The Ernie Express Quilt, Etc.

It isn’t very often when after a quilt is a finally finished that the weather is co-operative for taking photos outside. This past Tuesday was one of these rare occasions with beautiful sunny skies, warm temperatures with a slight breeze and the landscaping around our house looking presentable thanks to the Master Quilt Holder which made taking photos such a pleasure for once. 

Last August, I purchased a fat quarter bundle of Jen Kingwell Grainline Wovens with the intention of making another Ernie Quilt (You can see the previous ones make here) with this and  my stash of Jen Kingwell fabric scraps. After my strips were cut, combinations decided and strip sets sewn, the project was put away and sort of forgotten until I happened to come across it this past March.  

As I was ready to start cutting the strip sets to sew the 4”x8” blocks, I happened to catch with the corner of my eyes, the 6” Checkerboard Express block which I designed for Moda’s 2017 Countdown to Christmas, (You can see the tutorial here), hanging on the board next to my sewing machine. I thought that I could spice up the Ernie Block if I changed the orientation of the block and make the blocks 12” x 16”.

I also had another idea of instead of using just two fabrics, I would use four fabrics just like the original block I submitted to Moda. I decided that this block would be my “A” Blocks which would be the checkerboard blocks in the center and the rail blocks on the outside. Since I didn’t want all of the blocks to be “A” which then all of the checkerboard segments of the blocks would be lined up and running up and down the quilt, so to offset this, I designed a “B” block with the checkerboards on the outside and the rail block in the center and only using two fabrics. Because of this newly inspired design, I had to add some Cotton+Steel and other bright prints so there was enough fabric and variety for more strip sets.

After the Flimsie was finished earlier this month, I have to admit I was disappointed with the way it turned out. I liked how the “B” blocks with using just two fabrics looked and wished the “A” blocks only had two fabrics also. It’s rather ironic that after the Checkerboard Express Block with the four fabrics was accepted by Moda, I switched to just using two fabrics to keep it simple and because I liked it better--wished I remembered this when I started making this quilt.

But I’m happy to say that once I quilted it with a combination of straight and wavy lines, I really love this quilt now.  The colors and fabrics are so happy. I used an Essential Thread in Charcoal Gray and the binding was a small white polka dot on black print. Also what is nice about the Ernie Express Quilt is that it’s a finally finished but I am feeling a little guilty that I have 12+ flimsies waiting to be quilted and this one jumped ahead of the queue. Maybe it’s because I just purchased yardage of the black and white splatter print last week and knew it would be a perfect backing for the Ernie Express Quilt.

Here are some close-up shots of some of the blocks so you can see the quilting and the happy fabrics.

Before I quilted the Ernie Express Quilt, I was planning on making another one with using just two fabrics for the Type A and B Blocks with my newly acquired stash of Alison Glass fabrics but now am having second thoughts. I’m thinking now of just making just the usual Ernie Quilt unless I see another pattern for these wonderful prints. But if I do make another Ernie Express Quilt, I will provide instructions on how to make it since I’ve come up with a different and maybe a faster way to make the blocks. If the strip sets for this quilt weren’t already cut and sewn, I would have made it this way.

I thought it would be interesting to show a photo of my first Ernie quilt made over four years ago with Jen Kingwell fabrics next to the Ernie Express Quilt, so named since it was inspired by the Checkerboard Express block.

Here’s a photo of the happy Master Quilt Holder who was glad these photos went without a hitch. This quilt measures 60” x 80” which was just the right size to hang it on the garage door with heavy duty magnetic clips which I learned about these from Shannon, The Fleming Nines, who learned about them from Myra, Busy Hand Quilts. Between hanging long quilts from the garage door or from the gutter outside the screen room, I don’t think a clothesline is needed which makes the Master Quilt Holder very happpy.

I had to include a photo of the Ernie Express Quilt with my metal goat Susannah as a shoutout to Mary Etherington, Country Threads, the designer and inspiration for the Ernie Quilts.

Just when I’m thinking that my stash of Jen Kingwell fabrics is dwindling, I’ve decided that I need a new challenge, which didn’t involve falling down and bumping my head and making me forget I have a “fear of Jen Kingwell patterns.” Maybe it’s because of inspiration from my down under quiltTormentor Sue, Patchwork and Play and her wonderful creations she’s been posting lately on her Instagram and Blog.  I have a new “forever” project with Jen Kingwell’s Glitter pattern which I’ve been procrastinating doing since finishing Smitten several years ago. The templates were purchased back then and I admit I was not looking forward to cutting the fabric until I saw that paper pieces were available.  I originally was going to use reproduction fabrics but decided that I needed more Jen Kingwell fabrics so I purchased a fat quarter bundle of WikiPops and a jelly roll of Fine and Sunny, my early Mother’s Day present. Cutting the fabric pieces will be easy with the templates and using 2-1/2” strips, which I am looking forward to cutting up my new stash. I think there might be leftovers and another Ernie quilt would need to be made which now seems to be a tradition.

My first four blocks for the Sandra, mmmquilts, Follow Your Own Path QAL, are sewn and I am happy to say these blocks were a snap to make which is no surprise. After participating in all five of Sandra’s QAL, her patterns are fun, sew easy and quite conducive to wanting to finish the quilts all at once.  I am quite surprised at myself for sewing on schedule and not being the usual “rebel”in her QAL. But I do have a new name for her; the great mmm-tivator. Funny I had visions of Darth Vader and hearing the Empire music as I was typing this.

