A Finally Finish: The June Quilt

Last year, I participated in Crazy Mom's June QAL and I finished the top in July (you can read about it here) and has sat in the studio waiting to be quilted.  It was on my Quilty Confessions, UFO Busting List which I have to admit this list has been put on the wayside along with some of the other lists I made for 2018.  Even though the June quilt would have been perfect to finally finish in June, I still hadn't plan to quilt it until I happened to come across a photo of the top on my Pinterest board this past Tuesday.  My eyes immediately saw the quilting lines, just simple diagonal and horizontal grid lines and I was suddenly in the mood to start machine quilting.  It also helped that we were experiencing days of heavy rain which is perfect quilting weather for me.  So, with less than ten days left in June, my June Quilt was rightfully and finally finished during her namesake month.

The machine quilting was an absolute breeze and made me wonder why I waited so long.  But it's a good thing I did because I only started machine quilting the Jacqui Gering and Christa Watson method of starting the quilting on the side rather than the center.  In the past when I did grid quilting and started in the center, there was always the inevitable puckering and pinches when quilt lines intersected and for some reason when you start the quilting on the side, this doesn't happen.

I chose to use black thread for the quilting which went well with both the top and the perfect backing which I love.  Last year when I was on my fabric diet and  really didn't want to purchase any new fabric, I did break down to buy more of this fabric since I didn't have enough of it and didn't have any other fabric in my stash which would work as well as this print did.

The binding was done with the happy green polka dot fabric which is the same print Crazy Mom (Amanda Nyberg) used in her June Quilt in her book No Scraps Left Behind and was generously given to me by my good quilt friend Mary Etherington who got me involved in participating in the June QAL.  I normally don't machine bind quilts which are for me but I had to so I can show off the black thread some more.  

And now for some glamour shots which were taken on Saturday, our first day of sunshine and no rain.  The grass was so soggy and there was no way I was going to lay it down so I thought I would use my cute bicycle as a prop to hold the quilt.  It's sad to admit that I don't ride this bike which was a birthday gift from my hubby two years ago.  Three years ago, he gave me a choice of either a new sewing machine or a bicycle and it should be no surprise my Juki 2010Q came home.  The next year, I had no choice and I found this bicycle waiting for me on the front lawn.  Her name is Banana and it has some really pretty patchwork details on the frame which still doesn't inspire me to ride it.  My old legs need a bicycle with gears since we live in a hilly area and the cruiser is only good for level roads (at least this is what I tell Hubby).  I thought my vintage looking quilt would look pretty with my vintage looking bike; they go together, don't you think.

And another photo with my metal farm animals.  I've been wanting to use my metal goat, which I purchased when I was in South Carolina in April, for a photo shoot with one of my quilts and I thought my June Quilt which also has a farm vibe would look good with it.  I haven't named my goat yet but Mary Etherington suggested Susannah which is the name of her dearly loved and departed goat which when she was alive was how Mary and I became friends since I was such a fan of Susannah.  My hubby still talks about the time Susannah butted him and is just glad that this goat won't, so he thinks.  Since Mary did give me the happy green polka dot fabric, I should name my goat Susannah.  I also think since I have some blocks left over from the June Quilt, I should make a small quilt to place over her back and sides; won't that look cute?  I would love to keep my goat out on the front porch, decorated with quilts and all, but hubby is afraid of it disappearing because Susannah is just that cute.

I'm so glad I finally have a UFO quilt to cross off my list; would you believe it's only my second UFO finish for this year.  I have ten more on my list but won't be working on anymore for the rest of the month since my dear, sweet granddaughter, Micah, is arriving next week for a six-day visit which means there is no chance of quilting in the forecast.

Linking up with:  Tish Adventure in Wonderland, UFO Busting, Cooking Up Quilts, Main Crush Monday, Quilting is More Fun Than Housework, Oh Scrap!, My Quilt Infatuation, Needle and Thread Thursday and Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Can I Get A Whoop Whoop Friday 

Kaffe Fassett Stripe Quilt: Another Ernie Quilt Finally Finished

It's been awhile since I've made an Ernie Quilt and it's one of my favorite patterns because I just love making quilts with 2.5" strips.  I've had the Kaffe Fassett Shot Cotton and Woven Stripes strips die-cut and ready to sew since last year and finally had the opportunity to make this quilt since buying my new, sweet, very portable Juki HZL-70 HWA sewing machine which meant I am now able to sew in the kitchen while watching TV, a cause for much of my quilting downtime.

I posted several times about Ernie quilts HERE, THERE and IN BETWEEN.

While my Postcard from Sweden Quilt was being made, (you can read about it here), I started working on the Kaffe Stripe Quilt because I was loving the Shot Cottons and knew I had this project on the back burner--talk about constant Kaffe.  I consider this to be a DREAMi project and finally have something to cross out from one of my project lists I made too many of for this year.

I have to show you my "No Rose, You Didn't" backing for this quilt.  I do not like making pieced backings. To me it's just like making another quilt top and when I'm in a hurry to finish a quilt, I don't want to sew another quilt top.  I have a pile of quilt tops laying around in my studio and I knew laying in the pile was an 84" square top made from big patches of Kaffe fabric which may have been a modified Turning Twenty pattern, a pattern when it was first released, I couldn't stop making them.  It took me a couple of hours to remove some of the rows of this quilt top so I could use it for the backing since I really didn't have anything else in my stash vault that would be as neat as this quilt top was and besides I've come down with a slight case of not wanting to buy any new fabric (I hope this "virus" goes away real soon). Who knew five years ago I was making a future quilt backing when I made this top.  I just love the big purple cabbages. I'm thinking I may have made several quilt backings already and may be making more now without knowing it.

I don't usually talk about the color thread I use for machine quilting because I not very good at choosing a color and I mostly quilt with a light gray.  I knew gray wasn't going to work well with this quilt and luckily I had in my Connecting Threads Essential Thread stash (no affiliate link here) a spool of the Fawn thread which is an apricot beige thread which worked very well with blending in with the many colors in this quilt.  I am loving the quilting which sewed like butter on my Juki 2010Q and I could have finished the quilting in one sitting if I didn't have to go to bed at 3am in the morning--I didn't want to stop.  The quilt is bound with a solid Chartreuse Shot Cotton which was the only solid color that I had enough for the binding and fortunately worked very well.

I was really hoping to take a perfect photo of my Kaffe Fassett Stripe Quilt while in Myrtle Beach; one with it laying on the sand, sunset on the sea with a whale breaching in the background, perfectly centered on the horizon (just for Sandra) but it was not to be had--the wind was something fierce--20 to 30 mph.  It wasn't fun for the Master Quilt Holder on the balcony nor could the quilt stay on the railing at the beach. The best photos were taken either in the elevator lobby or inside the condo where we were staying.  Plus, there was no way I was going to lay it on the sand since I had visions of it parasailing over the Atlantic Ocean and onto the whale's back (again this vision prompted by Sandra's request and maybe to make it a tale, Louise (Quilt Odyssey) will rescue it during her sea travels).

I had planned to sew the binding while traveling to Myrtle Beach, but I ended up finally finishing the quilt right before we left (I'm beginning to like the look of machine sewn binding).  I definitely wanted to take photos of this quilt and my Postcard from Sweden Quilt here in warm, sunny weather since we're experiencing far too little of it in the Midwest as you can see from this photo taken on a snowy Sunday, the day before we left.  I really put the Master Quilt Holder to the test when I kept repeating to make sure the quilt does not touch the ground and get wet.  He did a practice stoop down before we went outside.  I think the quilt photographed better in Myrtle Beach, despite the wind, don't you agree?

I do hope you check out the links for the Ernie Quilts, especially the first one since it's about my dear friend Mary Etherington who started me on my Ernie adventures.  Like the old commercial saying goes "Try It, You'll Like It!".

Hubby and I will be traveling back home this Friday and look what awaits me when I return, my Dot Dot Dash blocks from Christa Watson's Piece and Quilt with Precuts book which were made during upstairs sewing time with my sweet little Juki. Also, Sandra of mmm! Quilts will be starting her Second Annual Quilt Along: Adult Plus Playtime Quilt, (you can read about it here) on April 24th. I had a fun time doing her Free Fall QAL last year and this year's pattern is not going to disappoint since I'll be using some of my Alison Glass Chroma fabrics. I'm looking forward to getting back into the groove since there's not much sewing happening in Myrtle Beach because I wanted to give my hands some rest.

