October in Review

It's the end of October and this is the first chance I've had to post this month!  Well that's because it's been a very busy month!!  It started off with our annual Fall vacation which included:

Click on the pictures to enlarge them for a better view.

A four day camping trip to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  The park is bisected by the borders of Tennessee and North Carolina and part of that border is also part of the route of the Appalachian Trail.  

My DH and I stayed on the Tennessee side of the park in the Elkmont Campground.  We visited many of the major attractions including the panoramic views after hiking up to Clingman's Dome, the historic Appalachian community buildings in Cades Cove,  the turn of the century summer resort homes in Daisy Town and hiking the Alum Cave Trail.   As usual it was a good trip although GSMNP lived up to its reputation of being the most visited National Park in the country.  Our campground, the park roads and every location were pretty crowded.

This trip was the follow-up to last year's stay on the (North Carolina portion of) the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Back then, I thought the Parkway was part of the GSMNP but I learned on that trip it was not.  On our way out of the park this year, we made a stop back on the Parkway to visit the Ashville Folk Art Center that we didn't get to visit last year.  It did not disappoint and we saw some great craft demonstrations and exhibits there!

Prior to the trip, I had tried to get the "Over and Down Under" quilt I had pieced for "National Sew A Jelly Roll Day" quilted but only got some of it done.

Because of how the backing related to our destination and how cold it was forecast to be in the Smokies, I really wanted to get to use it while on the trip.  However, I was having issues with my new Juki and my choice to use monofilament thread on top to quilt it.  I have one more tip to try out that I hope will allow me to get this one finished up -- perhaps by the time of our next trip there?  Then I also had hoped to work on it at our next stop on this trip but was too busy there to try it out!

That next stop was our two week visit to my MIL's in Rocky Mount, NC.  She is also a quilter so for the two of us, a visit is also a mini quilt retreat!  During our time there, I went to her guild meeting for a class with modern quilter Charles Cameron for his "Crooked Crosses and Bent Boxes" workshop.

Charles has ribboned at Quilt Con and already has two quilts juried into next year's show in Raleigh, NC.  We're planning to head back down for that so I look forward to seeing more of his work at the show.  I also got to go to a mini quilt group meeting where we were given a short workshop by one of the members.  She introduced us to doing "Decorative Big Stitch Binding" (the link is to one of the You Tube videos she recommended).

For the last three years, when we visit in September or October, that also means my MIL and I go shop hopping!

This year's All Carolinas Shop Hop Magazine and my "Passport"

We only did the region in her area this time but as you can see, we did get around!  We did two new stops this year:  one was that we finally got to go to the Quilt Lizzy store in Warrenton.  They were unexpectedly closed the day we went the first year we Hopped and we didn't Hop in that direction last year.  At one of the other locations, we learned they are transitioning this location to only being online.  As such there were huge discounts since we Hopped there during their last week as a "brick and mortar" store.  I mostly focused on stashing two things there:  Grunge and Fig Tree (the two stacks on the right in the picture)!

The darker Grunge pieces on the left were purchased at three other Hop stops and the rolled up ones were remnants.  

The other new Shop Hop stop we made this year was to Whatever's Quilted in Wake Forest.  Big news there, my MIL purchased a longarm!!

It's a floor model Handi Quilter Moxie with the Pro-Stitcher Lite attachment.  Unfortunately, the dealer was vending at a show right after we picked up the machine and frame so my MIL won't be going in for classes on how to use it until November.  We helped her clear out some of the furniture in the room where it was to go, managed to get it assembled and was able to load fabric onto it.  However, after that we were having trouble getting it to properly baste and to set up for the programmed stitch patterns.  I'm hoping that by the time we go back in February, she'll have a handle on how to use it and I can bring down a few tops to get quilted!

I took quite a few projects to work on while away but only got to a few of them.  First, I finally put the borders on Pat Sloan's Fall "Thankful" wall hanging I started back in October of last year:  

I had brought the batting and backing with me hoping to also quilt it while there but just didn't have enough time to get to that.  I also did the cutting for two Fabric Cafe "3 Yard Quilts" but only got one to a top while there.  The good news is I found the perfect backing for it on the sale rack at Bernina World of Sewing in Raleigh while on the Shop Hop.

The quilt is "Dominique" from the "Modern Views book".

