From Painting to Quilt

I have been frustrated at my inability to work on the projects that I have hanging on my design wall.  My biggest sewing problem is that my left wrist doesn't work so I can't use my rotary cutter at all.  You need two hands for that.  Ugh!  My right shoulder doesn't work too well either, but in spurts I can use my right arm.  Anyway, I am going to try to make something that does not require a rotary cutter.  Here's my plan.  I am going to take a section of a painting that my daughter made and turn it into a quilt.  Doesn't that sound fun?

Molly, my daughter, was visiting with my new and super adorable grandson yesterday.  I was painting and so she joined me.  I threw my painting in the trash because it stunk....really stunk.  Her painting, however, showed some potential, so I cropped it down till I found a piece that I thought would be asthetically pleasing and make a nice quilt.  Then I blew that little piece up to about an 8x10 and traced it onto acetate.  My traced design looks very complicated, kind of like a paint by number, so I may need to simplify it a bit.  I'm not sure.  Tomorrow I will look at it again and adjust it where necessary.  Next week I will take my design to Staples and have them blow it up to....well....I don't know exactly what size yet.

Anyway,  check back next week.  I will know by then what size my quilt will be, will have blown it up and will start making my templates.  The quilt will be almost entirely machine appliqued....no rotary cutter needed. Now, lets see how many minutes I can use a scizzors before being put out of commission.  Lol.  I am so stinkin determined!!!

Quilt making on hold

I am having health problems bad enough to keep me from what I enjoy so much....quilt making and quilting.  I have been spending most of my days on the couch reading, playing candy crush, watching TV, surfing the net and being bored.  Then, just the other day, I ran across a biography of Renoir.  He was an amazing painter, but did you know he was severely disabled from rheumatoid arthritis?  Yet, he kept on painting.  You should see his hands...they don't even look like hands!  Well....that got me to thinking and thinking and thinking till finally I called my friend Soozee and told her I needed her to come get me and take me to the store so I could buy some paint.  She came right over and off we went to buy paint and brushes and paper.

Today I turned on some beautiful music and tried my hand at it.  It was so wonderful to be creative in a new and different way.  I like my first painting.  There are things I don't like about it and there are things I need to learn....lots of things, but all in all, I like it for my first try.

I will keep at it.

Jessica

Chubby Lattice Progress

Here's what I have so far.  I'm not used to using precut charm packs, and while I like the diversity of fabrics, I am not liking the inaccuracy.  I guess I'm just going to have to let that go for this quilt and be okay with points that don't match up the way I like.  Oh well, I'm sure I'll survive.  Lol

By the way, those little pink square are just little papers with numbers written on them for placement.

Happy quilting :)

Jessica

I am back to sewing

After a few days of settling into being a grandma, I am finally getting back to sewing.  I made a design wall with my husband and hung it in the dining room where a big picture used to be.  It is 4 feet by 6 feet and i love it!  It is safe to say that I have now taken over the dining room and it is now my sewing room.  I still have my sewing studio downstairs, but that is now specifically the longarm quilting studio where I work.  The dining/sewing room is where I play.  I much prefer being on the main floor close to the action.  It's warmer up here too.

You can see that I have started puting together the chubby lattice quilt.  I decided to put the squares together in groups of four to make up 9 1/2 inch blocks.  I have three blocks done and all the others are at my machine, lined up and ready to go.

Today I became a Grandma!

Today was a long but wonderful day.  I became a grandma!  This little ones name is Ollie and he is just the sweetest little thing.

Being a grandma is great!

Jessica

Show and Tell

Here's a quilt that a customer of mine made for her husband.  I love it!  It's a perfect man quilt. I enjoyed quilting it and always love when I am given open spaces to play in.

Big Block Quilt Top.....Done!

I am doing pretty well on my November goal so far.  I put two large borders on the big block in charcoal gray and light gray.  I like it and have some cool ideas for quilting it.  Here it is:

And here is a close up of the red and green fabric so you can see the patterns.

Jessica

Baby Booties

Have a look at these baby booties.  Aren't they cute?  My daughter is about to have her first baby and has been passing the time here at the end of her pregnancy by making cute little things for her baby.  She's amazing!  She can just pick up some yarn and a hook, and Blamo....baby booties.  I have never been able to crochet.  If I picked up a ball of yarn and a hook, well, we'd just have a big fuzzy mess!

The white table the booty is sitting on is not a white table....it's her tummy.  Lol.  It makes a good table though, doesn't it?!

Another project! Oh dear!

This is the fourth project I have started in a months time.  I have to stop starting projects.  Okay....so here's my goal for November:  complete at least two of the projects I have already started.  Do you think I can do this?  Eeek, I don't knowww.  This is going to be hard.  I love starting new things.

I do love this big block.  It's 30x30.

Jessica

Show and Tell

I quilted this quilt several months ago.  It's one of those quilts that I just didn't want to give back.  It was a southwestern beauty.....that's for sure!!

Block number Two Re-Do

Block number two is redone and I like it much better.  I kept the center black and white section and created from there.

My sewing/dining room table is a huge mess.  Little bits of black, green and white fabric everywhere.  I want to get that forth block done so I can clean up.

Jessica

Oh oh.....

I'm definitely redoing.  Hahahaha

Jessica

Third block done

I love how this one turned out!

Isn't this one cool?  Still not too crazy about that second one.  I just might have to redo it.  The design is not as appealing to the eye....the angle is too severe, theres too much white and there are too many thin log cabin strips.  I am finding that I prefer a simpler look....and chunky....I like chunky.  Yep....sounds like I'm going to redo it, doesn't it?!

