Since I Haven't Blogged in a While

Since I haven't blogged in a while, I'll just post some pictures so everyone can see what I've been up to.  Since school has started (that's right I'm in school again), I have been going to class, studying, riding Daisy, and quilting.  Every once in a while I throw a little something extra into my day, but school consumes my time and the commute just takes away even more time from each day.

So as many of you know Buzz is a big helper.  He spends a lot of time with me in my room while I study.  Sometimes he does the computer work while I read on my bed.  So glad I have the help of a cat to tag team my school work.

 

I'm taking two classes at Big Bend.  Anatomy and Physiology and a Nursing class.  A and P takes the most work and time.  I spend most my time studying bones, articulations, cellular respiration, nerve structure, muscle, connective tissue, etc.  It's cool stuff but it's a large quantity of information to learn.

 

A few weeks back on October first I post this picture on Facebook.  Well today I can say that I have two Christmas quilt tops done and ready for the long arm.  Fifty blocks later.  Take a look!

 

This is the green with black Christmas prints.  I think I will be keeping this one and giving the green and red one away.  Any takers?

Like I previously mentioned Buzz is a big helper.  If he and I aren't studying, we are quilting. 

 

My mom got me to start this little turkey wall hanging project over the weekend.  So far I only have the pieces cut and laid out.  When she and I both have ours done, I'll post a picture of both of them.  They are pretty darn cute so far.  We are excited for this project as we are going to be trying some techniques and stitches we haven't yet tried.

October wouldn't be October without a little pumpkin carving!  This is how I finished this weekend (besides blogging).  This is suppose to an owl.  I see the owl then I don't.  So I understand if you don't see the owl.  Sure is hard to believe that Halloween is Thursday.  That means this weekend starts Erin and I's birthday month and Thanksgiving and that just takes us to Christmas and rolls us into a new year.  Time is a flyin'!

 

Now that I have written this post I realized I sound more like I sew all day everyday, but I don't.  I wish I did, though.  I really do go to school everyday.  Sewing is just so much more fun!

Jelly Roll into 1600 Quilt

Using a jelly roll to make a 1600 Quilt is easy!  Check out this YouTube video to see for yourself!  It is a 1600 Quilt race where the winner sewed the quilt top in 35 minutes! 

• Jelly Roll:  Forty 2.5 inches by 44 inches strips of various fabrics from a collection.  These can be found already bundled at fabric or quilt shops.
• 1600 Quilt:  a quilt made using a jelly roll; it starts as 1600 inches because the strips from the jelly roll are sewn end to end to begin with.

I was not quite as fast as I lack experience, but I will tell you it was not hard.  I did not spend much over two hours making the top, which included cutting salvages off and ironing seams.

Here is the 1600 Quilt I made using the Enchanted Pond jelly roll.  I am excited to say someone will be receiving this quilt as a Christmas gift!

Instructions for Making Quilt Top:

1.  Cut salvages off of both ends of every strip.
2.  Sew strips end to end right sides together until all strips are sewn together making one long strip.  The sewing of strips can be done in any pattern you wish.  I did my randomly, but I would suggest that you have an idea of how many of each color you have so that you can get colors evenly distributed.
3.  Iron seams; this make your next seams flatter.
4.  Cut off 22 inches from one end of the long strip; this allows for various lengths of strips to appear in your quilt top.
5.  Now you will be taking the ends right side together and sewing your long strip into half of its length.  Essentially, you are folding this long strip in half.  Folding this much fabric in half is tough unless you have acres of space.  So all I did was find my ends and sew.  Yes there was some twisting, but I kept pushing them back until the end.
6.  When you are almost to the end, cut the loop that has been created.  Finish sewing the seam.   Remember to back stitch when starting and finishing seams.  When you open up your fabric after this seam, your strip will be two strips wide.
7.  Fold your new strip in half right sides together and sew.  Again, near the end, cut the loop.  Now your quilt is four strips wide.  When doing this step, there is less fabric to be managed.  Therefore, it is possible to organize fabric into neat piles so that twisting is avoided.
8.  Repeat step seven until your quilt is about a nice lap size rectangle with horizontal strips.  It takes folding the strips in half five times to get a finished top. 
9.  Press seams.
10.  Follow Heirloom Creations 1600 Quilt Tutorial if my instructions do not make sense to you or if you need to read it another way. 

