My homework is done...

I left Jan's house last week with some homework.  First, I had to sew the strip sets together.

That was pretty quick (and pretty).

Then I had to crosscut each of the 3 strip sets into 3" segments.  I can't tell you how nervous I was about this.  I marked my ruler so I wouldn't accidentally cut a different width. I'm so used to cutting 2.5" strips.   I knew if I messed up, I not only ruined my quilt but Jan's too.  But I managed to cut all of them (except one) correctly.  (My ruler slipped on one of them.)

So now I have 41 sets (we only need 35) and I'm ready to meet back up with Jan.

 It feels so good to finish my homework on time.

Until later...

Trip for 2 to Boston...

Well, Jan and I were finally able to clear our schedules and start working on the Trip for "2" to Boston quilt I mentioned some weeks ago.  (Jan found this pattern last November in a quilt store in Williamsburg.)  We'd already picked out all the fabrics last month, but had trouble finding a day where we were both free to cut, sew and iron.

The great thing about this quilt is that you work on it with a friend and you each end up with your own quilt.  One of you does all the sewing, while the other one cuts and irons.  At least, that's the case so far.   On Friday, Jan did the sewing and I did the cutting and ironing.

(Here Jan is trying to figure out what we need to do first...)

First off, we had to order our 15 fabrics.  (It's so important to keep track of their sequence when making your strip sets.)

We started with the 6 rusts/reds and made our strip sets...

We were thrilled with how they turned out.  Then we started on the strip sets for our transition...

Again, we're loving the fabrics.  (Of course, it helps that we both really like batiks.)  By now, it was time for lunch and a break for both of us.  But after filling our stomachs, we were back at it.  And after a good half day of cutting, sewing and ironing, we finished the final strips sets for the greens.

Each of these sets still needs to be sewn together to make one huge one that consists of all 15 fabrics.  So we split them up between us to finish.  And once we have them together, we still need to crosscut them before getting back together for some more cutting, sewing, and ironing.

But I think we worked well together, got a lot accomplished, and most of all, had a great time.  At least I know I did!

Until later...

Fabric purchases...

I have to admit that my fabric stash has grown a little bigger in the last couple of weeks.  Most of it was planned purchases, but not all.  I've been taking pictures so I can better keep track of what I've bought.

First of all, I bought the rest of the fabric that Jan and I needed to make a Boston Commons quilt.  She found a neat pattern last year whereby 2 people work on it at the same time - one cuts and presses and the other one sews.  When it's done, each of us will have our own quilt!  Jan is fortunate to have a very extensive fabric stash and we were able to pick out a lot of the fabrics from it.  But not all.  We took a trip a couple of weeks ago to find the rest.  We were very fortunate and found everything we needed pretty quickly.

All the fabrics are now washed and pressed.  Now we just need to find time to start working on it. (These are just half of the fabrics we're going to use.  Jan has the other half at her house.)

That same afternoon, I stopped by JoAnn's to pick up some John Deere fabric.  I wanted to make this gift bag to hold my dad's birthday present.

I really liked how it turned out and so apparently did David...

 

While I was at JoAnns, I saw that they were having all their clearance fabric an additional 50% off.  I've been planning to make my niece some Barbie doll clothes and so jumped at the chance to get some fabrics at such low prices.  And because the outfits are tiny, I didn't need much.  In fact, I cut everything I bought in half and gave them to my mom who is also making the clothes. (As of today, we've each finished one outfit.)

Gracie should have some very well dressed Barbie's come her birthday!

And finally this past Friday, I found the perfect fabric to make a Paintbox quilt out of. (I recommend checking out her blog.  She has a great tutorial on making the blocks.) The fabric line I chose is Blush by Basic Grey and it's gorgeous.  I'm going to pair it with some Kona cotton Snow and I think I'll end up with a very soft and beautiful quilt.

I'm not planning to make my quilt as big as hers so I expect I'll have enough of the jelly roll leftover to make a couple of other small projects.  I'm looking forward to working on this one.

Until later...