Jelly Roll Race with All Stars

Trends move fast in the quilt world, and the Jelly Roll Race is certainly one!

A roll has 42 strips that equal about 1600"!

It seems like everybody has a "jelly roll" of 2.5" cut strips....a marketing idea from Moda that passed into common usage almost immediately. And despite a rash of pattern and project books designed to use them (and their cousins of bakery-themed pre-cut squares and other shapes) they seem to hang around for awhile. You probably have one!
The Jelly Roll Race is a fun way to use up a roll, and the All Star Quilters had a competition at their recent retreat.


Several people brought their own roll, but everyone also found a roll in their "goodie bag" upon arrival...truly a heroic effort by the Retreat Committee, who cut & rolled them all!

Featherweights were still stitching on after some computerized machines bit the dust!

The idea is simple: connect all the strips into one long piece, fold and cut in half, then repeat about 5 times.
Of course, it's not quite as easy as it sounds, and those who had helpers to untwist the strips sewed a bit faster!


When it's done, you have a cute quilt, perfect for a child's gift or a charity project.

Traditional picture of taking a picture of another photographer

Strips can be joined with a straight or diagonal seam

If you didn't already click on it above, do check out the Jelly Roll 1600  on YouTube to see a group of ladies showing how it is done.

Ain't Afraid of No Judge!

I had a wonderful time with the Honeybee Quilters Guild last night. My talk was "I Ain't Afraid of No Judge", which attempts to get quilters comfortable with entering a show. For truth in advertising, I bring quite a few of my quilts with the judge's critique/ comment sheet pinned right to each one for anybody to see.

That's "Perky Old Men" on top at the left, then "The Spicy Quilt" in the center, and my latest, "Shining Sea" on the right.
That black and red checkered border belongs to "The Black T-Shirt Quilt", the black & pink peeking out at the bottom is "Roxanne's Honeymoon" and the corner at the bottom right is "Autumn Glory".


Many quilters are afraid to enter their quilts in a show because they will be "judged". Well, all that means is some body with a lot of experience is going to spend maybe 2-3 minutes looking over your quilt, and give you some helpful comments. That judge will never see all the things you know you might have done better.
A trained judge (NQA certified, for example) will be mostly looking at what's right about your quilt, and maybe give a comment that nudges you to do better. (yes, I did have a tension problem on my machine! yes, I should be more precise in my piecing! Did I already know that? YES!) 


Many local quilt shows are open entry, either to the sponsoring guild or the public. That means if you get your entry in on time (and pay attention to the other rules) your quilt will be shown.
Most of the larger national shows are juried first. That means you send in pictures and a panel of judges decides which entries will be in the show. That's necessary for one like Quilt National where there are over 1, 000 entries and only room to hang about 80. So you can feel proud just to get into one of those!


Many times there is not much difference between the winners in any category, and the judge is placing them in some order because people want awards! So don't be too concerned over why something got one ribbon and not another. 
OK, we'd all like to get that first place blue ribbon...and the people who do have usually spent their time paying attention to details (like going back to make sure those points match). The rest of us have moved on to the next project!


It's fun to see your quilt hanging in a show, and it's a great motivator to do even better work. So whether you are a real competitor (a true sport in itself!) or just someone who likes what you made, and wants to share it, don't be afraid to enter a show!

Four years of Patchwork Pie

Happy Birthday, Patchwork Pie! It's hard to believe this blog is four years old.
Thanks to all my fantastic Followers (who have re-appeared on the side bar since I switched to Chrome for my browser), and also the many other people who drop in for a piece of pie occasionally.

I wanted a pumpkin pie to celebrate today, but the bakery sold out already by 1:00.
So here's a picture of pie in Paducah, which is a very good place for any quilter to be!