 Left:  The various colors and prints that make up the Enchanted Pond jelly roll.  Middle:  The pile the long strip makes.  Right:  The top of the quilt.

Backing and Quilting the Top:

1.  Lay backing down with right side against the floor.  Smooth out. (Some cutting and sewing may need to be done so that you have a wide enough and long enough piece of backing.)
2.  Lay batting out on the wrong side of the backing fabric.  Smooth out.
3.  Lay the top of the quilt on the batting with right side up.  Smooth out.
4.  Keeping layers smooth and flat, use safety pins to pin all the layers together.  Start in the middle and work your way out.
5.  To make quilting the top easier roll up one end of the quilt about half way.
6.  Using seams as guidance and beginning near the half way point of the quilt, sew along the top and bottom of the strips.  You will be sewing long straight lines that go from one edge of the quilt to the other.  Look below to see this and see what part of the foot of my machine I lined up with the seam.  With my foot lined up where it is, I was sewing about 1/8" off of each side of the seams.  Keep repeating this over the whole quilt.

Make Bias Tape and Bind:

1.  Remind yourself that I do not like cheating on this step by reading my opinion in my Chevron Wedding Quilt post!  
2.  Follow Perfect Binding Tutorial for how to cut strips for the bias tape, sew the strips together, iron the bias tape, and attach the bias tape to the quilt front.  I started with strips of fabric that were 2.5 inches wide; this makes for binding edges that are a little over a half inch wide.
3.  Hand sew the bias tape to the back side of the quilt to bind.  Here is where I mean do not cheat.  Machine stitching will leave the front and back looking messy.  So take the time and hand sew with a Hidden Ladder Stitch (YouTube tutorial) that goes quite quickly once you get the hang of it.  I realize the woman uses a little pillow to do the tutorial but you will be doing the same thing with your bias tape.  You just will be folding your tape over to the back so that the edge of the quilt is in the center fold.  Then you will slip your needle from the back of the quilt through the other fold.  Tip...use the line of thread from sewing the binding to the front of the quilt as a line for keeping your bias tape fold, ladder stitch, and binding lined up. 

Good luck with your next project!  Remember, if you have questions for me, ask!

More Rodeo Shots

Last weekend Erin and Daisy represented the Colorama Rodeo in Ritzville.  It was fun to actually go into Ritzville.  Sure we knew where the gas station and McDonalds were there, but now we have actually been into town.  It is small and cute.  The parade was the shortest yet, but it was the first time we have staged at an airport (at least that is what the folks called it).

The rodeo part of these queening trips we go on is what I enjoy most.  I also really like capturing pictures at them.  For this particular rodeo, I set out with a goal of capturing a certain shot and I got it.  I wanted this shot because I got it from a different angle early on in the season and wanted to take advantage of seeing this team in action again.  So here's the shot!  It is the back shot of Jacob Stacey steer wrestling while younger brother Caleb McMillan hazed.   These two are two of the most fun cowboys to watch.

At Ritzville rodeo, Caleb was a pick up man except for in bull riding because he rode a bull.  He also hazed for Jacob and team roped with Jacob.  Besides the steer wrestling and team roping, Jacob rode a bronc, hazed, and was a pick up man during bull riding.  These two are cowboys!  Not only do they compete but they also help out at a rodeo!

The front shot looks like this, and I took it in Grand Coulee during the Colorama Rodeo.

 

So enough about cowboys...cowgirls also exist at rodeos.  Check out Erin and Daisy doing their run in in Ritzville.  They looked good as always.  Daisy always amazes us by how well she does in the arena.  You can see it in her eyes how much she loves rodeo!

The entertainment at Ritzville was on fire!  After all, this drill team had fireworks firing off the tops of their flags during their routine.  How cool is that?  Cool!  What was also cool was how their horses were so calm and used to carrying live fireworks around.  It was great!

 

Watch for Erin and Daisy in the next couple weeks as they hit up a few last events before handing the crown on!