It's a Week to Celebrate

A quilt that is finally finished is a cause for celebration for me and this one is no different. It's the middle of June and hard to believe that the year is almost half over.  In looking at my project list, I haven't been too productive in getting some UFO's quilted so I wanted to make sure I got one quilt done this week before the start of our week of celebration which involves two birthdays, my oldest son's and mine, and Father's Day in which my youngest son is celebrating his first one.

I made this top in July of 2015 and it was on my 2017 list to finally finish it.  I had to dig out my 2015 Planner to see what the inspiration for this quilt was besides finding a pattern to use the Bonnie & Camille stash.  I found a quilt on Pinterest and it was A Quilter's Table, Quarter Cut Baby Quilt, you can read the post here, but I changed the block dimensions from 8"(f) to 6"(f). After making the blocks, I saw Stitched in Color, Simply Stacked Quilt, you can read the post here, and was inspired to make more changes. I decided to orient all the blocks vertically and add some 3-1/2" x 6-1/2" rectangles intermittently in some of the rows to offset the blocks, making some of the square blocks look rectangular and giving the quilt a more improv look.  This quilt measures 48" x 60".

This was the first top I made using my, then, brand new Juki 2010Q and all of the strips were die-cut (3-1/2" and 2" strip dies).  Of course two years later, I did machine quilting with my favorite straight line quilting, (3/4" apart) and I'm happy to say my Juki and the Janome Walking Foot have recovered from the overdose of grease it received from its recent repair experience--no grease spots and the stitching was perfect.

After finally finishing this quilt, I now only have 11 tops left on my project list to machine quilt.  I was all set to do another quilt on the list, I sewed the backing, cut the batting and binding strips but wouldn't you know it, I got distracted as usual.

This was one of the distraction, Hazel, my new Juki HZL F600 which I have received, as I put it, in celebration of the Silver Anniversary of my 40th Birthday (nice way of saying I'm 65 now).  I haven't spent too much time checking out Hazel but there are several features I already love,  the LED lights under the arm, the Walking Foot and the bobbin feed is on top so I can see when the bobbin is running low. The only drawback was the patchwork foot, I prefer sewing with a 1/4" quilting foot and happily was able to order one specifically for this machine.  I wanted another sewing machine to complement and to back up the Juki 2010Q and was set on a Janome but I really like the Juki brand and this machine was half of the cost of a comparable Janome.  My hubby and I have an agreement that I can buy an expensive sewing machine as long as when we pick it up I can carry it home on the back of the new Harley Davidson he's going to buy.

I really wanted to spend more time playing with my new Juki but as I mentioned earlier, this is our week of celebrations. There's only a few things that come before quilting now and the arrival of my granddaughter Micah Rose for a four-day visit to celebrate is one of them.  I'm sure once this week is over,  I'll get back on the quilt track next week.

Micah's already a granddaughter after my own heart.  While we were at Ikea, she picked out her first yard of fabric which is the Farmers Market print.  There was a yard laying among the bolts of fabric and her Mom showed it to her and she was just enthralled with it so of course I had to buy it to make another play mat for her.  Guess who stayed up past Midnight so this was ready to take on our road trip today.

I was doing so well at the beginning of the year with my Minus 100 Yard Challenge and confident that I was going to reach my goal earlier this year but it seems like I going towards the plus side.  I'm sure once I get some more tops quilted and make some Blanket Ministry Quilts, I should be minus-ing once again.

Minus 100 Yard Challenge:  -50.25 Yards

Linking up with:

Crazy Mom Quilts: Finish It Up Friday

Busy Hand Quilts: Finish or Not Friday

Confessions of a Fabric Addict: Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?

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Hometown Christmas Jelly Roll Charm Chase Quilt

I'm excited to be finally able to share my Jelly Roll Charm Chase Quilt which is a pattern I did for Moda Bake Shop.  I've been quietly working on it since the beginning of April.  The recipe is now available (you can read about it here) and can also be found on my homepage under "Tutorial".

