I Win!

2 Hours, 17 minutes. Yes, I timed it. There was at least one bathroom break and a coffee break and one stop to rewind a bobbin (forgot to do that ahead of time!!) but it went really fast. The first 1600 inches was long and boring. I replayed entire episodes of Game of Thrones in my head and invented a new recipe for dinner while I did that stretch. Then I took a break and made coffee.

I used two Jelly rolls with 20 strips in each. There were four repeats of each fabric.

I really wasn't sure of the best way to order them all and on Jenny Doan's tutorial she says to just take them off the roll as they come. I'm a little too OCD for that so I did one round of choices in the order they came and then sorted out the rest and put them in order. So there were four repeats in the full 1600 stretch, all spread out.

This has been the hardest quilt to photograph! But you can sort of see how the different fabrics pooled a little. I was surprised, as I thought I had spaced them out as much as possible. But I'm sure if I sat down and did the math it would makes sense.

Still, I really really like it!

Really...

...really...

...really like it :)

It's not colours I would ever have picked myself (my aunt's only comment was "it's very...yellow") but I like how it turned out. I can't wait to try another one with colours I picked myself.

It doesn't hurt that the darker yellow and grey print, the one on  the right end of the sewing machine,

is the same as Lady Isobel's curtains in Downton Abbey!

Okay, maybe not EXACTLY the same, but close enough to make me happy :)

Here it is on the dock at the cottage. I tend to bring everything up to the cottage to photograph. Best natural light I can find. Plus, a clothesline and wooden Muskoka chairs. Perfect for draping!

 

I stopped at Appleseed Quiltworks on my way to the cottage, a new quilt store for me, and picked up the above fabric for the border and binding. The lady who helped me was a bit distressed at trying to find a match for the "right" grey and yellow and we pulled nearly everything she had in the store off the shelves, but I'm really pleased with what she found. I had intended to do a charcoal binding but she talked me into a matching border and binding, which I think will be good on such a busy quilt. 

My plan is to add the border and then just do some simple stitch in the ditch along all of the strips to quilt it. Not very exciting but the fastest way I can think of to get this done. Also, gives me a chance to see how my new sewing machine handles all the layers of a quilt. I can already see the difference between a less expensive machine and this new one and I'm dying to play with all the features! Not sure why I'm holding myself back, except I am a little afraid of breaking it! 

I'm the "kid" who still has all the shoes for her Barbies and all the pets for every Strawberry Shortcake doll. I approach new toys with much caution! 

Breaking out the Jelly Rolls

Published on July 8, 2013

A few weeks ago my MIL was diagnosed with cancer. From what we understand it is very treatable and her prognosis is good. She was taken in for surgery/biopsy almost immediately and tomorrow we will get the results (for all it's flaws, I must say I love the Canadian health care system!!)

My immediate response to the situation was to start cooking. I sent over food and had my father-in-law for dinner while she was in the hospital. I made sure my husband visited his mother MUCH more diligently than usual and took the kids to visit their grandmother. 

I still felt useless. 

Then my dear Mr. Ed asked me if I would make her a quilt. I had just finished the one for my Grandmother and have been trading emails with Jo about patterns and fabrics and pre-cuts. I am DYING to try the 1600 Jelly Roll race. I mentioned to Jo that I thought my MIL would like yellows and greys and she tracked down these beautiful jelly rolls:

 I ordered them right away from Sew Fun Quilts on Etsy and they arrived last week.

Between Jo and I we had pretty much decided that I was going to give a braid quilt (great tutorial) a try but Mr. Ed said he liked the jelly roll race quilt a little better (though whatever you want to do is awesome, so you choose). Seeing as I think I'm equally happy trying either and I want to get this done quickly, I'm off to the races tonight!