Checker Board Rails Ready for Quilting

Today was a busy day with voting and other errands but I managed to get the Checker Board Rails Quilt sewn together into one piece.

I now have an empty project box which I will try to keep that way and the top and binding have moved into the to be quilted pile.

This quilt has been growing on me... I am beginning to like it.

Checker Board Rails

This morning I was "skype sewing" with my buddy Marilyn.  We were both working on our Checker Board Rails Quilt.  I sewed all my blocks into ten rows and then got four of those rows sewn together.

I also got the binding made for this quilt.  Here is a very close up picture of how well my joining seams in my binding ended up.

And here is the nice roll of binding beside the extra block.  I haven't decided if the checkered binding is a really good match or overkill.... oh well, I'm using it!

Just six more seams and this top will be in the ready to be quilted pile!

UFO - Bonnie Hunter's Leaders and Enders 2017 Challenge

Last night at my quilt guild meeting a UFO challenge was initiated.  You sign up to finish a specific UFO (unfinished object) by the June meeting with a monetary penalty if you fail to finish it.  Any money collected will go towards programs.  I will sign up for something, but I haven't decided what yet.  However, it did spur me on to work on a UFO today.   I started this in the summer of 2017 and last worked on it in February.  Bonnie Hunter does a Leader and Ender Challenge every year and I decided to join.  This one was originally called Rail Fence but morphed into Checkerboard Rails.  I needed 29 more strips of black and white checkers 2 wide by 6 long.  I started by making black and white strip sets and then cutting them into matched pairs arranged on design boards to take to the sewing machine to turn into four patches.  You can see a finished block in the bottom left hand corner.

Before lunch I had already made a pile of the 87 required four patches.

A short time later I had 28 strips made, 14 starting with a black square in the upper left and 14 starting with a white square in the upper left.  I left the last strip unsewn as I didn't know which type of strip I would need.  I finished off a spool of thread half way through the last checker.

I had the coloured strips already sewn in groups of four so just had to add the black and white checker boards to them.  Here are my 29 finished blocks.  It makes you dizzy looking at these blocks as they are so busy which is why I don't really like them.

I've put all 80 blocks on the design wall.  I have to move a few around that have the same fabric touching.  I guess I really only needed 28 more blocks not 29, as I have one left over.....oh well.

Now all I have to do is sew the blocks together and I will have another donation top.  All of the coloured fabric strips came from leftover fabric scraps.  Some of the white checkers came from scraps but most of the white and black I had to cut from my stash.  I was really surprised at how quickly these 29 blocks came together today!

Rail Fence Comfort Quilt Finished

Yesterday I made some scrappy binding and bound the guild's rail fence comfort quilt I had finally quilted the day before.  Oops, I see I missed trimming a thread.

It is very wet and windy here today so an indoor shot will have to do for this quilt as I will hand it in at my guild meeting tonight.

It is made out of 90 6" finished rail fence blocks set 9 across and 10 down so mathematically it measures 54.5" x 60.5"  After "crinkage" (crinkling due to quilting + shrinkage due to washing) it is 52" x 58", a nice lap or child sized quilt.  I used a piece of really soft donated fabric printed with rope swirls for the backing and just had to add a small piece of checkered flannel fabric in one corner.

I kind of like that word, "crinkage".  I googled it but could not find that it had been used anywhere.  Have I invented a new quilting term?

Sewing for Thursday Night's Quilt Guild Meeting

I started off this morning by finishing the two pillow cases I had almost finished for last meeting.  I would make one more but I don't really have any more suitable fabric right now.  These two aren't as nice and colourful as the first seven I made but maybe someone who plays an instrument or enjoys music will appreciate them.  These will go to Ryan's Case for Smiles and be given to children and youth who have extended stays at the IWK Children's Hospital.

I have had this quilt on the frame for a couple of months now but had not put a single stitch in it.  I knew what quilting design I wanted to do so I got out my manual and oiled my machine and got to it and around 4:30 this afternoon I had the quilting done and the quilt trimmed and ready for binding.  These rail fence blocks were made by members of my quilting guild and sewn together at a charity quilting day at one of our local quilt shops.

Here's a close up of the quilting called filigree.  I tried to keep my loops consistent.....

So now I have two days to get the binding made and sewn on and the quilt washed and ready to donate.  Should be easily doable.

Edith's Folded / Manx Log Cabin Quilt

This is the beautiful folded log cabin quilt made by Grandma Langille that Edith brought for show and share at our last Guild meeting.  I just love all the scrappy colours.  It inspired me to make two folded log cabin blocks but mine pale in comparison.

And here's a closeup

 Her quilt was made with approximately quarter inch folds where my two blocks were made with half inch folds.  Here's an even closer look at a block.  The dark and light choices of fabrics are very subtle when looking at only one block, but really show up seen from afar.

Thank you Edith for sending me pictures so I could share your beautiful quilt!  

If you click on this link you can see the blocks I made as well as find a link to a tutorial on how to make the folded / Manx log cabin block.

Dear Jane Quilt, 95 Blocks Plus 1 Triangle

B5  I paper pieced this block.

B6  I pieced this block.  I didn't notice until I took the photo that I should have had one more round of triangles on it but I am happy with it the way it is...

B7  I appliqued this block.  It's not my best work so kind of glad the contrast between the black and blue fabric is not showing up well...