The Jelly Roll Charm Chase pattern is a variation of a Jelly Roll Race which I am sure many quilters have made one.  My version includes using a Charm Pack of the same fabric line as the Jelly Roll which gives the quilt a more modern, improv look.  I came up with this idea when I happened to have in my stash a jelly roll, charm pack and yardage of Amy Ellis' Modern Neutral and had already made a Jelly Roll Race Quilt.  I loved how it turned out--the strips and squares sewn together had a woven modern Southwestern blanket effect.  

I posted this quilt last year on Pat Sloan's Facebook Group and received favorable comments and the suggestion since I purchased the fabrics from Missouri Star Quilt Co. they might like to feature the pattern.  I sent a photo of the quilt to them and the response received was a thanks for sending and they liked the fabrics I used.  I thought nothing more about this pattern until I happened to read Angie from Gnome Angel's post in mid-March that Moda has put a call for Chefs to submit recipes for Moda Bake Shop.  I went on Moda's website and completed the submission form, included a brief description and photo of the quilt, said a quick prayer and emailed it to them.  Shortly after, I received a computer-generated response that my submission was received and they would be in touch if my project was approved.  By the end of March when I had just returned from out of town welcoming the birth of my first granddaughter, I received an e-mail from Moda that my submission had been approved.  This was a heart-attack moment which was quickly followed with the thought that I've already had enough on my plate having just started my participation in the 2017 New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop and being involved with learning new computer skills, so the stress and angst was on.

While waiting for my fabric to arrive, I decided to make another Jelly Roll Charm Chase Quilt since I had a jelly roll and charm pack of another fabric line from Amy Ellis, Chic Neutral and to prepare for drafting the pattern. This quilt, as well as the first quilt, was machine quilted by me with horizontal straight line quilting.

It was really nice working with Moda (United Notions). I was able to choose from three future fabric lines and I received all of the fabrics, including backing and binding, to make this quilt. Here's a photo of my box of free fabric with a double side order of pressure. I wasn't sure if I would receive the Hometown Christmas Edition fabrics and was happy when I did since I wanted to make it with fabrics that had a more traditional look and I think the pattern looks wonderful with these fabrics. And to think I would have a finished quilt for Christmas by the end of May which is a personal best for me.

The making of this quilt was smooth sailing until I was ready to machine quilt it, that was when my Juki decided it would be a perfect time to visit the repairman for a week to ten days. This delay would have cut too close to my goal of finishing the quilt by the end of May since I still needed to take photos of the finished quilt for the June deadline.

Fortunately, my super-wonderful Long Arm Quilter, Jan Bryant, was available to perform her magic by quilting it with a lovely heart pattern within 24 hours. And once the binding was sewn, my next concern was finding a place to take glamour shots of the quilt which I didn't want to take around my house since I wanted a more wintery feel to reflect the Hometown Christmas Edition fabric line. Thankfully, my long-time friend and quilt peep, Mary, had the perfect ambience on her front porch.

I've become a little bit more computer savvy since I started blogging, reading other blogs and participating in the New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop so I wasn't too overwhelmed having to prepare the pattern on Moda's website. I'm just happy I finally have a pattern to share, the stress is over and peaceful quilting is back. Also, it's nice to have a connection with Moda now because way back when my boys were young, my friends whom some of them were quilters, thought it was funny that the boys called my mother 'Yoda" and asked what I wanted my grandchildren to call me and I quickly responded 'Moda'.

I hope you check out my Jelly Roll Charm Chase pattern and find how easy and fun it is to make and perfect if you need to make a quilt for family or friend.  I'm already planning the next one with Janet Clare's Aubade, A Song to the Dawn, fabric line with a different twist with the strips and charm squares. Moda has announced that September 16th will be National Sew A Jelly Roll Day, (you can read about it here) when quilters will be encouraged to finally break out the jelly rolls they've been saving and making something for them, for their family or friends or for charity. Perhaps, you may want to try this pattern then. Please let me know if you have any questions and I would love to see photos of the Jelly Roll Charm Chase quilt(s) you make.

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