Thanks to my Accuquilt Go Baby die cutter and Flying Geese die along with my Stripology Ruler and a brand new blade on my rotary cutter, the remaining patches are cut and I am ready to sew the rest of the blocks.  My quilt will be the throw size and my arrows will be going both left and right. But before that, the dreaded Tax Returns must be filed first.

If you have been reading other posts on Blogger, you will know that starting in July, Feedburner will no longer be sending posts through email but you could continue seeing posts through Bloglovin which is a problem for me since my posts are no longer being picked up by them. I’ve contacted them several times and have not yet received a response. For several years I’ve been avoiding link-ups since it seem to be atttracting “strange” activities on my blog but I guess I will start doing link-ups again. Hopefully I can resolve my Bloglovin issues before July.

Linking up with My Quilt Infatuation, Needle and Thread Thursday and From Bolt to Beauty, Brag About Your Beauties.

Slow Stitching, Scraps and Small Quilts

I had mentioned in my previous posts of being inspired by the many posts from other quilters who shared their Kawandi, Kantha,  Boro, Sashiko, etc. quilts and since then have learned of Chiku Chiku stitching. You can find wonderful examples of these techniques on Pinterest. All of this to me translates to big stitching which I’ve been happily doing for the past months in between visits to the Grandparent house and during downtime (watching TV) when I am home. I thought I would share the projects I have been working on or have completed.

Although I liked the techniques behind the Kawandi, Kantha and Sashiko patchwork quilts, I thought I would work on the patchwork blocks, which were scraps I hand sewn to batting squares while traveling to Yellowstone in September of 2017 which you can read about it in this Post.

My original plan for these blocks were to either make coasters or pincushions and since there were around nineteen squares sewn, I thought I didn’t have a need to make that many of them.

After I trimmed them, there were at least twelve of them which were 6” square and thought I could make two rectangular quilts or placemats.

Before the backing was added, I did big stitch hand quilting with #10 white crochet thread.  I got this idea from BanjoFlannel Method of Patchwork Sashiko.  The rows were spaced 1/2” apart and after I quilted four rows, I skipped a row. After I was done big stitching, I then added the backing and machine quilted the binding. You can see in the photo above, the 1” spacing between the four rows.

The reason for skipping a row was that once the backing was added, I then quilted this row, which there were three, and I consider them to be the “tacking” row” since their purpose to hold the backing. This is something I learned from making several quilts with the  Quilt As You Go method, and that is, since the top and batting are quilted together and once the backing is added you only need to quilt it at certain intervals to keep the layers together.  I liked how these turned out and after all of the big stitching I did I don’t want to use them for placemat since I can’t bear to see them getting stained.

I’m really liking the big stitch hand quilting and used it for this small wall hanging which had been a flimsie for over ten years.  I did do some machine quilting in the ditch before hand quilting the three layers.  I will say big stitch quilting is much easier when only the top and batting is involved. This small quilt is what call my Patchbox Quilts which I someday need to write a Post about my idea behind these small quilts.

It’s funny that I went into 2021 subconsciously wanting to start making small quilts which is what I’ve been doing when I’m at the Grandparent House which is much easier to make than a large quilt. The quilts on the bottom of each row are ones made from patchwork blocks with batting and ready for big stitching and the others are machine piece and waiting to be machine quilted with some big stitching accents

Here’s another one I’ve been working on where I machine pieced scraps onto a piece of batting and did various stitches with #8 Perle Cotton which I love.  I left some areas unquilted and once I add the backing, I’ll add the “tacking” stitches. What I like about these projects is that I have several of them going on at once and I can switch between them when I get tired of working on one of them.

I now have assembled a project box containing patchwork blocks, batting squares and scraps which is ready to take when traveling between the two homes. The tools and notions are kept in a separate pouch. This is really a nice, portable project and a great way to use up the scraps that just keep on multiplying.

And here’s another small quilt just finally finished which is my #2 of Country Threads Dirty Dozen UFO Challenge.  The top was finished in 2017, coincidentally the same time when the beforementioned Patchwork Blocks were first sewn.  This quilt measures 25” x 33” and is a combination of wool circles and squares made from Thimbleberries fabric.  This idea for this quilt was inspired by one I saw on Pinterest from orangesink blogspot and this is the second one I made based on this pattern.  When the Dirty Dozen UFO Challenge started last year in July, this is the one I really wanted to finish sooner than later since I  have a spot for it at the Grandparent House.

We’re leaving for the Grandparent House tomorrow for a four-day visit and upon my return, I’ll be setting aside my Slow Stitching projects for some serious sewing— Sandra of mmm quilts’ Follow Your Own Path QAL which according to me is the sixth QAL of hers which I have participated. More importantly, this is the fifth year I will be celebrating a Famous Canadian’s birthday and I’m thinking a special commemorative T-shirt needs to be designed. My fabrics have been chosen and surprisingly I have not yet started nor plan on doing any deviations.

Today would be a great day for stitching but sadly doing the Taxes are yelling at me.