The collection of Jelly Snowflakes

     

In the fashion of this year, yep, it has to be better than last year.  I am going to try to make a few post on some other quilts I finished last year.  I did not have time for many quilts so this will work! And I love using this. Log to keep a history of all my quilts. 

     I am the president and leader of a small sewing group and Quilt Guild in Bonneau, SC.  Well, each time we meet, I lead a project.  This is one from last year. Here’s the link: 

Jelly Snowflake

     This is the Jelly Snowflake from Fatquarter shop.  It’s made with a jelly Roll or a mini jelly roll.  Not sure why I chose a springy collection but I did. 

This was a weekly quilt project released from Fat quarter shop last summer. Every week a new section was released.  

As the sections were released you sewed up the mystery quilt. In the end it appeared to look like a big snowflake on the small quilt. 

Here is mine. Made out of all the Spring colors.  I used it as a free motion quilting sampler. Try hard to improve my skills.  

Now here are several of them from our Guild. I hung outside on the fence on a pretty day! I am soo proud of how they are moving along.  Many of them could not even sew a year earlier!! 

The old, the improv and the new creation!

Sadly, at least 2 years or more ago my friends neighbor handed me a bag of quilt blocks.  The blocks were all hand embroidered by her grandma.  Well, if you know me, I don’t always hop right on a project.  I have to come up with an idea and plan. Last year I finished up 1/2 the blocks into the awesome quilt below.  This year, I finished #2!!

The blocks have an amazing story.  They were originally made by Hattie Eunice Halford Mitchell who was born in 1901 and passed away in 1969. Not sure much more information on her but I did google her and saw she was born and died in Mississippi.  She hand embroidered these bear blocks.  They are amazingly cute!! 

Going with the fashion of what was possibly her time, I pulled out the little bit of 30s fabric I had.  I already decide to do a kinda 1/2 log cabin block.  I squared each up.  Most between 7-8 inches to start. Then Building each embroidered block out to 12.5 inches. In no uniform fashion.  Just in a scrappy fashion.  As many would do back in her time period. Most with the same colors as embroidered in the blocks, but a few random color 30s fabrics thrown in.  I kept each bear in the top right corner. 

I then sewed them together to form a 3x4 layout.  Wanting to make it a little larger, I added a 2.5 inner red border and 4.5 outer.  The outer fabric is actually a vintage fabric that I also used in the blocks.  

After that, I cut up vintage pillow cases to form a backing. Then quilted it with straight lines in all the strips of the blocks.  The binding is made out of a blue fabric I picked to blend with the blue in the blocks. 

After 2 years of holding on to these blocks that are at least 52 years old, they finally are completed!! This goes along with this weeks theme.  Making something out of the old, letting my gut lead me to a finish.  Honestly, I have trouble following a pattern, as my gut loves to lead the way.  And it usually works out well!  

I love how this turned out.  Saving All the vintage and adding a bit of modern!!! Now to take a trip to Pawleys Island and delivering it to a granddaughter who is as old or older then her grandmother was when she made these blocks! 

March Finishes

March for me started out well!!  Early month Quilt Retreat with my Misfit Friends!! I didn’t get as much sewing done as I wanted, but I finished one quilt and one top and had lots of fun!! Here is a collection of some of the finished projects!! I am sew proud of my girls!! 

First finish of the month was a Persimon Dreams Project Quilting Challenge of a Crazy Quilt.  Well, here’s a Crazy Jean Quilt! 

After the retreat, I finished this Pillow Cover I started last month! 2 Shamrock Pillows Done!  

Second Challenge Quilt of the month and last of the project quilting season!! 

Then I challenged myself months ago to finish my Ultimate beginner quilt. So glad to have this UFO from last year done!! 

After finishing the house Quilt too at the retreat earlier in the month,  I did a basic wavy straight line to quilt it. 

Then I said I would finish this quilt for my sewing group as a donation!! It’s a mix of some else’s blocks and someone else said they would quilt it but did not.  So here it is done!  Feels so good to say DONE! 

1- House quilt- lots of pieces and few rows. Top finished at retreat and now it’s completely Finished!!

2- Small old antique embroidery quilt- only the original blob lock and fabric pulled.  Plan to box the blocks in, maybe like a log cabin. FINISHED!!!!!

3-Harvest Road Quilt- blocks cut, a few pieces sewn together 

4-Debbie row by row- omg, so much to do

5-Rooster on board- one section done.  I think this will be a retreat quilt for this year

6- Pumpkin quilt-  fabrics pulled and all in a box

7- Pineapple place mat- needs to be put together and quilted

8- Jelly roll quilt-  undid it for a race demo in class.  Sewed a few corners and now it’s sittin a box. 

9- Moma quilt- I need to make several of these, but for 2 years,  I’ve had fabric pulled for at least one and sitting in a box. 

10- Sunflower quilt- made with my friends daughters clothes for her kids 

11- Sunflower 2- same as above

12-Sunflower 3- yep, same

13- Bow tie quilt-  I cut a bunch of scrap squared to make this and never did it. 

14- Bea Lea Jumbled Sampler-  Accuquilt quilt fit the year

15- Sewcialites- 12 blocks out of 36 blocks done

16- Ultimate beginner Sampler- FINISHED 

17- T quilt from years ago-  at least 2 blocks done.

18- Stained glass window-  lots of blocks done years old

19- animal embroidery-  needs just a few blocks. 

