Jelly Roll Rug Ball

This is where I am with the jelly roll rugs. I have a big ball of strips all ready for one rug to be put together. I was going to cut batting for the second rug but never got to it today. I had a busy day at work yesterday and lots of house work to catch up on today. I'll probably cut some tomorrow. I want to work on both rugs at the same time. I'm not going to use one rug without the other.  

I was running out of my dark blue thread so I had to buy some today. Now that I have my thread, I'm all set to start sewing again!! 

Jelly Roll Rug Part 2

I have begun sewing the strips to make my jelly roll rug. I was a little hesitant to begin but it turned out to be easier than I thought. The start of this strip is tapered and had to be cut a specific way. Once I had that done, it was a breeze! I just folded the jelly roll as directed in the pattern. I used these clips to keep my strip in place after folding it properly.

I kept both rolls in my lap, the batting and the jelly roll strip. I thought it would be very slow but it went faster than expected. I only sewed for a little over an hour and got about halfway through my jelly roll.

As the strip is being sewn, it's recommended that it be rolled into a large ball very similar to a ball of yarn. I used an elastic band to keep it together. This has been so fun so far! I wish I didn't have to work tomorrow. I want to keep going!!

Jelly-Roll Rugs

 

I'm working on my jelly-roll rugs using the pattern by R.J. Designs. You can see 2 very neat piles of 2 jelly rolls in this picture. I basically sewed each strip together in the same manner we sew binding strips. 

Here are what the 2 piles look like while I was sewing them together! I was invited to my friend's house for a sewing afternoon. I thought the jelly-roll rugs would be the best project to work on. I think I made a mess of her room but I did have fun talking while sewing! I also enjoyed the fruit salad she made! It was so refreshing!

I started to make my batting strips. This is my pile from today! I saw that you can buy the strips already made for the rugs but I've been saving my batting especially for these rugs. It would have been faster but I do like using leftovers from other projects. 

I used fusible batting tape to make my individual batting strips into one large strip!

I wound the batting strip while I measured how much I had cut. I'm about 2/3 of the way there for one rug. I guess I'll be cutting more tomorrow!

Old and New!

I made this quilt about 15 years ago. It's called Starry Night. I signed up for a Block of the Month. I would receive directions as well as fabric to complete each set of instructions. My son's room needed something new for his bed so I decided on this quilt. It's large enough and actually matches the blue dust ruffle and curtains. I washed it and let it dry outside. I'm so glad to be using after all this time!

I bought this cute mug this week. I just couldn't resist it! I've already used it for my morning coffee. I'm a sucker for quilty accessories!

Serendipity Star Table Runner

Being a member of the American Quilting Society, I receive their magazine which is called American Quilter. I love looking through it since it always has some interesting news and patterns. This month, I saw Serendipity Star by Marjorie Rhine and knew I just had to make it!

I chose these 3 fabrics. I bought a bunch of scraps from Bits N Pieces in Pelham, NH when they had their big summer sale. I stuffed a bag with fabric and it cost all of $5! These pieces were in that bag.

I had to cut 3 rectangles from the two fabrics I chose for the star. I had to layer the 2 different fabrics right sides together. I had to sew the long edges and then cute into my sewn rectangles.

After my cutting, I was left with 4 equilateral triangles and 2 vertically seamed diamonds per pair of rectangle fabrics. That's it! I couldn't believe how quick this was coming together!

I sewed one triangle to either side of the diamonds. I ended up with 6 diamonds.

After sewing the diamonds together, I sewed the border strips to 3 alternate diamond units.

I added border strips to the 3 remaining units. Ta-da! It's done! I made it one afternoon. It measures about 37" by 32". It's on the large size. I just love it! So nice to work on a quick project!

Shout out to Dawn!

I just wanted to thank Dawn for my gift! I had to work extra this week to cover for vacations. I was tired when I got home yesterday. I got the mail and noticed a package addressed to me. I didn't think I had ordered anything. I noticed the return address. It was from Dawn who blogs at sewyouquilt2.com.

She sent me this adorable kitchen towel! It's already being used. It fits my yellow kitchen perfectly!

She sent me this gift to thank me for quilting along with her when we made the Step Down Quilt. I've been thanking her for having the quilt along! It was a fun quick quilt to make. 

This post is to thank Dawn. Thank you! Quilt friends are the best!! 

Double Wedding Ring Vintage Quilting

As you can see, I finally started to quilt the vintage Double Wedding Ring quilt. I bought it from eBay about a year ago. I've been looking up how other DWR quilts have been quilted. I finally decided on making feathers in the wide open area. They aren't the best but I need the practice. There is lots of room for improvement but I'm hoping this quilt will give me that opportunity.

 

Here's a closeup of one of the feathers. I drew in a diagonal from corner to corner. I also drew another line that isolated each quarter of the area so I would know how far to make the feathers go.

I wasn't  sure how to quilt the arcs. There's a fair amount of bulk in most of them. Instead of just stitching in the seam, I quilted an orange peel so some of that bulk would get used up. I free motion quilted some ribbon candy in the middle. I think I like it so far! I always tend to second guess myself but I think I like what I chose for quilting motifs. 

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July! This is just a little wall hanging I made many years ago. It's faded from being displayed but I still put it up every year. It's one of the first quilts that I machine quilted.

We're getting our food ready for the grill. We won't eat until later this afternoon but there's lots to be done! My mom has been cooking too so we'll have plenty of food. Hope I don't gain too much weight!

Have a wonderful holiday! Happy Independence Day!!