For the other 3YQ I cut out,  I realized that I actually had a little more than two yards of the focus fabric (leftover from a prior project) so decided that I would make it twin size rather than the basic lap size Fabric Cafe designs their patterns in.  Using their instructions for enlarging their patterns meant I needed more of the other two fabrics I planned to use.  I was only able to get one while in NC so had to wait until I got home to pick up more of the other in order to finish it. The blocks for that top are now done so assembly of the top will continue as November rolls in.  

Finished blocks and backing fabric for "Heartland" from the "Pretty Darn Quick" book.

Good news is that its backing was also found on a sale rack on the Hop!  This time it was from the Quilt Lizzy store in Wake Forest.  While there and as I have done the previous two years, I also purchased another new 3 Yard kit that comes with a free pattern.   

To add to a future "African Fabrics" themed series of quilts.

I also brought my "Open Your Heart" cross stitch project on the trip.  Unlike on past trips, I didn't get any stitching in while sitting around the campfire (it was too cold!!), had no time to do any while at my MIL's so only got to it once we were on the drive back home.  It's an eight hour drive and between naps, the stops we made along the way and switching off to help with the driving, I didn't get much further on it.  

Not much got done on this trip!

Once back home, it was no less busy!  After putting most of our camping equipment back in storage, within two days of our return, I volunteered at the annual day our community garden hosts the fifth grade of the local middle school.  

Students from the local high school came in the day before to help set up the garden for the middle school garden day.  It also seems my garden bed had a late season growth explosion while we were away so now I also had a lot of harvesting to do as this season comes to a close!

It may have been a bit of a jungle but it yielded some good eats!

So needless to say, October has been uber-busy!  The sad part is that now with the holidays coming up, things are likely to get even busier!!

Quilting On National "Sew A Jelly Roll" Day!

Woo hoo!  It's National Sew A Jelly Roll Day!!

I don't buy a lot of jelly rolls although I love to cut my own Jelly Roll (2-1/2") strips from project leftovers to save for scrap projects.  However, last month I was lucky enough to snag a kit for a pattern I've long wanted to make:  Bonnie Sullivan's "Over and Down Under" quilt originally designed to showcase her "Woolies" flannel fabric line.

On the left is the kit contents (jelly roll and border/binding fabric) and on the right is the Riley Blake National Park Pillow panels yardage that I am going to use for the backing.  I had liked this set of panels because it picked up the colors of the kit fabrics and because we will be going camping in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park next month.  To fill out the rest of the back,  I purchased yardage (center) of the "Signs" print  from the National Parks line in Cream.  

I'm hoping to make this a "sew day" and just work on this project.  To be ready for the day, I reviewed the pattern and supplies.  I had wanted to pre-cut my fabrics but finishing up my "Christmas Ribbons" quilt took longer than expected (which always happens so is what should be expected!).  I also think I will cut some of the things different than the pattern calls for.  

This past week I had found a picture on my phone of a quilt top my MIL had made and asked her if she remembered what it was.  She didn't initially but after looking around, found the pattern -- which was made from jelly roll strips -- and decided she wanted to make it again.  She had picked up a partial Jelly Roll at her guild's "take away" table but would need to add a few strips to it and pick up two more coordinating background fabrics to make her project.  I told her about today so if she was able to get the supplies, we may sew in tandem and Skype during the course of the day.  

I also got an email from the Fat Quarter Shop that said Kimberly Jolly will be doing a Live Stream today on You Tube at 2 PM CT (3 PM EST).  She will be showing new fabric releases and previewing their new Jelly Roll pattern book.

It will be interesting to see how this goes!

12 Noon Update:

Okay, everything is cut out and I actually stuck to the pattern directions for doing so. 

This was a great work out for my Stripology ruler (note: link is to the even larger XL that I hope to upgrade to one day).  Whenever I have gobs of strips and squares to cut (whether from yardage or pre-cuts), the ruler makes it easy to cut many multiples at once. 

There is not as much leftovers in a Jelly Roll kit as there usually is in a yardage kit but I guess that also depends on the design of the quilt.  This one definitely makes use of most of it!

All that's left!

So for the next hour or so it will be a lot of chain pieced "flip and sewing" and then trimming.  

Then it will be onto laying out all the tipped rectangles and the squares to preview the layout.

4 PM Update:

Turns out there were many other You Tubers I follow who posted vids for today. 

