A Jimminy Gemini Quilter Month

I realized after finishing these three quilts above that my “twinning or dual finishes continued after I posted JEN-mini June. In Basketball, this would be called a Triple Double but for me I’m calling it a Jimminy Gemini Quilter Month which I will show you after I explain the makings of these three quilts.

The one project I had to finish this month was for the 2023/24 CT Dirty Dozen UFO Challenge,The Neighborhood Quilt with the fabric designed with the same name by Monica Lee for Timeless Treasure. I wish fabric manufacturers would include the year when the fabric is printed on the selvedge but then maybe not everyone wants to know how long the fabric(s) have been sitting in their stash.

The fabrics for The Neighborhood project have been cut, labeled and ready to sew for what seemed like forever and was finally listed for the Challenge. Fortunately the project contents included a diagram of this simple pattern which used 5” and 10” cuts. This is another perfect pattern if you have a charm pack and yardage of a fabric collection. I could kick myself for waiting so long to finish it because it’s  so cute.

I did meander machine quilting, 2” apart, in a Silver Aurifil thread. The Neighborhood measures 40”x45” and backing was made from a WOF piece from the Blue Focus print.

Since The Neighborhood quilt was such a quick finish and there was still time left in June, I decided to machine quilt the Vroom Flimsy, made in 2022,with another Monica Lee fabric line called Now We’re Going Places, The thought was I couldn’t finish The Neighborhood Quilt without finishing Vroom and I do like my dual finishes.

I remember buying five one-half yard cuts of five of the prints and one yard of the stripe which was enough to make this rail fence pattern with 5-1/2” strips. These prints were fun and summery so I wanted this to be a picnic quilt measuring 60” square. The backing was a Robert Kaufman/Patty Young Basic print from my stash and was perfect. I did a combination of straight line quilting along the strip edges with meandering in between in a Silver Aurifil thread. Again, this was a fast finish and I still had time to finish a flimsy just made but a DrEAMi took its place.

After presenting my MMMagical Stars Quilt for mmmquilt’s Luminous Layers QAL back on June 15th, I wanted to make another one but this one being called Luminous Layers Lite (L3) because the center star is just a simple 16” Sawtooth Star. In the original pattern, the center is a 16” block with five four-inch finished Sawtooth Star and was a piecing marvel. I was inspired to do this after seeing Wendy/Pieceful Thoughts Luminous Layers Quilt who got the idea from Joyfully Tracie which she used a novelty print for the large background and I thought this would be a perfect pattern for a baby playmat but with a plain Sawtooth Star the center because we don’t want baby spitting up on the beautiful five star block, do we now, and shared this idea with Sandra during a fun FaceTime call. 

I wanted to use Benartex Baby Genius fabrics which has been in my stash for many years and last used for a darling Granddaughter quilt in 2017–got to love the bright colors and prints designed to stimulate the baby’s mind. I planned to do straight line grid quilting only along the 8” blocks/squares so I chose to use fleece instead of batting. The 60” backing was an IKEA print no longer made and once again I am wishing they would come back with the sheeting fabric line which is perfect for backing.

Using fleece instead of batting makes L3 very soft and snuggly and washes very well as I have done this before. Since it is polyester, I used a ballpoint needle for jersey fabrics and a silver polyester thread; the playmat lays nice and flat. I can’t say enough how fast L3 was made and could be finished in a day.

And here’s a collage of the Triple Double or Twin Quilts for June: Two Jen Kingwell, Two Monica Lee and Two MMMquilt Luminous Layers Quilts. I think these six finishes are enough for  Gemini June, don’t you think? I am tired and so is the Master Quilt Holder.

While I’m on the subject Gemini, the month of Twins, I thought this would be a good segue to respond to Kathleen McMusing’s  comment about my JEN-mini quilts and that I had a Jen Kingwell obsession (which made me shiver from that very thought) with if I had a Quilt Twin, she would be my Good Quilt Friend Carol whom I’ve mentioned many times in past Posts. We worked together at the quilt shop over twenty-years ago, shared love for the same fabrics, laughs and life. She’s also the reason why I used to have a nice stash of Jinny Breyer fabrics and most importantly Carol can vouch that Amy Butler once gave me a pattern.  While pondering the Jen Kingwell obsession comment, I realized I made them mainly because Carol wanted to make them which is why I made Smitten, Wensleydale and Glitter. Gypsy Wife and Flutterby had a Country Threads connection but again was made because someone else was making it first. I said it before that good quilt friends do not let their quilt friends sew Jen Kingwell patterns alone. When I had finished the two Jen Kingwell quilts and wanted to make another JK pattern, I felt that there was a “pull” to do so.  Before this Post, I called Carol since we haven't spoken for a few months and found out that she already ordered JK’s Shooting Star foundation paper, the same pattern I chose to make. We have good “ESPN” with each other. She also gave me a slight dig when she mentioned that she had handquilted her Wensleydale quilt but then again she may have only made twelve blocks. Also during this conversation,  I found out that Carol never made Gypsy Wife and I’m pretty sure she was one of the reasons why I made this quilt. So, I don’t have a Jen Kingwell obsession, just a Quilt Twin who I quilthike with when a JK pattern is involved.

We’ll be heading out to the GP House in a few days and there will be no more quilting. I need to tidy up my studio. My plan is to tally my finishes for the CT Dirty Dozen UFO Challenge and finalized my project list for 2024/25. Mary Etherington mentioned that she is planning to do something different this time and hope this won’t affect any of the 65 projects I have planned.

Linking up with My Quilt Infatuation/NTT