Long time no post...

I planned to take some time off the internet, about a week, to finish up a quilt I was close to completing. I got a lot of work done on it and then I got sick. I'm not as sick as I was but now I have a headache that is  the worst I've ever had. The light from the monitor is bothering my eyes so I'm just putting this up here quickly and hopefully I'll get back next week.

I had this little quilt me, my daughter and my MIL made together but I knew I still wanted more quilting on it and I finally got it finished. 

The quilting in the border isn't so great but sometimes you just have to call something done and hang it up.

The quilt I'm trying to get finished is this flannel rail fence.

It was previously in 4 sections with only 3 rails unquilted. I've finished the quilting, joined the 4 sections together and added the first border. I was literally in the middle of adding the last border, I already had 2 sides down, when I got suddenly sick, very sick. Oh well, stuff happens. I think my worsening allergies this year are weakening my immune system. I'm still not 100% but I hope to get this going again today.

I hope y'all out there are feeling a lot better than me and getting a lot of quilting done! I still have a ton of emails to get through that will just have to wait.

Super Fast Jelly Roll quilt AKA the Jelly Roll Race quilt

I've known about this quilt forever. I originally read about it on the Quilting Board way before I'd seen the Jelly Roll Race or the 1600 inch quilt. You can find the original post here: http://www.quiltingboard.com/tutorials-f10/super-fast-jelly-roll-quilt-t44258.html  I recommend you wade through it because there are a lot of nice examples. On page 7 is a picture tutorial and somewhere in there is a discussion of making different sizes and using different widths. She used to have a PDF printout for free but you could just print the first page. 

Anyways, I used my JoAnn's, 20 strip jelly roll to try this out. 

I wanted to also separate the strips by piecing squares in between them. I really like that look for this quilt so I chose a crazy scrap I had laying around and cut twenty 2 1/2 inch squares. The jelly roll had only ten different fabrics, 2 strips of each, so I pieced squares on one end of each strip.

I should clarify, you need to piece strips of the same print together on the 2 1/2 inch side to get the best distribution. They're more likely to land next to each other if they are drawn at random. I don't know why, that's just the directions. You also have to cut about 18-20 inches off the beginning so that it doesn't all line up. Both of these steps help a lot to make it scrappy looking.

I don't have pictures but you can check out this video on YouTube by the Missouri Quilt Co. Basically you keep joining the ends together and sew down the long side.

The first seam took forever and felt so long! It wasn't even the full length. I don't have pictures but you can imagine. Have plenty of bobbins ready before you start. I didn't have time to do it all at once, despite the name.  This picture is at sewing the third seam.

Mine came out nice and even at the end. I just lined up the outer edge and ran my fingernail along it to make a crease while it was still under the needle. Then I cut along the crease.

Since this strip was half the length, I met the ends together to see which side I wanted to sew on to get a bit better color next to each other. I chose the right side on this last seam because I didn't want the aqua next to the fuchsia because its too strong of a combination.

This finished at 33" x 54" after 5 seams. It would make a nice crib size. I love how the squares are randomly distributed.

The sewing was too easy. I kept letting the seam allowance wander but in the end you just press the seams to one side so they all even out. It's not great quality fabric and I don't know anyone with a baby so, I cut it in half and sewed it into a bathmat.

I laid an old big microfiber cloth on the wrong side, folded it right sides together and stitched it up leaving a small opening (too small, I ripped some stitches @_@) I turned it right side out and topstitched all the way around.

I made this one as a trial sample before using my strips from Connecting Threads' Urban Odyssey line to make the real thing. I bought all the fabric for the top on sale for under $20! I can't beat that with a stick!

Looking at my pictures, I see I really need to do something about that unfinished tabletop. It's kind of driving me nuts.

Fabric Postcards received group #1

(If you're here from Sew Many Ways FAFF, welcome! If you want to follow me, I'll follow you back.)

I received three postcards from my swap. 

These are so awesome! I used clips to attach them to my design wall next to my machine right away. I think I'm going to hang a ribbon bunting to pin these onto. I've got these cute mini plastic clothespins I bought ages ago to hang them with. The pretty pink and green one with the embroidery came all the way from Australia! I'm really excited about these and about making more for the next swap.

Fabric postcards #2 & #3 (post #2)

(If you're here from Sew Many Ways FAFF, welcome! If you want to follow me, I'll follow you back.)
 
So with my top done I decided to use flannel for the batting this time. I basted it on with good old Aquanet hairspray, unscented.

I then quilted each hexagon in a different motif. I just made some up while others were inspired by free motion quilt-a-longs online.

Then came the hard part, cutting it in half to get two postcards.

 This was pretty tough. I realized I should have made it longer in the middle than the ends. I cut it fairly close.

I first drew on a 4" x 6" rectangle to get the best parts in then I trimmed them up. Since I'm new to this, I experimented on the finishing by doing binding on one. I made it with my 1/2 inch single fold bias tape maker. I pinned it around the edge and stitched it on by machine through all the layers. The other one was finished with a zigzag stitch around the edges. I liked both finishes but the stitching was way easier!

Here's the backs.

I like the lack of stitch in the ditch with these. I made envelopes to send them out in but I can't find the pictures of them. I learned a lot with these little experiments. I'm actually thinking of doing a large hexagon quilt with the larger template from my set. I enjoyed doing them and I hope to participate in another. I think I'll probably make more just to try new techniques out and not just for swaps.

Fabric postcards #2 & #3 (post #1)

I sent out my fabric postcards last week for the swap. I made two more for a total of three so I should get three back.

I used these postcards to try out a no mark method of sewing hexagons together that Jacquie over at Tallgrass Prairie Studio posted.

It made sewing hexagons super simple and fast. I started with my Bits & Bobbins scraps and cut some hexagons with the small hex template from Marti Michell. I used set H template 52a which makes a 1.5 inch finished hexagon. 

First I sewed a strip of them straight across. This actually already has two strips pieced together and I'm in the middle of the third but the idea is the same.

The previous stitching lines make the 1/4 inch from the end marks, as long as they are accurate.

You're basically stitching the seams in order starting on the side touching the previous piecing on the top or left then to the next counter-clockwise until it's attached. Above, the light blue one is stitched across the top from the stitch line on the inside to the end on the outside.

The very light hexagon is folded in half so the seam with the light blue and salmon hexagon can be pinned together and stitched. I stitched it with the salmon one on top so I could use the stitched lines as a guide to see where I need to start and stop.

Second seam done and onto the light blue & dark blue seam.

This time the salmon one is folded back to make the seams line up. It can also be stitched to the end.

One more hexagon to add to finish the patchwork. I pinned this one on really well to make sure it lined up right.

This is my practice pieced top. Even though my 1/4 inch SA wasn't the best at first, it still came out really good and quicker than having to mark those points. Check out the link, she might explain it better but I really had fun with this. 

I think this is enough pictures so I'll finish up the process of completing the postcards in the next post.