Jelly Roll Race

In January our Busy Bees quilt group wanted to do a jelly roll race.  We did a test run with a group of 6 and this is the first one.  Since rarely do anything in its simplistic form, I inserted a folded rectangle in between each end to end.  Then opened and pinned each one to make cathedral windows.  

The Jelly Roll is Hushabye Hollow by Lydia Nelson of Dreamy Quilts for Moda.  

This was a gift for my neighbors Grandson.  I got permission to share the photos because they are so dang cute.  The quilt was huge and Theo looked a little lonely so Ren joined in the show. 

So we finally did the actual jelly roll race.  I chose this Grunge Jelly Roll - Moda.  For the prep, I added a square in a square block in between each end to end.  The race a lot of fun and we had about 12 participants.  Most of which who have finished their quilts!  I shared a long table with another Bernina person and that table was shaking so hard I could not thread the needle.  Crazy people!  Lots of yelling and whooping!  

Those of you who know me, know I follow Judi Madsen's work and have several of her books.  I love the concept of secondary design.  So I used this opportunity to give me a focal point.  

This one was given to a charity auction and helped to send a kid to Camp!

It you have a jelly roll and need to get a quilt top done in a day, give this a shot.  

The prep.  No planning, just sew your strips end to end in a very long strip.  

Round 1 Take the two ends and sew wrong sides together.  It will likely be twisted, but when you get to the last few inches you can press flat and cut with scissors.  First round takes about 40-45 min.  

Round 2 repeat, each round cuts time in half, Repeat until you get the size you want.  

If you pinterest, you will find jelly roll race variations. If anyone wants to know instructions for my variations, let me know and I'll work up a tutorial to share.

I hope you get a chance to sew this week!

Love

Aunti Nicole

Daddy's Shirts

This is a project I worked over last Christmas.  A year ago, my friend Jonathan passed away.  My friend Amy Austin suggested that I make quilts from his shirts.

I asked his wife Sara for some of his shirts so I could make some keepsakes for his children.  She sent me some of his work and dress shirts and some t-shirts.

For his little girl, Mia, I took the dress shirts and created loose edge, machine appliqued circle blocks. I used cotton tone on tone fabrics as the backgrounds for all of the blocks, since I was not sure how the dress shirt fabric would hold up after washing.  

I know the colors look a little masculine, but I used some pretty cotton tone on tones and a flowery quilting pattern.  Also the back is very pretty.

For the boy Dallas, I used the T-shirts his Dad had sent him while traveling on business trips.  I sashed them with a grey dot fabric and then used some of the left over dress shirts for accents.  The background is Kona black.

I love grunge dots, so they are on the back and a striped binding to finish it off. 

Lots of prayers were said for these kids and their brave Mom while I worked on these quilts.  Mom and kids are doing well, I continue to keep them in my prayers.

I wanted to share these quilts with you to give you some ideas for some keepsake quilts.

I hope you all get a chance to sew this week!

Love,
Aunti Nicole

Introducing Mr. & Mrs. Kieffer

Last month we traveled to Tennessee to watch Pete's daughter Summer get married.  The wedding was in Lebanon in a beautiful woodsy chapel.  Summer was absolutely radiant and so was Matt.  The ceremony and reception was intimate with just close friends and relatives. The reception was a lot of fun and there was much dancing.

Congratulations! We wish them the best on their journey together!

I started on the wedding quilt as soon as I heard, but had possibility paralysis!  I know Summer is a strong Christian and has very modern taste.  For the fabric, I chose Natalie Barnes Maker's Home and lots of Kona Silver.

This gave me a chance to play with my Quick Curve Rulers by Sew Kind of Wonderful and leave lots of wide open space for custom quilting.  I have been Pinterest stalking Judi Madsen and all related quilters.  I have two of her books and just love her work.  

We stayed with some friends in Heritage, Tennessee, Sandra and Tony Usher.  Sandra is a friend of mine from the EZQ Quilters in Southern California.  She moved to Tennessee the same year I moved here.  I miss her and my quilter friends from So Cal so much.  A very talented and fun bunch of women.

This a view from their back porch, there are dear in the background looking to score some goodies.















Here is one of her beautiful quilts! Gorgeous work.  Sandra has always had such wonderful taste.


More about our vacation next week!

I hope you take the time to quilt this week!

Love Aunti Nicole