Emily @ TeriblyRad (who is better known for her 3 Yard Quilts series):  

Jo Carmel @ Quilts By Carmel in CA:  

Even the Fabric Cafe (the 3 Yard Quilt people) had one:  

And a "Public Service Announcement" with advice on using your own fabric to participate:

My MIL actually found another project to work on and after some problems getting her computer working, we were able to Skype for a while too.  

I've gotten a bit more done in the last few hours:

The rectangles were all prepped, trimmed and pressed.  I also sewed up the "bonus triangle" cutoffs too!

Then it was laying out the quilt on the design wall, starting with the outer borders of rectangles.  I threw them in a paper bag, shook it up and picked them blindly in the hopes of developing a random initial layout:

At this point, I'm half way through filling in the center with squares.

Once that is finished (and I tweak the layout if necessary), the next step will be taking down each row to sew them together.

8 PM Update

Well that's it for today!

The Fat Quarter Shop Live Stream was fun and there are some cute quilts in their new jelly roll book. 

Also be sure to pick up the discount code from the video, good until Monday for 20% off jelly rolls. 

As for me, I finished filling in the layout and no tweaks were needed!

As the day drew to an end, I had half of the rows of rectangles and squares sewn together.  

It looks so much smaller once the seam allowances are taken up!

Bonus:  Putting the rows together was also a perfect opportunity to leader/ender a few more trapezoids for my Quiltville Roll, Roll, Cotton Boll quilt.

DH and I have the opening shift for our community garden tomorrow and I have the follow-up cross stitch class later in the afternoon so I doubt I'll get back to this before Monday.  However, I'm very excited to get this to a top and then work on the planned pieced backing!

For my first Jelly Roll Day this was pretty good!  In the coming months, I'll have to pick out another roll and a pattern to be ready for next year!  Hope you enjoyed the day too!

Plans for September

Fun Crafty Holidays Ahead!

As always there is so much to do in my own crafty world and in the world of crafts in general.  For anyone that wants to put a needle to fabric whether it be by hand or machine, September is the month to celebrate all that is Sewing!

You can check out the history of this celebration on the National Sewing Month.org site here.

For Quilters specifically, there is also another day to celebrate!  The big quilty holiday this month is...

MODA Fabrics (the company that originated the term "Jelly Roll" for pre-cut 2-1/2" fabric strips) has an information packet that you can pick up here.

For lots of free Jelly Roll project ideas, check out the Fat Quarter Shop here and the Hancock's of Paducah website here.

Also check out the sampler designed by Sherri McConnel of A Quilting Life for the event (blog post with the quilt details is here with links to tips on using jelly rolls and a video showing the quilt is here).

I don't frequently buy Jelly Rolls but for once I do have one perfect to celebrate with!  My project for that day will be to finally get to start an "Over and Down Under" quilt.  This is a pattern that was designed by Bonnie Sullivan to showcase her "Woolies" flannel fabric line.  I love flannel quilts and have wanted to make one of these for years.  In early August, the Annies catalog site ran a clearance sale and I was able to get a kit that also supplied the pattern.  

It's still selling at a reduced price now although I got it even cheaper back in August.  This kit uses regular quilting cottons but now that I have the pattern,  I can make the kit quilt and then use my flannel stash to make another version.   

I'll admit at first I didn't like what I felt was the "dull" color scheme of the fabric line supplied with the kit but another fortuitous find helped me quickly get over that.   I happened to be on Etsy and saw this panel:

I got excited because the colors in it reminded me of the over all murky colors of the kit quilt.  However then I also saw this pillow panel set:

I loved the greater range of colors that reflected even more of the colors in the kit fabrics.  I also liked that it highlighted some of the popular attractions to visit in the park.  Now that resonated because my DH and I will be going camping there in October so I will actually get to see those places in person!  

When I purchased the pillow panel, I also purchased what was billed on both the vendor's listing and the manufacturer's (Riley Blake) website as a "Charcoal" tone on tone print from the NP "Legends" fabric collection.  I had planned to piece wide strips of that around the panels to make up what would be the backing for the kit quilt.  However, when the fabric came this is what it looked like:

Yeah, really more brown than charcoal.  I can't fault the vendor as the SKU# on the selvedge matched what the manufacturer listed as the "Charcoal" fabric.  Sigh, once again foiled by shopping online!  

The good news is that I am familiar enough with the various National Park fabric collections and prints and knew there was also one in Cream available that would work just as well.  Fortunately I found another shop that had that on sale so scooped some up and now that will be my backing filler.  So I really look forward to getting this one underway.

