Weekend of Charity Quilting

I love Jenny Doan video tutorials.  Last week I watched her tutorial "Amazing Jelly Roll Quilt Pattern by 3 Dude!"  

I really liked how easy the pattern went together and thought it would be fun to try. I decided to spend this weekend piecing quilts for Project Linus using a jelly roll I had on my shelf.

Saturday I pulled up Ally McBeal on Netflix and started sewing the strip sets together and making the blocks. Today I laid out the blocks on my design wall and pieced together the quilt tops.  I hope to buy some backing fabric this week and finish them before the middle of October.

This will be the perfect opportunity to try out a couple of different quilting methods so I can decide how to finish off the Bright Cat quilt I am making Loni.

I did not spend a lot of time putting together the strips except to put the ones that had more of a pastel feel to them together and the really bright ones together.  I could have spent hours working with the patterns and redesigning each quilt top, but chose to pick a pattern and stay with it so that these quilts would eventually actually end up some where besides the design wall. 

Craftsy!

Craftsy.com is a great way to share your projects, sign up for classes, find new blogs, and learn about deals.  

I love my Jenny Doan classes.

Here is a link to my projects. http://www.craftsy.com/craftsyer/1756

Current Hand Quilting Project - Fall Table Runner

31 Leaves Done

Close Up While In Hoop

Projects in Queue

I have a lot of projects on my shelves, but the ones that are currently in queue are:

• A fall table runner with leaves, wheat sheaves, and pumpkins.  I am hand quilting all the items, but I have set a goal of getting it on the table in October.  I am trying to get at least 2 leaves a day done, but some days I get 6 completed.  It may not hit the table until November, but then again it has been on my shelf since September, 2009.
• Bright Cat Quilt is sandwiched and ready for quilting.  This will be a challenge as I am going to try to quilt it like a quilt I saw at the Material Girl Quilt Shop in Denton.
• Poppy Quilt - waiting for me to piece the backing and sandwich.  
• Spring Table Runner that has been in the works for a while.  Maybe I will have it done in the spring.
• Pie Plate Carriers to be used as door prizes at a church function next Sunday.  I have one of 3-4 done.  I don't know if all 4 will be used, or if I will keep one back as a gift. 
• A Christmas project or two that must remain secret.

I also have 5 other kits waiting, not to mention patterns and materials to be cut and pieced.  

The great thing is I am not stressing over any of it, and I am enjoying myself.

Confessions of a Failed Quilt Shop Hopper

As I was waiting in line today to get my Quilt Across Texas passport stamped at the Allford Inn, the lady next to me asked how many stamps I had in my passport.  When I replied "this is my first one," her reaction was priceless. Her face flashed horror and "you poor dear" in a matter of seconds.  It seems as if  I am a failure as quilt shop hopper.

Evidently, since Quilt Across Texas began September 1, and today is September 9, I should have had time to go to several shops by now. The other couple in the shop had several stamps.  The ladies in front of me had almost finished region 4, they just had Wylie and Rockwall left. I found myself wanting to explain that this was my first hop, and I was just learning the rules, etc.

The truth is I saw signs about Quilt Across Texas at the Dallas Quilt Show, and then months later I was in Texas Quiltworks and they had the book with the passport of $5.00 and there was a $5.00 coupon in the book, so I thought why not, it would be an easy resource to find new quilt shops when I am out and about.  I really have no intention of  spending money on gas to just get my passport stamped so I can enter a drawing.  That is what one woman I met in Celeste was doing yesterday.

My basic plan was just to go to the shops I had coupons for from the Plano Quilt Show, pick up some things I had in my project list, get my passport signed for fun, and use my coupon. I had no idea how serious some people take the whole thing. This is a totally different world for me.

After we left Allford Inn we went to Quilt Mercantile where I ran into the lady that gazed with me with such pity before.  She and I chatted about the route we took to get from one place to the other, what fun things were available, and wished each other luck, but I know she was thinking "that is one less person I am competing against to get my prize."

Quilt Across Texas - September 1-30, 2011

www.It is September, so it is is Quilt Across Texas  month.

I have no intention of trying to get a shop in all the regions, but I am going to go to at least one shop I haven't visited before.

My goal is to go to Allford Inn Quilt Shoppe in Van Alystyne, TX.  I met Cindy Allford at the Plano Quilt Show and she was so open and willing to give me advise.  I am looking forward to seeing her shop.  

I will probably visit one of my favorite shops, Quilt Mercantile in Celeste, TX.

I would love to travel to some other shops, but I also have some deadlines to make with some of my projects.