20- Kaffe embroidery quilt- needs borders.  Top done,  at least 2 years old

21- Yenter embroidery-  needs a few blocks finished

22- batik embroidery-  needs a few blocks finished

23- crown of thorns.  Has a few blocks cut out. Several sewn together 

24- Tree quilt- not started

25- Scrap log cabin quilt- not started

26- Selvedge aqua quilt-  some selvedge blocks done

27- string block quilt-  random sized string blocks 

28- pineapple sampler quilt- 3 blocks started. 

29- batik HST quilt- lesson from class

30- persimmon dreams block of the month

31- Pat Sloan star quilt

Clover Pillows and place mats

This year my quilt group is doing a monthly theme block and small items at meetings. Well last month, it was Clovers! 

Since I truly have Irish heritage, I am excited to add a St Patty’s month project to my collection. I already had one rather large runner I made several years ago.  Now I will have matching placemats and a few pillows!

 

    Since I am doing the demos this year,  I always make extra and give one to my mother in law.  All three of these items are made with simple blocks and 3 different ways. I love showing everyone a variety so that everyone may find one they love! 

I didn’t really get to celebrate St Patty’s day like I wanted, so instead, we ate dinner as a family yesterday. This month to celebrate Wades girlfriends birthday month.  I was in a baking mood.  So I cooked an old family recipes of Soda Bread.  Then 2 more types of soda bread.  

This is my aunts recipe that came down from Great grandma Riley. I added pineapple instead of Raisin,  like she did.  I cooked this one in a cast iron skillet. This gave it a cornbread like crust.   

This is a plain old loaf.  Nothing special and nothing added until the end when I ran a stick of butter across the top. Cooked in a cast iron Dutch oven.  I think it’s my new go too! 

This is the Bailey Irish Creme soda bread also made in the Dutch oven.  It’s pretty good. 

An entire table of delicious!!! Love seeing what people like best! 

Then there is this Bailey’s Irish Creme pound cake! I sooo love this, but it boiled out of the pan it said to cook it in the oven and made my house stink. 

Then add all of this to Corned beef and Cabbage and meatloaf!! Perfect family meal time.  Then their is this precious little fellow!! My sons Basset hound named Cleatus!! 

Crazy Jean Pockets

Last Sunday when I saw the theme,  I was like, what am I gonna do.  I could only do something small and what did I really want to do.  I was at work and on day 3 of a 3/7 day long work streak. That night, I went home 2 hours late and laid on my living room couch. All the sudden I thought “I have all those crazy Jean Pockets”.  Mostly from my husband and boys and probably multiplying for about 10 years. 

So my theme was there.  Before I went to work, I pulled out the box of jeans that’s forever growing. I have made at least 2 quilts and another top.  This was the new leftovers and all the usable pockets.  I had already formulated a crazy plan the night before and knew with the number I could get it to work. I then spent day 1 cutting off and squaring (or rectangling) up the blocks.  

Day 2 before work, I started sewing random sized strips on the top and bottom of each pocket. Then separated them out by length.  A few rows made it to 7 pockets.  Yep, a plans coming together. 

Day 3 I started hand sewing patches behind each hole and doing some hand embroidery stitches on each.  I also did a few stitches on areas that I thought may be weak. 

Day 4 I had to pack and only had a few minutes to sew on some stitches.

Day 5 I had to finish packing my bags and hit the road to my quilt retreat. We did not get sewing til after 7. So not much was done. But I did sew a few rows together between hand stitching. I added fabric pieces to the end to make all the rows match with no set pattern or plan. 

But on Day 6 it was get it done time.  And I really think it turned out great.  

The backing is scrap linen that someone gave me, but it matches my top with all the shirt looking fabric.  The binding is the same type of shirt looking woven. All quilted with straight lines to just highlighted the pockets. 

We are retreating at a beautiful house on a pond.  And enjoying this view!!   

Full Moon

This has already been a busy year.  I honestly didn’t want to add any more quilts in my bucket.  Especially during Project Quilting.  Well, I needed to make one for a coworkers grandchild and Bea sent me this pattern to test. 

When I saw the pattern, I knew the fabric I wanted to use.  I replaced the lights in her pattern with darks, and the darks with lights. Bea Lee’s aka Beaquilter’s pattern is an easy sew.  One that could easily be done, start to finish in one day.  The pattern is accuquilt friendly. Her is a photo of the larger version and a link to her pattern. 

https://www.beaquilter.com/2021/02/new-pattern-full-moon-accuquilt-friendly-modern-quilt-pattern-in-3-sizes.html?mc_cid=59807929ba&mc_eid=ebfb182c60

The fabric is done I started a project on years ago and red juice was spilled. On.  I loved the fabric and put it away.  It’s a Jain Yenter from 2012.  So 9 years later the entire quilt is done from the old collection.  

The only change I made to the pattern was adding 4 inch borders.  This made the stars pop out in the center. I then binded it with the same background fabric to bring it out to the edge.  

I actually really love the background fabric. I am glad I could use it for one big piece. I so wish Jadon Yenter would put out another blue tone collection. 



This is a really simple sew,  I actually may make another, as I am tempted to keep this one.  Try out some of Beaquilter’s patterns.  If you like accuquilt,  you would love the ease of her patterns!  



And on another note.  A smile into my basset eyes! Annie and her brother Cleatus!