Tomorrow I'll be visiting with the Honeybee Quilters Guild. They meet at Cinnamon's Quilt Shoppe right here in Jacksonville. Not only are they part of the seven-guild group who put on QuiltFest every year, they also have a great annual "retreat" in February with several national teachers.
We're going to be talking about quilt shows and why "I Ain't Afraid of No Judge!" (that's my new lecture). As always, it should be a lot of fun! I will bravely expose my judges' critique sheets, most of which note the machine quilting knots on the back...
...as if I didn't know!

Business & Busy-ness

Tomorrow is the birthday of Patchwork Pie, and I am feeling guilty about neglecting my posts!
Sometimes a person just gets tied up with so many things, nothing gets done. That's a good time to ask: Is this business...or it just busy-ness?
I bought a wonderful new Janome 7700 Horizon back in August, and this is as far as I've come:

It's about 1" too wide for the cut-out previously home to my Pfaff 1475. I'm hoping this is the week it finally gets installed. I'll use the extension table that came with the machine to go around the free arm, which means I'll have to adjust the shelf (it is hanging in there on screws) so the machine is just a tad bit higher than the edge of the desk.
I hope that is not too high to keep the pressure foot knee-lift (not in the pic) from working.
I did quilt most of two small quilts while my new machine was on the dining room table. That only reminded me of how terrible it is to quilt when the machine is at the wrong height.


So I have been busy with business, thanks to Cherry-Cherry (AKA "The Business Manager") who keeps me on track. I published the "Shining Sea" pattern, and am now at work on one called "Groundhog Day".
I always wanted to have a Groundhog Day pattern, and never quite found the right idea. Then as I was working on one called "Monkey Business", I discovered that there are are currently several patterns with that same title!
This was a no-brainer....it is now called "Groundhog Day", and you will understand why when you see it.
For those who made the "Monkey Business" quilt in a Mystery Quilt class, it's almost--but not quite!-- the same pattern.


It's a busy week coming up here! I have to celebrate the Patchwork Pie blog tomorrow, then lectures to give for two different guilds in town, the Bad Girls Pie Club is meeting Thursday, and Saturday is a quilt guild Tag Sale. After all that is over, it's time to sneak off for a 4-day Quilters Retreat.
Whew! Hope you are also busy with good things. 

QuiltFest 2011 catch-up

QuiltFest, the local show that has grown to regional status, flew by this year. My mind was involved with so many things I did not get nearly the photos I wanted...but here's the one you want:

BEST of SHOW
"Tree of Lfe" by Wilhelmina Vandevoode (Sieverville, TN)

This hand-quilted beauty is really a work of art. The details are outstanding, with too many techniques to mention!

Wonderful applique work is emebllished with tiny embroidered leaves. Notice the subtle color changes throughout the quilt!

The beadwork was so tiny I couldn't even get a good close-up!

And the reason QuiltFest hangs the Best of Show by itself...to make the back easy to view!
All these things go into the judge's decision about Best of Show, which is chosen from the first place winners in all the categories.

I had nothing to do with it, so The Sunshine State Quilters Association raffle quilt won the blue ribbon in the Collaborative Quilts category!

SSQA 2012 Raffle Quilt
"Batik Garden"
(from Mary Sorensen's pattern "Delectable Pathways")

What a beauty! It should raise a lot of money for the grants program SSQA has to help Florida groups do quilt-related eductional and charitable events.

My quilt did not really deserve an award, but in the same category (Intermediate Pieced Duets, menaing two people worked on the quilt) this one did:

Honorable Mention
"Stars and Rosettes, My Version"
Elfriede Echt (Jacksonville, FL)

That's a lot of little hex shapes! Love the two-tone purple border!

My quilt? It's my latest pattern, finally being published this week:

"Shining Sea"
Sunnie Malesky

The pattern has two smaller quilts, just the Day part and just the Night part, plus instructions on how to make a reversible quilt. Lots of fun, and super easy blocks. This was originally designed for my Personalized Mystery Quilt class in 2009 for the Seaside Piecemakers in Satellite Beach, FL.

