Saturday Afternoon Wall Hanging

I started off Saturday afternoon with the intent of using my new sewing machine (more on that later) to sew together some of the many jelly roll strips I've acquired. I had a pattern from a book in mind but wasn't haven't much luck getting the pieces grouped the way I wanted. Then I started playing with my batik jelly roll strips and remembered the pattern that my friend Kathleen had given me, "Hot and Cold Flow". I took that out and got out my Leaves Galore Templates from my friend Sue Pelland and within a few hours I had this lovely piece that I'm going to hang in my office at work.

Because I was using the jelly roll strips mine is a bit bigger than the pattern and I actually have enough pieces left to finish another wall hanging. I made two colorwaves, each with 10 jelly roll strips (I used 1/2 a length of jelly roll strip). Then went at them with the Grande Leaves Galore template. The finished wall hanging is 32"x20". This was also my first attempt at the invisible binding and I must say I really like the result. Kathleen had given me the tip about making the backing a 1/4" smaller than the front, and that was just the trick. Her pattern is easy to follow and the whole project goes together super quick!

What's funny is that using the batiks and Kathleen's pattern I thought I was going to end up with a piece that looked something like her style. But when I stepped back and looked at mine I laughed out loud - my warm color choices - the reds, creams, green, and navy are me all over.

References:
Kathleen Murphy Designs Hot and Cold Flow Pattern
Sue Pelland Designs Leaves Galore Templates

From My Secret Valentine

My quilt guild does a secret valentine exchange and I received this lovely table runner along with some chocolates (long gone), fabric, and a new tracing wheel. Love it!! Am just trying to keep the cat off of it...

Bunnies and Inchies

I bought this little bunny sashiko pattern a while ago at Franklin Mills (I think) and finally located my sashiko needles and thread which had gotten buried in one of my project boxes. I've bought a number of books and other items for sashiko, but this is actually my first finished project using the technique. The pattern had the dashes marked on it which made things very easy, and I found the running stitch easy as well. Though with the high contrast of the navy fabric and white thread, any little uneven stitch shows!

After I finished it I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do with it so I put it aside to work on my inchie project. I got these little bright squares of delight in an inchie exchange with women in my quilt guild and I needed to put them in a quilt or find some way to display them for our upcoming quilt show. This is the second exchange and I knew from the first one, that people came up with very creative ways to work their inchies into quilts. I was looking through my stash for inspiration, but wasn't having much luck. Enter Shirley Bangma who says off the cuff, "Why don't you put them on your bunny thing." Eureka!! And like magic it all came together. Shirley also showed me how to do a mitered binding (the binding fabrics are hand-dyeds that Sue Pelland made). Love how it came out and think the bunnies and inchies really compliment each other.

References:
Franklin Mills
Inchie Quilts
Previous Inchie Quilts from my Guild
Thimble Pleasures Quilt Guild
Sue Pelland Designs

Lovely Little Scissors

A few years ago I was at the International Quilt Festival in Houston and saw a great demonstration by Karen Kay Buckley where she showed how to make perfect applique circles. I bought her "Perfect Circles" templates, but didn't get the serrated scissors she had. Of course I regretted it and later came across these little Gingher ones. The micro-serrated edge grips onto whatever you're cutting to keep it from slipping - perfect for cutting tiny little applique pieces.And these things are super sharp. Love 'em, need to get a bigger pair at some point.

References:
Karen Kay Buckley