And one more thing, this Sunday, April 22nd, I'll be posting my project for the 30 Quilt Block in 30 Days Blog Hop so I hope you'll check it out. (you can see it here)

Linking up with:  My Quilt Infatuation, Needle and Thread Thursday,  Crazy Mom Quilts, Finish It Up Friday, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Can I Get a Whoop Whoop Friday, Busy Hands Quilts, Finish or Not Friday

Throwback Thursday: My 21st Century Bulls-eye Quilt

Sandra of mmm! Quilts is hosting or as she is calling it "babysitting" the Throwback Thursday Linky Party which I am happy to be participating for the very first time. I've only been blogging since October, 2016 and may have come across a few posts while scrolling through Blogland but may not have know what this linky party was all about until I read Sandra's posts (you can read about it here) and (here) and thought that this something I could do. After all, one of the reasons why I started blogging was so I could better explain some of my quilts which I couldn't do on Pinterest nor Facebook.  I've been quilting for over twenty years and some of my quilts were made with stories. The quilt I thought I share my first story on Throwback Thursday is my 21st Century Bulls-eye Quilt.

There's a number of reasons why I thought this quilt would make a good story because it was started at almost the end of the 20th Century (1999) and finished right at the almost beginning of the 21st Century (2000) and was made by three quilting friends and myself which at that time we didn't realize this was a QAL.  We were inspired by the cover quilt on the book Quilts by Aunt Amy written by Mary Etherington and Connie Tesene whom I now know personally and I've done some QALs and fabric exchanges, willing and unwilling with them.

At this time, we're talking traditional quilting being the way norm, the Bulls-Eye quilt was so "radical" (I don't think the word "modern" was used then) with the raw edge appliqué and the wonkiness (and I also think "improv" wasn't used too) of the circles, cut freehand not matching up.  I loved this quilt as soon as I saw it and appealed to me as the failed appliquér and somewhat a rebel because I didn't prewash my fabrics.  So, the four of us came up with some ground rules once we decided we wanted to make this quilt and to the best of my recollection this is what we did:

• we had a fabric exchange party when we swapped squares of light and printed fabrics in a certain size of what we considered "ugly" fabrics which were the calicos, florals, reproductions and the "inexpensive" which also meant no new fabric was suppose to be bought; we had to use stash-- sort of ahead of our quilt time, weren't we?
• the circles were precut and the different sizes were placed in separate bags and you had to use the one pulled and the only time you could put it back was if it was the same color as the previous circle--fun, right?
• we agreed that the circles would be sewn with a running stitch and not a fancy stitch like a zig-zag, etc; after all speed was part of the plan
• we exchanged quarter circle blocks within a certain time frame so the Bulls-eye blocks could be made 

I thought I add a little tidbit about what happened after we exchanged the quarter circle blocks is that the one who complained the most about making this quilt was the first one to complete her top and another one who thought she would be the second one to be done was overtaken by me who rounded the corner and beat her to the finish line.  To this day, these two are still my dearest peeps and we still get together but not very often does it involve quilting.

Here are some close-ups where you can get a better look at the wonderful wonkiness and "ugly" but interesting fabrics used in making the Bulls-eye blocks.  Part of the fun in making this quilt was that the edges of the circles would fray after washing and as you can see, I never washed it because this quilt is a permanent fixture on my quilting rack and doesn't get used.  My quilt was sent to a longarm quilter who was just starting her business and she quilted it with wonderful swirls.  She did mention that the quilting wasn't easy because the edges of the circles would flip over and she would have to pin them down.  I worked with her then at the quilt shop and she may have sent me some daggers with her eyes. I think she may have said she never wanted to quilt another Bulls-eye quilt which may have been hard for her to refuse because these quilts were getting popular to make.

My 21st Century Bulls-eye Quilt is one of the very few quilts I made that I've labeled and the reason for doing this, remember this was made during traditional quilt time and there was a lot of talk about preserving our quilt history,  I envisioned this quilt being one of few of mine which survived in the far future and possibly people wondering what was I thinking when this quilt was made.  I figured I save them some research time and also to let them know I wasn't crazy then when this quilt was made.  Sorry, I blocked out the names of the other quilters in order to protect their sanity.  Looking back now with the modern quilt techniques well into place, this quilt really doesn't need any explanation (modern versions of this quilt are being made) except maybe for the fabrics which are so yesterday, but  I might add, I still love looking at them.

Around ten years after the first Bulls-eye quilt was made, I made a second one with the leftovers from the first one and additional "ugly" fabrics accumulated since then as part of a UFO Challenge which Mary and Connie hosted in 2012 or 2013.  I might mention, making a Bulls-eye quilt is like starter dough for a friendship cake, the circles you cut just keep on going, you'll understand once you know the construction method. The second quilt, laying on the chair, is still not finished and I've been tempted to finished it with simple quilting in the ditch.  It would be too funny if I happened to find the longarm quilter who quilted the first one and jokingly ask her if she would be willing to quilt the second one for me--funny, but not nice.

The 21st Century Bulls-eye Quilt was really a lot of fun to make and it is a great way to use up the stash.  I'm thinking I could make one with "modern" fabrics against gray and low volume fabrics since I've built up quite a stash of these fabrics now.  This definitely would make a great DREAMi project.

To paraphrase a line from the 50's TV Series "Naked City", there are eight million quilt stories out there, this has been one of them.  I'll be linking up with Sandra and hopefully you will join in the Throwback Linky party with one of your stories.

It's the Ernie Interruptus Quilt's Turn To Be Finally Finished

I made and finished this quilt while I was waiting for the birth of my first granddaughter, Micah in March, and previously posted about the inspiration, stats and the thinking behind the making of this quilt, you can read the post here.  It only took me four months to finally quilt it and I was probably working off the adrenalin from quilting the Dear Tula Pink quilt last week.

I backed this Ernie Quilt with some of the few remaining yardage I have of the Ikea Nummer fabric which I dearly love and only use it for my modern quilts which are Nummer worthy.  If I could be granted one quilting wish, it would be for Ikea to bring back this fabric because it is so perfect for backings.  As you can see, I did straight line quilting along each strip row with intermittent diagonal quilting. The quilt feels so nice and soft.

This is the fourth quilt in the Ernie Quilt series I made which was inspired by Mr. Quilt Muse himself, Ernie Jo Mauer, the American Farm Tiger owned by Mary Etherington, Country Threads, who also made the first Ernie quilt, you can read the post here.  The Ernie Quilts are strip blocks made with 2.5" strips which can be made any size depending on the fabric or jelly roll you may have.  This is one of my favorite patterns since I can use my die-cutter to make the strips and also a great way to use up stash and scraps.

These are the other three "Ernie" quilts I've made and you can see this pattern is so versatile and can be made with modern, traditional, reproduction, etc. fabrics.   I have other "Ernie" quilts lined up to make which I can't wait to make--I have some new Cotton+Steel prints in my stash--whoo-hoo!

I'll wait until the next post to give an update to my Minus 100 yards Challenge. I thought I finally stopped shopping but then Crazy Mom's new fabric line "Emma & Myrtle" came out and I had to buy the four yards I just had to have now which should be arriving soon.  Hopefully I can get some quilt tops done to reduce the stash down before then.

Linking up with:

My Quilt Infatuation: Needle and Thread Thursday

Confessions of a Fabric Addict:  Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?
Busy Hands Quilts:  Finish Or Not Friday
Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework: Oh Scrap
Main Crush Monday

Week Days with Ernie & Friends

I'm back from Garner, IA after just spending over a little over 24 hours with Mary & Connie and Gang for a little bit of sewing, a lot of talking, laughing, eating, fabric exchanging and getting over- stimulated with new ideas and projects.  You can see our activities on Mary's blog here:  Country Threads Chicken Scratch.

 I thought I do a quick post of the photos I took that aren't on Mary's blog.

Here I am with my quilt muse, Ernie Joe Mauer, the inspiration for the Ernie Quilts.  Boy, is he one big, heavy dude!  And yes, he blessed the Ernie II quilt, although I had to bribe him. The visit would not have been complete without feeding Emma and Charlene.

We took a quick visit/tour of Connie's studio.  Both Connie and Mary have studios to die for, a separate space from their house.  Connie lives in the city proper and her studio is above the garage. (BTW, I am not the best photographer when I'm excited, so I apologize for the lighting, shadows, etc., plus I really need a new iPhone.)

This is the stairway leading up to Connie's studio and photos of some of her creations she has in her wonderful space.  I wish I took more photos since her walls were filled like a gallery.

I'm sorry that I didn't take photos of her actual studio because by that time I was over-stimulated with all of the visual yummies and projects she had going.  You have to believe me when I say her space was wonderful; there was even a full bathroom!

Here's the group project which Connie has put together for us: Red Pepper Quilts Pickle Dish Variation Quilt.  On a side note, Mary and I decided that Connie couldn't propose one until she completes one of the projects we did as a group, i.e., Gypsy Wife, rug, etc. but somehow she managed to slip a few in like the Wildflowers.  I was open to doing this because I know I can die-cut the pieces and it is a great pattern for the modern fabrics.

And look at the portfolio/envelope she is making with Kraft-tex, something I never knew about and have to check this out because next to fabric, I like paper and boxes.  I have some little orphan blocks that would work with this idea.  And Kraft-tex comes in different colors too.

