Still Ridiculously Easy / Beauties Pageant 107

 

In a year when my world (and I suspect yours!) has gotten smaller, commitments have evaporated, and trips outside of the neighborhood are few and far between, anything goes. One day, I’m thinking that I need to make new window treatments for my living room, and the next, I’ve removed the drapes and rods, my husband has spackled the holes, and the two of us are debating a new color for the walls. Is this a project we would have taken on in a normal version of 2020? Maybe not. But this year we do it because we can.

Similarly, when a reader contacted me about my Ridiculously Easy Jelly Roll Quilt pattern in different sizes, my knee-jerk reaction was to politely send her on her way—it was an old pattern in one size that I wasn’t interested in revisiting. Then I thought, Why not? Within two weeks, I had designed the pattern, asked two tech editors to review it, and posted it for sale. Because I can!

So for you fans of my modern take on a chevron, this post is for you. The Ridiculously Easy Jelly Roll Quilt now comes in five sizes: child, lap, twin, queen, and king. I wrote the pattern for two different design options for all of your stash-busting and quilt-making needs.

Can you relate? What quilty endeavors have you taken on this year that you wouldn’t have if life were normal?

Click here to purchase the expanded Ridiculously Easy Jelly Roll Quilt pattern through my Etsy shop.

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• Post your finish in the linky tool. (No links to your own giveaway or linky, please!)
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• Visit and comment on other participants’ finishes.

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Hey, That's Me! / Beauties Pageant 106

A few months ago, I shared my thoughts on selling at FeelGood Fibers, a secondhand fabric marketplace and online community with a heart for sustainability. I’m six months into pruning my stash and selling the unwanted, unused fabric from it—and I’ve made over $500 in sales!

Kim and Tom Soper, the fabric-loving brains behind FGF, asked me to do a fun little interview about my experience, which went live just this week. To read what I have to say about destashing, how I’ve increased my sales, and what I’ve done with the proceeds, read the seller spotlight now.

We’re in the home stretch of 2020, and I am selling lot after lot of my preowned fabric and finishing project after project on my to-do list. Wow, it feels good to accomplish something quilting related during this weird Covid time when it feels as if I haven’t accomplished much else.

What do you have to say about all of this? Share your finishes in the linky below and your experience destashing in the comments. : )

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The pageant rules are simple:

• Post your finish in the linky tool. (No links to your own giveaway or linky, please!)
• Point your readers back here with a text link or use the button above.
• Visit and comment on other participants’ finishes.

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Pageant Highlight Reel / Beauties Pageant 105

I have more than one finish to share with you, quilty friends! But the New England sun has not been cooperative the past few days, so I have completed projects without the requisite pictures. : ( Let’s take the opportunity to look at lovely pictures of other people’s finishes from past beauties pageants.

Each week’s linky offers a nice variety of projects—from new patterns like Quilt Fabrication’s penny-candy blocks, to raw-edge appliqué triumphs like Needle and Foot’s Ticker Tape Holiday Tree (tutorial by Devoted Quilter), to masterpieces like Quilting Mod’s Homemade challenge quilt—and it’s difficult to pick out a few to highlight. But what follows are three projects that struck my fancy and may have me amending my quilty to-do list ...

Janine Marie, of Quilts from the Little House, shared her Jelly Roll Stroll last week. Referring to an old Moda Bake Shop tutorial, she sewed a throw-size version of Nines in the Middle, and I had to laugh. She found herself in a situation that I’ve created for myself on more than one occasion. Deciding to wing the construction instead of following the pattern, she was forced to sew partial seam after partial seam. But look at the picture at the top of the post—in the end, her efforts were well worth the time and energy!

Allison, of New Every Morning Patchwork and Quilting, posted her take on AnneMarie Chany’s Chocolatier BOM. Instead of creating the full 72-inch project, however, she created her own layout to make a smaller version—one she could more easily quilt on her domestic. The result is charming and uniquely her own ...

Another project came from Tiina, of Käsityöläinen-unelmissan. I have been wanting to sew one of Violet Craft’s paper-pieced animals (in particular, I love her Cow Abstractions Quilt), and Tiina’s account of sewing and quilting Violet’s paper-pieced horse is encouraging me to make the leap. Click through to see detail of the quilting in particular. I am a free-motion-quilting newbie, and her simple motifs have me wanting to hone my skills.

I would love to look at your fabulous finishes now. Please share your completed blocks or quilts or smaller projects below!

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The pageant rules are simple:

• Post your finish in the linky tool. (No links to your own giveaway or linky, please!)
• Point your readers back here with a text link or use the button above.
• Visit and comment on other participants’ finishes.

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Christmas Is Coming / Beauties Pageant 104

 

One of the first books I purchased about quilting was Last-Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson, a co-owner of Purl Soho. I got so much pleasure out of perusing the projects in this book. At the time I hadn’t done any actual quilting; I was in dream mode, not quite ready to guide a huge quilt sandwich through the tiny throat of my sewing machine but getting excited about the possibilities. 

In addition to the fresh and modern projects in this volume, I also loved how the author organized them, by the time commitment each project required. Some of the smaller items fall into the two- to four-hour category, the midsize projects may take eight-plus hours, and so on. (Last-Minute Patchwork is out of print but readily available used. One project I made from its pages is this pencil roll.)

There will be no last-minute anything for me this holiday season. My world—as I expect everyone’s—has shrunk with the pandemic, and I am ahead of schedule. I am even sending out holiday cards, which in past years has been the first item to fall off my holiday to-do list. And they’re Thanksgiving cards, because why not? When you’re ahead of the game, you can send out cards in November.

If you’re in the opposite camp and are just starting to consider a Christmas project or two, here are some suggestions, presented in the style of Last-Minute Patchwork ...

An Hour or So

Ornaments are the perfect quick project for the holidays. I’ve made them from mini-charm squares that I’ve sewn into four-patches or from leftover half-square triangles. (See more pictures here.)

The problem with making ornaments, in my opinion, is that many require hand sewing, which almost always sends me running. I found this tree ornament pattern from Amy Sinibaldi, however: It’s super cute and sewn by machine. I already have some trees cut out to assemble for Christmas 2020. : )

**Please excuse this moment of gratuitous self-promotion: If you’re lacking in the Christmas-scraps department, I have a bundle for sale on FeelGood Fibers. It’s $20 with free shipping in the U.S. I just trimmed a quilt sandwich and have some Kate and Birdie scraps to add to the pile!**

A Weekend

If you’re looking for a more substantial project, I suggest The Tree Is Trimmed mini-quilt. It’s a tutorial I wrote years ago for From Bolt to Beauty and was subsequently posted on Moda Bake Shop. My favorite version is the second one I made, pictured above, that uses Basic Grey’s Evergreen collection. The mini-quilt requires little fabric (just four jelly roll strips for the green Xs) and uses a strip-piecing method.

A Few Days ... Or Longer

If you have the time for something bigger, I had a lot of fun making the log cabin blocks, by SterlingSewn, at the top of the post. You could whip up a mini-quilt in a weekend, but the pattern includes blocks more than the six I created, encouraging you to make something much grander. The designer made this throw quilt, which is not Christmassy but lovely and holiday themed just the same.

Will you be sewing any holiday projects this year? If you’re machine-sewing ornaments, I am especially eager to hear about them. : )

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The pageant rules are simple:

• Post your finish in the linky tool. (No links to your own giveaway or linky, please!)
• Point your readers back here with a text link or use the button above.
• Visit and comment on other participants’ finishes.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter