Friday, March 31, 2017

Jack and Jill

Hurray!!! I met all my March goals. Even if it is on the very last day.
Taxes were done AND I delivered twins.  Meet Jack and Jill.

Jack
Jill

What started as a Dreami moment in December, resulted in Twins (pun intended - meant especially for the former English teacher) in March.  They were conceived on a weekend afternoon, but took a couple of months to deliver :-D

Jelly Roll Strips for Jack
Jelly Roll Strips for Jill

It was a super simple Fat Quarter Shop Tutorial - Jelly Roll Twist. That is easy. I can do that and do it quickly, I said aloud.  There were two problems.

1. Too much white.  The quilt needs more color.
2. Too wasteful. The tutorial suggests using 34 strips to make 42 blocks. Actually, you can make 42 blocks from just 28 strips.

Solids for Jack

First Blocks - Jack

I chose to use one jelly roll to make two quilts. 20 strips will yield 30 blocks, enough for a crib quilt measuring 43" by 52". The best part was choosing solids to match the jelly roll fabrics.

Solids for Jill
Did you notice there is only one color difference between Jack and Jill?
Jack has navy and Jill has pink.

Jill - First Blocks

I blogged about these flimsies in this blogpost.

Jack on the Design Wall

Both quilts use the same block, with common fabrics - grey, white, green and turquoise solids.
The layout of the blocks is random.

I wanted to make sure that the solid white square did not fall along the outer edge of the quilt.  That gives the impression (to me) that someone took a bite out of the quilt and left a hole in there.

Jill - Finished Flimsy

This brings me to backing. I had  been hoarding that blue print for a couple of years.  The navy blue binding for Jack was an easy choice.
Backing for Jack

The scooter print for Jill's backing is a recent acquisition from Hancocks. It is adorable :-)
Backing for Jill
After auditioning several fabrics, I chose a gray striped fabric for Jill's binding.  It works well with both the front and the back.

Jill - A finish
Jack - Finished and Labelled
With the completion of Jack and Jill, the total tally comes to six quilts in 2017.

The twins
This is an easy pattern and if you are a beginner, this may be a good pattern to start.

Quilting Close-up

Jill - Love the texture
 Both Jack and Jill were quilted using walking foot and gentle curves quilting.

In the early morning light

Jack and Jill

Me: Six quilts in three months.
Paul: Babe, you may want to slow down.
Me: Slow down? Whatever for?
Paul: I am hungry and you may want to cook for me.
Me: Or I may want to take you out to brunch. Treat you like royalty :-)
Paul: Uh huh.


He knows I am ignoring chores for the love of sewing.  But he can neither decline an offer of brunch nor argue about my love of sewing.

I win this round.

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As much as I would like to end this post with my win, there are a few other important things happening in the blogland such as Bernie's expanded Etsy store.

Vintage Sheet Fat Quarters

Bernie of Needle & Foot expanded her Etsy Shop and a few of my favorite bloggers were promoting her with a 20% coupon.  I wasted no time in ordering a couple of fat quarters and two supercute panels.  I ordered on Sunday, and received my package on Wednesday. Supercute fabric and superfast shipping. I was happy.

Super cute Panel

Then Bernie asked me if I had a project in mind.
Project? Yes, I only buy fabric when I have a specific project in mind :-D
Hmmm...well, imagine a flying goose on top of each of those panel squares, like a little house.
Aw... that is cute, she said.

Now, I had to make it. At least one audition block. So here it is.

Audition Block


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Some quilters enjoy making pieced backings. I have done it. It can be a fun design exercise, for smaller quilts. But if it is a queen size quilt, I'd much rather use a wide backing.  If you are with me, then there is some terrific news for you.

Connecting Threads (affiliate link) is having a 25% off sale on wide backing fabrics. That means you can get 104" wide fabric for under $9/yard.  Yay!!! Doing a happy dance.

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I will be linking with Elm Street Quilts for March OMG and all may favorite linky parties. 

Did you meet your March goals? Did you file your tax returns yet?
And most important - what project do you have in mind for your latest fabric purchase :-p



35 comments:

  1. Love thees quilts and their names! Thanks for linking up with Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal and congrats on your finish!

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  2. These quilts are adorable! I agree with you about both "too much white" and "too much waste." I watched one of those FQS videos a few weeks ago and was horrified to hear the woman on the video say that she doesn't use the centers of the jelly roll strips because they tend to have a curve in them. She was cutting pieces from either end and leave the middles! Yikes!

    Your blog has become one of my favorites over the past year. Thanks for sharing!

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  3. Adorable quilts with perfect names :) I love your use of prints and solids

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  4. They are both gorgeous and if you hadn't said they were common fabrics I wouldn't have noticed that, they look so different! Congrats on meeting your goal.

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  5. Jack and Jill are so cute and will be well loved. Your audition block is fantastic, what a GERAT idea.

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  6. Oh my goodness. What a great post. Love love love Jack and Jill. I need to try that pattern. I have ridiculous amount of jelly rolls to use. Your new panel reminds me of your wonderful recent bird quilt.

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  7. Love Jack and Jill. The changes you made show that fabrics really do make a pattern. No, I haven't filed the taxes, nor have I bought any fabric to pin to a project!

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  8. Hi Preeti! I love the Jack and Jill quilts. I'm thinking of copying the pattern to use up a jelly roll.

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  9. Preeti, I love your Jack and Jill tale. You have a wonderful talent for writing.

    Both of these are so cute and how great you took the time to find a less wasteful cutting process. Hurray!

    Love your bird house. It is adorable.

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  10. Hi - I found your link on the MSQC forum - I had to come take a better look at Jack and Jill. Wow, what a difference just changing the navy to pink makes. I love your new, super cute panel and its audition block. I think that would make an adorable quilt. I'll check back again soon when I have more time to read your blog ~smile~

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  11. Jack and Jill are darling! Amazing the different looks from dividing a jelly roll. I always love reading what you write about each quilt.

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  12. Congrats! on the twins. It's incredible what changing ONE fabric did to the look of each quilt!! Thanks for the tip about Bernie because I never realized that she had an Etsy shop.

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  13. Your twinned quilts are brilliant! XO

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  14. Beautiful twins! Congrats on reaching all your goals for March. You got some very fun new things to play with. Looking forward to seeing those show up in new projects.

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  15. Gorgeous quilts , I wish somebody had made me such lovely quilts when my twins were born. My husband has given up mostly , he cooks dinner and I sneak half an hour sewing

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  16. Jack and Jill are wonderful baby quilts. It's amazing how different the design looks when switching out a fabric or two. Congrats! on meeting your goal for the month.

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  17. Beautiful Twins!! Hope you got brunch, and were able to treat him like royalty ( ha ha - I would totally fall for that too!)

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  18. Nothing like a shocking line there "I delivered twins." I'm too literal and it took me way too long to realize you meant those darling 2 quilts. That looks like a super easy pattern that I need to investigate myself. Your little bird "house" is darling too. Are you going to make a quilt using more of them?

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  19. heehee those little jills on bikes! The brunch idea is good...

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  20. I absolutely love these two quilts! As a side note -- I have found that ALL of the patterns from the FQS and It's Sew Emma WAY WAY WAY overestimate the amount of fabric you need and you end up with a TON of waste if you follow their directions as is sometimes. I did a quilt that said you needed 60 jelly roll strips and I found I only needed 50.

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  21. Oh these sweet, sweet quilts! Preeti, you never cease to amaze me with your sense of color and pattern, and your ability to zero in on how to make a quilt with more efficient use of the fabric. I can't get over how different these quilts look with the variation of navy and pink. How fun that you are using that panel to make little houses. And the vintage sheets! I can just imagine how soft and smooth they feel.

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  22. These are great quilts! I still can't believe that there's really only one solid difference between them. Nice choices of colors, and great use of that jelly roll! Those bird houses are going to be darling, too.

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  23. Those quilts are just gorgeous and how clever of you using the jelly roll and adding solids. The difference with the navy and pink is remarkable - just wonderful!

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  24. Everything here is super cute! Jack and Jill very inspiring. And oh! Those little birds!!!!

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  25. Such wonderful matching quilts for boy and girl twins, perfect. You have great colour sense. I have a jelly roll or several Bought a while ago, I buy pre cuts and never know what to do with them, I will have to check out the Jelly Roll Twiat pattern. Thank you for that.

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  26. Love the twins! Good color choices on both, and thanks for sharing how you put them together

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  27. Ha, I was stumbed for a second there with the twins :) They look great. And hadn't you pointed it out, I would haver never guessed there is "just one" color difference. Hope you enjoyed the brunch. xo

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  28. Beautiful quilts Preeti. I meant to order fabric from Bernie at 20% off but of course i didn't so I lose.

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  29. I like the color you picked for the twins quilts. Modern look and so bright. Well done!

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  30. These are delightful! Love the pattern.

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  31. Congratulations!! What adorable finishes. I am lucky to finish 3 quilts in a year these days!! I'm impressed!

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  32. Congrats on making your goals! I had to go back and compare your fabric pictures to see that. Both are great quilts for kids that will last beyond babyhood. No taxes done or goals met here. April will be a busy month!

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  33. Isn't it amazing what one color change can do? These are fantastic. The colors are gorgeous and the two quilts coordinate so well. Congrats on the great finishes...makes me want to make another quilt for the little one coming in a couple of weeks, but she already has two and it's almost summer, so I'll bookmark this post for the fall.

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  34. Jack and Jill are adorable twins! Love the scooter backing for Jill! Way too cute!

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