B8  I pieced the centre part of the block and "cathedral windowed" the melons.

B9  I pieced this block with red and white striped fabric and really liked it but it did not fit into the colour plus black theme.  I used a marker and coloured the white lines black but it is not good enough to use so I made a second block.

L5  I pieced this block.

L6  I probably should have paper pieced this block, but I pieced it.  It's a little bit warped but I am not making it over...

L7  I pieced this block.  If I had thought about it a bit more, I would have reversed the colours so there was more blue than black in the block.  Without meaning to, I reversed the colours in the centre.

L8  I pieced this block.

L9  I pieced this block and it turned out really well.

TR6  I paper pieced my first triangle border block!!!  If you look closely there is supposed to be a tiny melon appliqued at the tip of the top diamond but I don't think it's necessary.

So, now I have 95 blocks of 169 and 1 triangle of 56 or 96/225 which is 42% done.

Here's what the 95 blocks look like together.

I am still having so much fun!!!

Review September Priorities and Set October Priorities

Before I review September's priorities, I would just like to say that due to Hurricane Dorian, I lost at least a week of sewing time due to a tree knocking the electrical mast off my father's house and also a broken tree leaning over the electrical supply line at the cottage.  Also I did not take into consideration that while the power was off hand sewing would not be possible because of insufficient lighting.

Review of September's Priorities

1.  Make a label for Ainsley and Jack's wedding quilt.  Partly Done. I have not finished the label, but I have it half embroidered.  The circular crease is from the embroidery hoop.

2.  These next three items all had the deadline 19 September, which was our first guild meeting of the year:

• Finish a few more pillow cases for "Ryan's Case for Smiles".  Partly Done.  I handed in 7 and have 2 more more almost done.
• Make a bag for the quilt challenge.  Done
• Quilt a comfort quilt.  Not Done

3.  Quilt one of my own quilts.  Not Done

4.  Continue working on my Dear Jane ongoing quilt project.  Done.  I have made 10 more blocks and 1 triangle!!!  I plan to have a Dear Jane blog post tomorrow.

5.  Start cutting the fabric for my son Bryan and fiance Catherine's Wedding Quilt to be finished for 18 July 2020.  Partly Done.  I did not actually cut anything but I did make a cutting plan.  I now know how many strips of each fabric I have to cut and then sub-cut so I will get all the pieces I will require for this quilt from the fabric I chose.

So the only two things I did not work on at all were quilting two quilts.

I also made two folded Log Cabin or Manx Log Cabin blocks and worked on hand quilting some hexagon flowers.

October's Priorities

1.  Finish the label for Ainsley and Jack's wedding quilt and make a hanging sleeve for the quilt as well.  Ainsley has just recently decided she would like to hang the quilt in their bedroom rather than risk the kitties damaging it.

2.  These items have a deadline of 17 October, our next guild meeting:

• Finish 2 to 3 more pillow cases for Ryan's Case for Smiles
• Quilt a comfort quilt

3.  Quilt one of my own quilts for a Christmas present.

4.  Continue working on my Dear Jane ongoing quilt project.

5.  Cut all the fabric for my son Bryan and fiance Catherine's Wedding Quilt to be finished for 18 July 2020.

Manx Log Cabin Blocks

And then there were two.

I made the second block much more quickly than the first for two reasons.  The strips were already cut and I didn't stop to iron each strip.  I simply used my creasing tool to mark the 1.5" using my 12.5 square ruler to keep the block square and then rolled each strip flat.

Now I must get back to the sewing I wanted to accomplish for September.

Folded Log Cabin or Manx Log Cabin for National Jelly Roll Day

The other night at quilt guild one of our members was showing some antique quilts made by her grandmothers.  A folded log cabin quilt caught everyone's interest.  I will post a picture of it here once I have her permission.

I went looking for the instructions on how to make a folded log cabin block and found several that used strips of fabric folded in half, but if you lifted the folded edges you would have been able to see the stitching and this particular quilt you could not.  I finally found this wonderful tutorial by Ice Bear Quilts called a Manx Log Cabin.  It calls for jelly roll strips or 2.5" strips of fabric and the folds come out at half an inch.  Doing some math, I believe the antique quilt must have used 1.25" strips which came out at one quarter inch folds!  So if you really wanted to, you could cut your jelly roll strips in half to work in one quarter inch scale.

I won't go into all the details of how it's made as the tutorial is really good and gives the history of the block as well.  I started with foundation fabric which I ironed on the diagonal as instructed but I also drew some pencil lines every inch to help keep me square as I went along.

Here is the centre square and the first log added.  I folded the corner back so you can see that there is one inch of fabric including the one quarter inch seam allowance on the back of the fold and one and one-half inches of fabric on the front fold.  If you wanted your fabric to go further, you could probably take a shallower fold and still get the same effect.

Here are two completed rounds.

Here are three completed rounds.

Here are nine completed rounds plus a tenth row attached in the regular log cabin method.  Since the final folded log cabin row does not have another folded row on top of it you can see the full width of it.

I plan on making a pineapple quilt with this fabric and had an extra jelly roll on hand to make some cushions to go with the quilt and decided to try out this technique.  The second cushion top will sew up even more quickly since I cut the strips for it as I worked on this one.

So this was my Jelly Roll sewing for National Jelly Roll Day!