Hopeful Homemaker

The story of this quilt top begins back in February 2020 at QuiltCon, when I took a class from Carolyn Friedlander using her Hunt quilt pattern .  From the first time I glanced at the pattern, I pictured a smaller circle dropped somewhere in the large circles.  So before I went to QuiltCon, I scaled it down, fiddled with angles and curves a little, and came up with my own mini version of the block.  Fast forward to July 2022 and I have a finished Hunt quilt top with a mini block in it.

Just like my Grateful Melody quilt (finished this month as well), the Hunt quilt is an applique project.  I finished the first of my blocks in 2020, in time to snap a few photos while we were at the beach house.  This project was a quick one to sew, but the prep time was slow.  Lots of hours spent basting all those little pieces!

You can see how the raw edge pieces line up next to each other and then the awesome gaps between them come as you turn under the edge and sew it down.  So great.

But that mini block has my heart.  I used some of my most precious scraps in it.

Although I cruised through the stitching once it was basted, it took me forever to prep all the blocks.  I think I went months between prep.  Overall this is one of my slowest applique projects ever.  It happened in bursts.  Then, finally, near the end I prepped everything and cruised through to finish.

I love the mini gallery of gorgeous prints in this quilt top and am brainstorming ideas for quilting it.  The mini circle quilting is planned, but the overall quilt I’m not sure about yet.  Any thoughts?

So that’s where I’m at right now with applique.  I love keeping these projects in my car and then finally, one day, I have a quilt top with almost zero time used in my studio.  They feel like bonus quilts.  Bonus quilts with extra travel and memories included!

My Grateful Melody Quilt is complete and I’m so happy with it.  I made the quilt top as part of a Lucy Engles sew along during the pandemic.  As I shared previously, I love the happy colors and that each block is a token of something I’m grateful for and wanted to remember.

This quilt is also the first I’ve quilted on my Gammill longarm, so it feels like a big deal.  I struggled with the tension when we first set it up, so straight lines were helpful with working out those kinks.  My lines are organic and often wonky but I’m happy with them.  It was a great learning experience and I’m relieved I didn’t ruin the quilt!  I hope to get much more practice and eventually have the skill to quilt all my own quilts and feel proud of my work.  For now, however, my Grateful Melody quilt is a good first step.

I’ve been thinking about applique lately.  I’d like to go my own unique direction with it.  Unfortunately, I have no idea what direction that would be!  So for now I’m stitching daily on one applique project or another, and sketching ideas on the side.  I love the portable nature of applique, and the unlimited shapes to be stitched.  It’s a great technique.

I pulled a happy red and white floral from my stash for the backing.  Since I was short on yardage by a bit, I filled in one corner with another scrap.  I am enjoying using more scraps, and I always like a backing that has a bit of character.  A simple aqua binding finishes everything off.  In sum, this project was fun at every step (except the picking out quilting lines part) and I’d love to make this one again someday.  There is SO much potential with this pattern!

-Jennifer

I finished this simple yet cheery Nicey Jane layer cake quilt a while ago.  It sat, waiting for photos, until one day I felt like I should give it to a family we love.  Suddenly I had five minutes to take average pictures in too-bright light before I sent it off to its new home.  And then I promptly forgot all about it, until I stumbled on these pictures.  It’s a fun and easy quilt that I want to remember making, so here it is!

I had a few 10 inch squares of Heather Bailey’s Nicey Jane collection, and added a bunch more squares in solids that looked good with it.  Then I cut them into strips, sewed them together to make smaller squares, and made a quilt top.  The leftover bits of solids became a small scrappy border, and then I used my yardage in that lovely floral for a border to get it large enough for snuggling.

I backed this quilt in a combination of new and old:  a vintage sheet paired with more Nicey Jane yardage.  I’m grateful to have found the photos because I really loved that vintage sheet.  It’s nice to remember it.

I bound it with the awesome stripe, also from the same collection.  This Nice Jane layer cake quilt is definitely one of the simplest I’ve ever made, which is a good thing when you have limited fabric or a limited time frame.  Though I think my Color Stack quilt pattern is my favorite fast finish for giving away.  One goal of mine is to give away more quilts.   I’m so glad I gifted this one to our friends.  I wonder if this simple design would be a good one to revisit and improve somehow.  It was definitely a fast, fun project.

So, the Nicey Jane layer cake quilt was here and gone before we made any memories with it.  I hope it’s been loved and used where it is.  I’m grateful to have made it.