Here's a look at all three.

I do love this improvisational process!!!

Jessica

Second block done

Improvisational log cabin block number two is complete.

I'm not sure I like the severe angle in this one.  We'll see how it fits in after I make two more.

Jessica

Jacquie Gering class...Sooo Great!!!

Jacquie's class was fabulous!!!  Here's what I made.

It's about 17 x 21....not sure, but that's about right.  I started a second block and will make four.

I was so excited, that I got there 45 minutes early and promptly locked my keys and all my supplies in the car....great way to start a class.  Lol.  Someone came at 9:30 to break in and all was well with the world again.

Jacquie is a terrific teacher.  She taught us several ways to modernize the log cabin block and we all had a blast!  See that little red piece in the block I completed?  She calls that a "wink."  Just a little somethin' somethin' that adds interest.  I like it and decided to put a wink in my block.

Here are some more pictures of my day.  In the first two, she and I are trying to strike the Charlie's Angels pose.  I knowww....sooo sad.  We tried....bless our hearts.  And that's my mom in the last one.

Now to rest.  I'm pooped.

Jessica

Jacquie Gering Trunk Show/Lecture

I had such a great time today!!!  Jacquie was so engaging!  If you ever get a chance to see her, do it.  She was generous and funny and had lotsss of quilts to show us.  I didn't look at my watch once.....well, if I had a watch, I wouldn't have looked at it even once.

So when I came home, I was telling my daughter and son-in-law about her.  My son-in-law was totally disinterested until I asked him if he knew of the band Devil Wears Prada.  He said, "Yes, they're awesome....My favorite band!"  When I told him that shes the mom of some band members....well....all of a sudden, he's interested and wants to go with me to my class tomorrow.  Um, no Chris.  You can't go. Hahaha

Jessica

Me and my machine

My daughter walked into my studio and took a picture of me and my machine.  Not the best picture of me but that's okay.  I love working on the longarm and usually don't work from the back like I am here, but I usually freehand from the front.  I'll have to post some pics of work I've done this past year. I always love to view eye candy from quilters online, so I will be sure and post some of my own work from time to time.

Happy quilting:)

Jessica

Jacquie Gering class...soooo excited!!!

I'm so stinkin excited!!!  Tomorrow Jacquie Gering is having a trunk show at my guild...Milltown Quilters.  She's so talented and just kinda cool too!  And thennn.....I get to take a class with her on Tuesday.  I can not wait!  Check out her work at http://www.tallgrassprairiestudio.blogspot.com.

Jessica

Love this little ruler!!!

I'm so glad I bought this Jinny Beyer ruler!

Here's what I love about it:
   1)  It's thinner than other rulers and has that nice angle at one end.  Those two features make for less slipping while cutting.  See my three fingers on the mat?  I don't have to push down on the ruler as hard because of the stability created by having those three fingers on the mat.
   2)  Its length and width are perfect.  Not too long.  Not too short.  Not too wide.  Not too narrow.  It's just right and makes cutting easier and more enjoyable.

Just my two cents worth :)

Jessica

Yesssss....

All 154 chubby lattice blocks are done!  Woot woot!!  I've been having trouble with my hands, so they took longer than I expected.  But, now they're done and I can start playing around on the design wall.  Yessss!

Happy quilting,

Jess

Playing with Lattice blocks

I havent been able to sew for a few days, but today I thought I would take out a few lattice blocks, lay them out and have a look at those gorgeous colors.  I was planning on making it look scrappy, however, now I think I might group them according to color like in the first picture and have a rainbow effect.  What do ya think?

Jess

Chubby Lattice...moving right along.

I'm having a great time making these easy little blocks!  48 done so far....106 more to sew.  However, I am going to slow down a bit because I want to put all those little left over triangles together too.  I love this fabric and feel like I don't want to waste any of it.  So, they are all lined up to make little bitty half-square triangles.  I know.....I'm a nut!  I also want to get crackin' on that gray quilt and have it finished by Monday or Tuesday.  So much to do.  I'm having a ball!

Jess

Chubby Lattice Quilt....Ready, Set, Go!

Time to start that Chubby Lattice quilt!  I can't wait! I found the perfect background fabric the other day as I was shopping at Jinny Beyers quilt shop.   Here it is under some of the other fabrics I will be using.  It will show off the palette collection nicely, making all those beautiful colors pop!

Just in case you want to make this with me, here are the fabric requirements for a 58 x 73 quilt:

5-inch charm squares-- 154 of them.
Background fabric-- 2 1/2 yards  (1 1/3 yard for small squares, 2/3 yard for border, 1/2 yard for binding)

Cutting instructions:

Cut 18 strips WOF (width of fabric, which is selvage to selvage) 2 1/2 inches wide.
Then cut strips into 2 1/2 inch squares.  You need 300 of these tiny squares.

Take a look at that nice new ruler I bought while at the shop.  I really like it and it seems to glow, doesn't it?

After you have cut your 2 1/2 inch squares, turn them over and draw a diagonal line from corner to corner on the back.

I like to use my FriXion pen for this.  It disappears when ironed.

Block construction is a cinch!  Here's what you do:

Place two small squares on one big square as shown....right sides together.  Take note of where your drawn lines are in the picture.

Sew right on those lines, then cut the corners off a quarter of an inch away from the lines.

Iron the the corners open. Perfect!  Wasn't that easy?

I like to chain-stitch for speed.  Here's how it looks when I do that.

After I finish one side on a whole buch of them, then I go back and sew the second small square onto each of the blocks.

Iron them open...and voila....several blocks are done!