In between all of this, we ate out at Matt's and the Pizza Ranch, stayed at the Garner Inn which was very nice, did a quick visit at Farm Chicks Quilts,  I really needed to stay longer. But when you have dogs and a son who could only dog sit for only a day,  Bill and I had to go home.  BTW, while I was sewing, Bill did a bike ride on the Trolley Trail in Clear Lake, drove by the Surf Ballroom which unfortunately was closed, had a guitar sing along with Becky and visited with Rick.

I have to admit I almost changed my mind about coming to visit with what happened this week but decided to Sew Forth.  Even though I have my differences with Connie and Mary, most notably, I like to die-cut and they don't, Connie likes appliqué, paper-piecing and small pieces while I like the big patches and Mary and I do crazy while Connie is the sane one, I am glad for this time we had together.  Sometimes you have to disconnect from the big world and connect with your small circle where differences aren't as bad as they seem. WE bring good things to life.  I know when I resume working on the Marcia Derse Alphabet panel and fabrics, my original thought of just using her fabrics have changed to Mary's & Connie's rule of never using just one designer's fabric but using others to make it your own.

 If I ever run away from home, you know where I will be.  Here's to good sewing friends to make life happy and bright!

My Ernie Journey

My friend, Mary Etherington, owner of Country Threads, Garner, IA, a wonderful quilt shop which is now closed and who blogs under Country Threads Chicken Scratch made this wonderful quilt using a Denyse Schmitz jelly roll plus some extra strips.  We called it the Ernie Quilt because of the backing fabric that I gave her which I purchased from Ikea and has orange cat heads which reminded me of her orange tabby Ernie Joe Mauer.  

This is Mary’s first Ernie Quilt.

Mary also made another Ernie quilting using strips from men dress shirts and it's beautiful.

What I like about these quilts is the versatility of this pattern, you can use any size strips and the blocks can be any size you want.  You're not tied down to using a jelly roll especially when you have a die-cutter and can die-cut your own 2.5" strips.  Also, I like that Mary off-set the blocks which really makes her quilts interesting and unique.

Well, I had to make a Ernie quilt too-- mine was made with a combination of a Jen Kingwell's Behind the Scenes jelly roll and yardage of her Little Lollies fabric line which determined the size of my blocks, 4" x 8" (finished).  My quilt is 56" x 72", 14 blocks across and 9 blocks down and I did not offset the blocks which wanted to but didn't look right to me, I'm thinking my prints weren't bold enough.  Even though I had yardage of the Ernie fabric I did not back my quilt with it because I had yardage of Jen Kingwell's Gardenvale fabric which I accidentally purchased.  The story behind this purchase was I made a Gypsy Wife quilt and bought this fabric for the backing forgetting that I did not make this quilt with any Gardenvale fabric in it--so this was a very good opportunity to make up for my whoops.

My journey with this quilt was in the machine quilting, a three-day journey.  I originally wanted to do straight-line quilting horizontally but my Juki 2010Q would not co-operate so I had to remove 10 lines of stitching.  When this happens, I tend to spend some time on the Internet looking at Long Arm Quilting Machines and Frames but reality sets in and I go back to quilting.  I decided to switch to doing vertical straight lines and after doing the first line in the ditch, 72 inches long, I wanted to change it to 1/2" from the seam line--so another round with the seam ripper.  I love my Juki 2010Q and only have a problem when it comes to straight-line quilting that is less than 1" apart; my quilt lines were approximately 3/4" done organically which means I couldn't see the lines I made with the hera marker very well.  For this quilt, I tried spray basting for the first time and pin baste in certain spots but still was experiencing shifting which leads to tucks but not so much as previous quilts.  I really was expecting that I would not like the quilting but in the end it turned out okay.  As well as the look of straight-line quilting, I love the feel of it.  I was happy to find in my stash a 1/2 yard piece of a micro-stripe black and white made by Windham Fabrics for the binding which was so nice to hand sew since it was a lighter weight.

So I'm ready to make another Ernie Quilt, a.k.a., Ernie II using some wonderful colors of twill and dyed homespun and cottons; this time I will back it with the Ernie fabric.  My blocks will also be larger, 8"x 12" (finished).

This pattern is so addicting, I know two of my quilting friends who plan or have already made Ernie Quilts when they saw Mary's quilt.  My friend, Carol, who is known never to follow a pattern completely, made one and here is her interpretation.  What's so funny about this is I want to make one like this now since I have a beautiful Jinny Beyer fabric and greens which Carol has given me over the past few years.  Carol thought I threw her under the bus when I showed Mary her quilt so as a form of punishment she bought me three yards of Lotta Jansdotter fabric which could be called Ernie, Jr. fabric.

I guess this means there will be an Ernie III quilt.