Jelly Roll Rug

I think this is going to be my next project! I'm going to make a jelly roll rug. 

I bought the pattern awhile ago. I have read the directions but it never makes sense to me until I actually sit down and make it. I've seen some YouTube videos that offer help in making these rugs. I'll probably use them as I work on the rug. 

I also wasn't sure if I should just make one or two rugs. I suppose it depends how large the rug is and what room I'll put it in. Just to be on the safe side, I bought 2 matching jelly rolls. I figure you can't go wrong with Kaffe Fassett! 

More Carolina Chain Blocks

I've been working on my scrap quilt when I can. It seemed to take me forever to cut the pieces for the last few blocks but I finally finished! I made 6 more blocks which brings my total blocks completed to 14. Only 58 to go!  Haha!!

These are my blocks in progress. Each strip is pieced and ready to be made into blocks.

The blocks are sewn together. I've arranged the blocks in order to make the final block. Each block is made of 2 light chains and 2 dark chains. 

Just another view of my 14 blocks. I have plenty of scraps to make more of these. It's funny though. The scraps never really seem to get depleted. No matter what I do!!

More Progress on Green Tea and Sweet Beans

I'm still working diligently on the borders of Green Tea and Sweet Beans. Applique just takes so darn long! 

The right border has all the vines in place and I've started the flowers. The left border has 6 more vine segments to applique. I've been trying to amuse myself by appliqueing a flower when I've finished a few of the vines! I feel the variety will get me to move faster!

The top and bottom borders are complete. I can't really finish the corners until the borders are on. I think I'll really love this quilt top when it's done.  

Free Motion Quilting On Ringo Lake

I started quilting On Ringo Lake this week. It took awhile for me to decide just how to quilt it. I had thought about using rulers and custom quilting. The quilt is so busy, I didn't think the quilting would be seen that well. I had a few pantographs in mind but didn't think it would be the best choice. This quilt is made of so many pieces that I feel it's a little puffy in certain areas. 

I felt free motion quilting would be the best choice. I'm in the front of the machine and in control of what motif goes where. I'm quilting flowers with either a swirl center or a clamshell center. I've also thrown in a few leaves that I learned in one of my classes last week. 

I'm hoping you can see my pattern in these pictures. I think I made the right choice. So far, so good!

I'll be doing something different in each of the two borders. I'll decide how I'll quilt them when I get there. I'm hoping the quilt will speak to me!!

MQX - Day 2

Isn't this beautiful! It's obviously not my work. I took a class with Deborah M. Poole at MQX. It was my last class as well as my hardest! She specializes in feathers. She does all sorts of wonderful things with them. I seem to have a love-hate relationship with feathers!

This is her book which I love! I plan on reading and practicing what I learned with what she's written in her book. This book is full of wonderful information. Her feathers are so elegant. 

That's the end of MQX for me. It was so fun to concentrate on quilting for 2 wonderful days. It's back to my usual routine now but I'm already looking forward to MQX 2019!

MQX - Day 1

Today was my first day attending MQX in Manchester, NH. My first class was scheduled to be with Jessica Gamez but due to an emergency, her mother replaced her. Her mom is Deloa Jones and was a wonderful teacher! This class was all about combining different free motion patterns to make a whole new pattern. This concept is very well illustrated if you look at the background of this quilt. There are different patterns but they all work so well together! The quilting adds so much interest to this piece.

Deloa Jones designs some great rulers for the longarm. I just had to go to her booth and buy a few items. I also bought a stencil made up of a one inch grid of straight lines. These stencils come in very handy to mark backgrounds.

My second class with Dense and Dainty Free-hand Fills with Margaret Solomon Gunn. I can't believe how much information she packed into the 2 hour lecture. 

I got some great handouts so I can remember what she was trying to teach us! I need them after the overload of information from this wonderful teacher. She passed out lots of samples. Her quilting is just beautiful!

I had a successful first day. I have one more class left tomorrow. I always look forward to this show every year but it goes by too fast! I'll let you know about my last class soon.

Scrappy Goodness!

I made 3 more blocks. This is all my blocks so far. I love the scrappiness!

 

These are the beginning pieces for my new blocks. I just cut out the proper amount of dark fabrics as well as light fabrics. I put them together into these almost 9 patches.

 

Then I group them into groups of 2 dark chain and 2 light chain per block. 

I set the blocks up so you can see how the light and dark chains will line up in the final setup. Scrap quilts make all fabrics look good. You can hide some really bad ones in there and it all works! 

New Fabrics

I bought this panel last week. It's a digital panel from Hoffman. It measures 42" X 44". I've seen them finished by quilting each petal separately. One panel was finished with each petal quilted with some variation of a feather. I've also seen another where each petal has a different free motion design. I'm not sure what I'll do with mine yet. I'm taking some classes next week at MQX Quilt Festival in Manchester, NH. I'm hoping I get some great ideas! I feel the possibilities are endless with this panel.

This is the backing I bought for On Ringo Lake. I think I'm going to free motion over the body of the quilt and maybe do something else in the borders. Again, I'm so close to taking classes at MQX that I'm going to wait until my classes are over before I make a final decision on the quilting. I'm hoping for some enlightenment!