 4 vertical rows. I will definitely be making this top again. I love a fast pattern that is also easy and attractive. This one ticks those boxes!

I have been meaning to invite you all to follow me on Facebook and Instagram. I still want to keep my blog going because I am a woman of many words. But FB and IG give those sneak peeks into daily quilting and other parts of life. My FB is Joan Varshine Parker and my IG is shelby_stitcher.

{Post, 1,777} Give Away on IG and FB

 I made this quilt top and will be quilting it today. I want to give it away, but I couldn’t decide on who to give it to. If you like it, please leave a comment, thumbs up, or whatever to know you’d like to let me know you’d like to be in the running.

It was made from a consistent green dots on block for the diagonal in the center of each block, then a hodge podge of fabrics on the sides of the green on black. I love it, but we have so many quilts in our home that I must let it go. I don’t want to give it to someone that does not like this style, so comment away.

The quilt will measure 60” x 72”. Not big enough for a twin bed, but perfect for a sofa throw or a quilt for a kid.

{Post 1,776} Memory Quilt

 I wanted to get a post up of this quilt because it is slightly in the past now. It was not my usual colors or technique. We have befriended a college student (Josiah) that attends our church. His parents are missionaries in Ireland. His grandfather was a pastor in Wisconsin. Josiah’s grandfather needed care near the end of his life, so his mother (Jenny) came to the states to care for him. She and I connected because I’m sorta her son’s “mother/grandmother” while he is here for school. My husband and I have had Josiah over numerous times, he has stayed with us for a few days here and there before or after school breaks, I’ve taken him to the airport, etc. When Jenny’s father passed away, I offered to make her a memory quilt from some of his shirts. It took a while for everything to come together. I suggested various shirt quilt patterns I’ve used before. She didn’t care for any of them and found a pattern on her own. I did not want to make it. I don’t like doing fussy work or appliqué (although I have the skills). Here is what she picked.

I tried to get her to pick something else, but I was unsuccessful. In the end, I loved it. I just didn’t love the process. But I am a woman of my word, so I pressed on (literally and figuratively). Here are some process pictures, and the finished product. She loved it, and I did, too.

This ended up being 60” x 76”. The first picture is me trying out various shirt types to see if they would all fuse to the background! The other are self-explanatory. Enjoy!

 

{Post 1,775} Florals

 My sister and I used to make/sell supplies for watercolor quilts. I finally got rid of all my floral fabrics. Last time I saw her, she gave me a huge box of florals she had left over (I think there was at least 15 pounds). So I spent a road trip when I wasn’t driving finding quick, easy, yet aesthetically pleasing quilt patterns that would be good for florals. But I am still me. I found a piece of mottled greenish-gray in my stash and made up a pattern to use it up. I used every speck. It wasn’t quite as large as I wanted, so I added an inner border and a piano key outer border. I am gifting it to my Sunday school teacher. I am taking her out for lunch on Friday, and I will give it to her then. I can’t wait to surprise her!

Here are some pictures of the process. I had about a half inch by 2-1/2” piece of the green left over. Mission accomplished.

I made these blocks from strings left over from the front. I needed about 6” more in the width of the quilt width. Worked fabulously. Just piece a string block and cut a square the same size of another fabric. Stitch 1/4” from the edge all the way around. Press. Cut diagonally and iron the HSTs open. Use as desired. I took out one small part and added cream so I could use that for the label. Instead of spending $30+ on a Bloc Loc ruler, I made my own by adding about 6 layers of painter’s tape on my regular 6-1/2” ruler.

This ended up being 60” x 68”. A nice sofa throw size.

{Post 1,774} So Much Joy!

 

I hope everyone enjoyed a great Thanksgiving holiday. We were resigned to just having 3 guests. We were trying to be fine with it. But our youngest daughter, her husband, and their two children were supposed to be with us all week. Their van was in the shop, and the part to repair it was late coming in. They tried to find a car to rent, but the price was sky-high and they couldn’t find a car! They planned to call me Wednesday to reschedule their trip. When my son-in-law called, he asked, “Are you looking at your calendar?” I said I was. He said, “How does tomorrow look?” A man in their church knew their trip was cancelled and paid for them to rent a car. He even found them a car! Last one available in their little town. I burst into tears! You can imagine! I just realized we had such a fun and busy visit that I did not take one single picture. Also had the best Thanksgiving dinner ever. We had one of our sons and our best friends over for the meal and visiting afterwards. 

Last time I was at their house in PA (I live in NC) a dear friend of my daughter’s asked me to finish a quilt she and her daughter had started more than 20 years ago. I didn’t realize the amount of work involved, but I agreed. 

The center was finished when I started working on it. One of the challenges was that it was so old that the fabrics were no longer available. They had chunks and bits, so I cobbled borders together. When I first got it, it was finished out to the edge of the blocks. So I added the pink, cream, and blue borders. I did lots of math to squeeze every inch I could out of the fabrics available. 

Here is a close-up. She had never pieced a quilt before. The seams are huge, the blocks should have been trimmed before sashing and cornerstones were added, but all in all a lovely job.

Here is the whole thing quilted. It ended up measuring 82” x 94”.

My daughter was able to take it back for her. She sent me a video today of our friend seeing it for the first time. She loves it, which makes it all worthwhile. She has advanced Parkinson’s and her extremities shake so badly. I was happy to finish this for her.

Tell me something in the comments that you are thankful for!

{Post 1,773} Pine Tree Points Runner

This is a pattern I bought from quiltville.com to make the runner. I left off the bottom “branch” of the tree so it wouldn’t be as wide as the pattern. I also like the quilt, but it’s smaller than I like. I would like to make it larger, but I have too many irons in the fire to start another big quilt right now. I was sewing with some ladies every Monday for a while, but I have a commitment on Mondays now that interferes with it. They reserved the sewing room from 10:30-4:30 yesterday, and I started working on this. I ended up staying until about 2:30. We all brought parts of a lunch, so that took up some time. 

Here is the process…I picked out several greens from my shirt stash. I cut them all up into 3-1/4” wide strips, then cut them into strings. I sewed them onto 3” wide strips of phone book. I love sewing strings. No measuring, just straight seams.

This ended up being 14-1/2” x 59” I will bind it with the same red as the frames and cornerstones.

This was all I had left over from what I cut originally. Worked out great.

So glad this post went through trouble-free.

{Post 1,772} New Quilt, Part 2

 I wish Blogger had people to answer questions. I miss talking to a person and not doing things via tech. I cannot get pictures to upload. If you know the problem, please reach out to me via email. Thanks!

***Update on 11/16/22*** I can add pictures now. I don’t know why I could not before this.