Tag Archives: american jane fabric

Square Dance

This week I finished up Square Dance. It was well over a year ago that I started this quilt. For some reason, it was put aside and ignored for a long while. Now that it is done, I am really pleased with the cheerful colors. The pattern is a simple one based on squares of two different sizes and simple borders on each, bringing the blocks to 9″ when finished.

Putting the quilt together was a breeze. Quilting it, on the other hand, was not. Back in March, I was reading Cynthia’s posts over at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework. She showed some quilts that she had finished up using some oversized daisy flowers. I loved it and thought it would be great for this quilt. I planned to put a flower in the center of each block. Additionally, I placed one on the intersection of each set of blocks.

My machine was most uncooperative and I stitched about 1/4 of the quilt before I realized that my bobbin tension was way off and I had to unpick all of that quilting. Ugh. Not my favorite task. There really wasn’t a choice though. On the bright side, the tension was so far off that the stitches were totally loose on the back side and came out easily. These frustrations were resolved when I found the Magic Bobbin Genies that I recently posted about. The small washers helped a great deal. I have had these issues sporadically and I am hoping this resolution works out over the long haul.

I requilted (is that a word?) the first section and finished up the rest. I think it is very cute – though it looks much better on the front than the back. I pieced the backing as I was determined to used some stash up. I love the way the backing came together but backing a quilt in solids means that every FMQ wiggle is accentuated. That’s ok. I am making progress with each project. For now, I am just going to look at the front side!

The colors are great, as is the motif I chose for quilting Square Dance. Finally, look at the binding. It is adorable. I found this red and yellow print on a sale table at Ben Franklin and it was a steal.

Tomorrow I will wash it and enjoy that cozy crinkle that the quilt will have once it is out of the dryer. Earlier this year, I signed up to participate in Hands 2 Help Charity Quilt Challenge organized by Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict. When I signed up, I wasn’t entirely sure what I would donate but I think this quilt will bring comfort to it’s recipient.

Update: I shipped this quilt off to Kat for her Covered in Love program and she let me know it had arrived. I hope it will be used by someone in the near future.

The timing of this finish is good as I am now in the process of piecing my black and white Stepping Stones quilt. There is black and white flying all over in my sewing room these days. The blocks are looking really good though. I am pretty excited about this one!

Linking to all sorts of sites. Check them out at the top of the page, under Link Ups!

An Unexpected Finish

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I am not one for leaving projects unfinished. An exception to the rule, but I don’t have a huge stack of unfinished quilts in my sewing room. Putting in the time to cut a billion pieces of fabric and then stitch them together, only to leave them languish in a pile just isn’t my deal. (No offense intended. Like I said, this is the exception to the rule; many (most?) quilters have stacks of UFO’s. So it’s me, not you, ok?

I am chomping at the bit to cut into my stack of Pat Bravo fabrics that I received for my birthday last fall. I have a plan for a plus quilt and all the fabric is just sitting there, waiting so patiently. First though, I decided I had better finish one of two projects that are near completion. I started this quilt almost two years ago. I had attended a local quilt guild meeting and we had the opportunity to listen to Sandy Klop talk about her American Jane fabrics. She did a great trunk show. I got totally sucked into her adorable lines with their Americana feel and bought several 1/2 yard cuts.

I quickly cut into them, with the intention of making a traditional quilt that I had tagged in an old copy of QuiltWorks magazine. Designed by Debra Feece, it is called Square Dance. Basically a simple quilt using squares and strips. I worked on it for a while and somehow it was pushed aside until last week.

The pattern is so simple. One would think that my blocks would have been the precise 9 1/2″ square that they were supposed to be. Ha. Not so. When I took the project out to finish, the blocks looked off to me. They measured anywhere from 9 1/8″ to 9 5/8″. Didn’t I bother to use a ruler to cut my strips? Maybe I forgot what a 1/4″ seam looked like? Who knows. But I was able to get them to a mostly consistent 9 1/8″ and they went together nicely.

I think this quilt top is adorable. I haven’t made anything with such a Folk Art feel to it. Ray came into the sewing room the other night and said it looks patriotic. Made with (mostly) the three primary colors, it is so cheerful.

There is a lovely breeze out today (which is hopefully blowing a storm my way – we are supposed to be heading into a rainy spell) which made taking photos kind of tricky. Here is one in the house where there is significantly less breeze!

I love the red and white stripes and the red alphabet print. Traditional and so dang cute.

