WIP - And now for something completely different!

You know that feeling. The one that has you itching to pull fabric from your stash... reaching for your rotary cutter.... clearing your design wall. Last week, I gave into it! A dear, dear friend who has been super supportive since DT came on the scene is hitting a milestone birthday at the end of next month. If that isn't a reason for a new project, I don't know what is!

I cut a mountain of 2½ inch strips for an endless strip quilt, but after making Jaybird's Jawbreaker pillows, I couldn't stop thinking about how it would look as a full on quilt. I abandoned my plan and went for a Jumbo Jawbreaker! I love me some strip piecing... 

Even if it does get a little messy sometimes!

Once all those strips were pressed, I got to cutting using my trusty Hex n' More ruler. I'm not one for gadget-y rulers, but I think I've made this one pay for itself!
 
I love, love, love laying stuff like this out on my design wall. Honestly, how did I manage without one? Now all I need is a way to light it for better pics! Your suggestions are more than welcome!

 It's fun watching the project grow and grow...  

Ta da! Ready to sew those rows! I promise the colours are better in real life. I'm pleased to say that no visits to my LQS were made in the preparation of this quilt. Ah... so satisfying to work from one's stash!

Yesterday, I actually managed to get a row sewn together. When working with triangles, I have a tough time figuring out how long the row will turn out to be.

And that's when I figured out that if I didn't add more triangle segments, this quilt would be far too narrow. Back to the stash, the rotary cutter, and the Hex n' More!

I'm linking up with Let's Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts, as well as WIP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced.

J

Week-end happenings!

So much sewing this week-end! I sewed a fair bit on Friday and Saturday was another great MMGQ Sew In! I love hanging out with like-minded quilty people. We had two new members join us - Julie from Jada's Quilting Adventures and Crystal - and we chatted and sewed the day away!

For once, I effectively planned ahead and had some perfect projects to work on. Small and contained! I layered and quilted the tops to these Jawbreaker pillows that I was working on earlier in the week.

I had to pull a little fancy footwork to get all the trees pointing the same direction on the back. I love this print so much, but I've been reduced to just scraps. Oh well. More Christmas presents done!

On Friday, I was doing a little tidy up of the studio and figuring out what to take to the Sew In. I came across these... large triangle off cuts from my Giant Starburst quilt. I didn't want to stuff them in the scrap bin, so got to thinking. Anja made this from her off cuts. Hmmm....

I cut each triangle in half and then in half again and got to making some smaller HSTs. But I didn't really want to make a quilt with just the Persimmon and Punch....

Off to the Kona stash! I found (from top to bottom) Magenta, Peacock, Lime, and Canary. When in doubt, rainbow!

 I'd normally do rainbow with crisp white, but I think they look pretty darned good with Kona Steel  Coal too!

 

And as the afternoon was drawing to a close at the Sew In, I laid them out on the floor.

I was frantically sewing while Adrienne tidied up... thank God for chain piecing! I got the columns sewn...

and was able to sew the rows on Sunday! I know I don't really need another baby quilt in the stash, but it's just so danged cheerful!

But that's not all! I tackled the FMQ of J-Boy's Good Old Hockey Game! I've been putting it off... just worried it won't look like I imagined. Time to bite the bullet! I decided to try out my newly purchased Aurifil thread on some FMQ. Within minutes, my thread snapped. But I remembered that Linda from Scrapmaster saying that a larger needle works well with Aurifil. I upped my needle to an 80/12 from a 70/11 and this happened....

But once I'd taken some deep breaths, grabbed the seam ripper, and re-threaded, things went much better!  I'm still not 100% sold on the Aurifil. So far, Gutterman seems just as good. Feel free to leave a comment on this topic.. I'd love to hear your opinion!
Left side - un-quilted. Right side - done! Tomorrow I'll tackle the rest of the ice surface. I'm trying to pace myself... my poor neck and shoulders just can't stand up to hour after hour of FMQ.

I'm trying out a new link-up today... Anything Goes Mondays at Stitch by Stitch! I've been toying with starting my own Link Up for week-end quilters. I'm thinking Week-end WiP... I mean, not everyone wants to wait until Wednesday, right?

Hope you had time for some sewing this past week-end!

J