Preparing for a Quilt Art Display

My community garden is having it's third annual Art Show at the end of this month.  For the last two, I've participated by displaying some of my quilts.  The first year I displayed a variety of quilts showing the versatility of quilt designs, fabric styles and piecing and applique techniques.  

Last year my theme was "Scraps or Scrappy?" with a display of quilts that showed quilts that used a lot of different fabrics in them. 

There were additional quilts presented in the back of both displays.

This year's theme needed to start from what I already have made up so I've decided to do a "Red and White" quilts display.  This would allow me to make primary use of all the quilts I made for decorating last Christmas.

However I also have the "Christmas Ribbons" quilt top left from that endeavor that still needs to be quilted.  

This will be a good opportunity to tackle that because it will also give me a chance to familiarize myself with my new Juki machine.  I think I will also display my little Valentine's Day quilt since it has a lot of Red along with Pink (which is a tint of Red) in it:

And speaking of Red and Pink, I think I will add one more for the back of the display:  my "Roll, Roll Cotton Boll", a Bonnie Hunter-Quiltville mystery quilt.  This would be of two fold benefit to me:  another quilt to display and (yet) another chance (with a firm deadline) to try to finally get it finished up once and for all! 

It didn't happen then but it has since been finished!

It think it also fits well within the Red and White quilts theme.  Plus, it was moved forward along with all the holiday quilt sewing so it fits right in on that count too!  

Adding In A Little Cross Stitch!

Of course now I can't display quilting without also showing off a little cross stitching so I am planning to work on this too:

Because two of the Red and White quilts to be displayed are mini quilts, I'd love to finish and "fully finish" this little "cross stitch in the round" design to add to the display.  

I'll need to do a little stitch test first though.  The middle floss pictured here is the DMC conversion called for in the pattern.  However, I also liked the top floss which as pictured here doesn't look much different but is "pinker" than the called for thread in person.  The bottom thread is the variegated floss I plan to use to make "Quaker Christmas II".  If I decide to use it for this, it will be a good preview of how it stitches out. 

As always lots of big plans for the month so let's see how many I actually get done, LOL!!  Hope you are gearing up for a busy and enjoyable September and bracing yourself for the oncoming Fall weather. 

WIPS-B-Gone Update, Trip Review and New Flimsies

On Monday, Leanne of the Devoted Quilter blogged that as of today, the WIPS-Be-Gone Challenge is at the half way mark!  Yikes!!  

I won't be posting any finishes for this quarter unfortunately.   November is well underway but I'm still unpacking and getting re-settled after our two week trip to North Carolina at the end of October.  My DH and I went to visit his mother for the last two weeks of that month and using up the last of DH's vacation time for the year before the holiday shipping rush starts.  

As I've noted before, my MIL is also a quilter so for me, when I visit her it is also functions as an unofficial quilt retreat!   DH knows that when she and I get together he should be prepared to do a lot of chauffeuring and cooking.  He doesn't mind because when we're in the midst of quilt activities, he is free to binge watch his favorite TV shows and movies which is his favorite way to spend a vacation anyway!  

This was a particularly retreat-y visit for a number of reasons.  We had two planned activities:  first was that it just so happens that we would be down in NC just in time for this year's "All Carolinas Shop Hop"!!  The only other shop hop I've done is "Row By Row" back in 2016 (and which is now called "Quilters Trek").   The "Carolinas Hop" is a two month event that is still going on so if you are going to be in North or South Carolina this month, you can still participate.  We did the first day on Friday of our first week there and a second day the following Thursday.  Needless to say that was a blast!

We limited ourselves to going to shops in what was mapped out in the Shop Hop guide book as the "North Region" and only going to the shops within an hour's drive of where my MIL lives.  Unfortunately that meant that I didn't get to go to Pineapple Fabrics this trip although they are a participating shop.  I wish we could have also gone to some shops in South Carolina too --- maybe next year?  We visited five shops on the first day and four the following week.  There was one shop (Cary Quilting) that I had been to the last time I was in NC and one (Broken Needle) that is the favorite shop of my MIL's guild.  

Who could resist visiting a quilt shop with THIS painted on the side?!?

Every shop we visited was a delight and it's really encouraging to see that all of them are family-owned and headed by women.  Along with a bunch of other great finds (that will hopefully be revealed as I make them up), I picked up kits for three projects featured in the Shop Hop magazine that use fabrics designed specifically for the Hop.

The second planned quilty activity was for my MIL and I to get a coaching session by one of her quilt guild members who is a huge fan of the "By Annie" bag and accessories designs.  She has made most of them (some more than once) so is considered the "go to" person in the guild if you need advice or tips about making any of the patterns.  I had met her when we had visited back in August when I went with my MIL to her guild meeting on our last day there.  

My MIL already had one bag in progress and wanted to make another.  DH and I are strongly considering getting a particular RV which I've learned has a storage space that will accommodate my Featherweight machine.  It also has additional cubbies in the dining area which is where I would sew.  I was interested in making a bag to fit one of them and that I could use to store the machine's supplies.  I decided on making Annie's "Double Zip" bag.  Prior to the trip down, I found the perfect theme fabric for it and purchased all the additional supplies needed to make it.  When I got to NC, I cut the fabric and prepped the bag parts and my MIL's guild friend came by to answer any questions we had about finishing our projects. 

Now all I need is the RV!

The bag wasn't all that hard to make and I used some great advice the guild member gave me on starching my fabrics and how to finish the inside binding for the bag.  It turns out she and her husband are also planning to buy an RV so we had a great conversation about that process too!   This is my first "By Annie" bag and I'm pretty pleased with it.  The "Handmade" leather tag is from Flamingo Toes and I also purchased a Camper Needle Minder to go with it after seeing both on a Pat Sloan video right before the trip and had them mailed down to me in NC.

The bag was a new project so doesn't count towards the WIP list.  However, also while down south I did get a few more WIP things done:  I've FINALLY finished the top using the blocks I made for the GE Designs Hey, June! quilt along from back in June.

This picture is before I sewed on the final borders.

Just like with my MIL's blocks back in August, I tried a few different layouts at home before we headed down south:

In the end, I liked the right-pointing diagonal one (Layout #3 of 5 in the pattern) the best.  Surprisingly when we did my MIL's blocks back in August that too had been one of the layouts we tried (left, below) but ultimately we went with the "Trip Around the World" variation (Layout #4 in the pattern) for hers. 

I also FINALLY made my "Box Trot" top early in the morning on our the last day there (and seen here on my design wall at home).  

I've had this kit since 2015 so technically it's not a WIP but a "Hussy" - HSY - "Haven't Started Yet"!  However, I had brought it with me on the two previous visits to my MIL and now finally got to cut it out the day before the second shop hop day.  I was so tired after that second shop hop round, that I went to bed really early and then woke up at 2 AM the next morning wide awake!  Rather than trying to fall back to sleep, I decided to take up the challenge the kit pattern presented which is that it can be made up in 2-1/2 hours.  I timed it and excluding breaks for "design decisions" and pressing, it took me three which is still not bad.  Afterwards, I still had time to go back to sleep before we headed out on a trip to an Amazon/Target Liquidation Outlet in Raleigh that day.

I expect to do some more work on this one though.  I had changed the patterned layout to one more like the way it was pictured on the original listing for the kit.  However, those changes left me with the extra strip of pieced accent sashing at the bottom right and I'm not sure I like that.  The good news is that despite how long I've had this kit, I was able to find more of the fabric (from the line "Vintage Collection-Lady Claire" by Blank Quilting) that I hope will work for an idea I have for making some changes/additions to the top. 

The last bit of trip sewing I got done (I brought others but didn't get to them) was the last of the CW Scrap Basket handles that needed to be sewn down. 

The plan was to sew them on the drive down.  I had also brought another hand work work project that I was supposed to set up for the drive home.  However, DH and I took turns driving down this time (back in August, he drove the whole way) so I didn't sew on that leg of the trip.  But I did get all the handles done --- when? --- while DH chauffeured us around on the first shop hop day, LOL!  So the good news is that all of the basket blocks are now done and ready to be assembled into a top.  We won't be going back to NC until early next year but I'm already trying figure out what I'll bring to work on when we do!

Soooo, priorities on my list for the next WIPS-B-GONE quarter will be to finish the "Box Trot" top (and maybe even quilt it!), start on some Christmas quilting I still have to do, maybe get the Basket blocks to a top and definitely quilt up the Civil War Strippie top that I finished before we left.

We're not hosting Thanksgiving this year due to the lingering COVID issues so I'm hoping to really plan and focus my quilt work this month and the second-to-last WBG quarter!  Hope you are whipping your WIPS to a finish!!