I am anxious to get this one basted and ready to quilt. I pieced a backing with my leftovers plus a couple of pieces from my stash. I just need to buy the batting. The squares will be fun to quilt over using a spiral or loopy pattern.

Hopefully I will be back soon with a full finish on this one. This weekend is going to be a no-sew weekend. My sisters (well, 4 of the 5) will be here for the weekend. Yay!!! I can’t wait to see them. Ray and Julia are on their own up in Downieville this weekend while we all stay here and hang out. Hope you are having a wonderful week with at least a bit of time spent at the sewing machine.

Linking to: Finish it Up Friday, Can I Get a Whoop Whoop, Let’s Bee Social – all of which can be found at the top of the page, under Link Ups.

Sunday Stitching

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Ahhhh….. what a great Sunday. Never got in the car once. That is the best sort of day. After a little bit of housekeeping in the morning, I spent the majority of the afternoon in my sewing room. Life is good.

I finished the sixth row for my Classic Stitches BOM quilt (hosted by Mari over at Academic Quilter). The color for RSC15 in June is light blue. Mari wisely chose the water wheel block (what is better for light blue?) The block was very simple once I got the pieces cut. The previous five rows that I made consist of 6″ blocks. This month I made 7 1/2″ blocks. Kind of fun to see the difference in size. I need to vary the sizes a bit. Maybe I will make a row of tiny blocks next month and some oversized blocks in a later month. Here is my row for June.

Somehow this row is a bit longer than 60″ so I may have a challenge on my hands when I stitch the rows together. But that won’t be for months, so why worry about it now?? It was too hot out to really hang all of the other rows, but here it is with two others.

This is going to be such a fun quilt to finish up. Looking forward to seeing what color and block are on tap for July.

Last week I spent most of the week in Sacramento with my daughter. While she was in class I did what any other self-respecting quilter would do and hit up a few quilt shops. Actually of the three stores I went to, only one was a true quilt shop. The other was a huge sewing machine store that sells fabric along with machines and long arms. The third was Hobby Lobby, only because I had never been to one before. Visiting these three businesses confirmed the fact that this obsession has turned me into a fabric snob of the worst sort.

Hobby Lobby was exactly what I expected. Low end fabric and so many novelty prints. I suppose this is the right place for moms that are sewing clothes for their littles. The fabric is of a lower quality and I wouldn’t put it into a quilt but for an outfit that will be outgrown by summer’s end, it is probably just fine. Didn’t buy a single thing there.

The sewing machine shop, Meisner’s, had a smaller selection but the fabrics were good quality. They had a 40-60% off section which sucked me right in. I found the backing that I will use for the 1940’s vintage double nine patch quilt that I am just starting. It was a steal which is nice because I needed 4 1/2 yards.

I had the most fun at a little shop called Quilter’s Corner. I had been here once before during a Shop Hop. Their selection is fairly extensive so I had fun looking through the shop.

I found a piece of Kaffe Fassett that I wanted to go along with a jelly roll that has been sitting on my shelf for a while. I have an idea for a quilt but that is on the back burner for a bit while I get the double nine patch going. It is going to be so pretty tho! Love Fassett’s shot cottons and these colors are wonderful.

Also from Quilter’s Corner, are these two pieces. The print is from American Jane’s newest line. Several months ago (maybe last fall?) Sandy Klop, the designer of American Jane fabrics came to speak at a guild meeting. It was interesting to listen to her and even more fun to look at the quilts she brought to show us. After the meeting, I purchased a set of 1/2 yard cuts and started a quilt with them. It is maybe 1/3 of the way complete. Looking at it coming together, I thought it lacked yellow so I was happy to find these pieces.

The nice thing about the American Jane line is that pieces from different collections work so well together. These will fit right in. Again though, this needs to wait a bit. I want to get going on the vintage blues quilt and if I pull any of these other projects out I will only distract myself.

Hope everyone had a great Sunday. I am so glad I found time to sew today because tomorrow we are headed back to Sacramento. When my daughter had her birthday in May we didn’t have time to celebrate it with her friends. She invited three girls and I am taking them to a water park tomorrow. For them, it will be a day of bikinis and squealing which she is really looking forward to. I plan to find a bit of shade and bring a good book to pass the time while they do their thing.

Linking to Molli Sparkles’ Sunday Stash and Monday Makers over at Hug-a-Bit Quilts.