Well, that's it! Pitiful, but I'll do better next time.

Now that cooler weather has arrived in Florida, it's time to get busy.

I'll be taking my famous Over-Flowing Scrapbasket down to the Ocean Waves guild in Miami this weekend for a lecture, and two classes: Trapunto By Machine and BLOOMS.

Janome Horizon 7700

The Janome Horizon 7700 is mine at last!
It didn't even make it to the studio yet. I had to unpack it right away on the dining room table (AKA the-home-of-all-art-projects-since-nobody-eats-here-except-on-holidays).

Ah, that smell of fresh plastic & Styrofoam! But right away I see the manual, the legs for the extension table, and a bag full of feet, bobbins and other goodies.

Ah, the machine finally appears, with the table and "semi-hardcover" tucked beside it.
This machine is big, but suprisingly not quite as heavy as expected. I do not plan on doing a lot of travelling this this one, anyway. (NOTE: 8/26/11 It really IS a heavy machine...I must have been so excited when I brought it home that I didn't notice!).

Ta-Dum! All plugged in and ready to go! I chose this machine for the extra room to the right of the needle.
I also chose it because I like my sewing machine dealer ABC Vacuum & Sewing Center  (ask for Pam!)and this is the brand she prefers now. I have a small Janome Jem and like it very much.
Bringing a new machine home is just like a new baby...

I have to show it off from all angles! Right now it does not have the special spool holder add-on accessory that will go in the two holes at the top. But I got that, too, because Cherry-Cherry says it makes a real difference for the thread feed on her big quilting machine.

The double-bin free arm surround has lots of storage, but when I finally get this installed up in my studio it will never be on the machine. DH Ed will cut a larger hole in my sewing area...and I'll just save all that story for another post!

There's lots of storage on the top, too. That spindle laying down there can hold a second spool when it's stuck in a hole, and can also be used for winding a bobbin if it doesn't have to come off the sewing spool. This bobbin winder works great! It's been awhile since I had one I could trust. And talk about bells & whistles...in this picture, just to the left of the bobbin, is a thread cutter!

Oh, yeah...it definitely has more stitches than I shall ever use. Here they are from left to right!

Instead of boring you to death right now with too many pictures and details,(remember, it's like bring a new baby home! ), I'll  share things as they come up.

Very pretty stitches, front and back, with the 7 feed dogs this machine has! I am looking forward to some more precise sewing...and I haven't even used the fancy feed system yet.
So...why is this machine on my dining room table, and why am I not playing with all the fun new features?
This is why:

Up in Ye Olde Studio, I'm in the middle of a quilting job on the Pfaff1473. If it survives two more years, it will be old enough to vote!
This is a large baby quilt and there's another with a related matching design. I'll quilt that one on the Horizon ....what a good comparison they will be!
Yes, there is a reason I got the Horizon right now, after thinking about it for a year. I'll share that story in the next post.

Folk School class in March

The new catalog is out for the John C. Campbell Folk School (Brasstown, NC)!
One of my greatest joys is to be teaching there the week of March 4--9 next year.

I'll be teaching the Campbell Folk School Quilt again. It's my design, using traditional patterns to tell the colorful story of how the school was founded. But there are 30 more block patterns included so you can personalize it, make it as big was you want, or whatever! It's sort of like an excuse for quilters of all skill levels to get together and have some fun. And who wouldn't want to spend a week here:

It's like a Dream Studio! With design walls all around, ironing surfaces, etc etc etc.

If you want some time out of the studio (though many at the school like to do their 6 hours of class per day and then go back for more work time in the evening) you can find dancing, music and other activities in Keith House, the heart of the school:

What else could you possibly want?
Good food...cooked for you by somebody else! The bell rings three times each day and everyone heads down to the Dining Hall:

That's some good Southern cooking, too. And if you're a vegetarian, they have that all taken care of as well.
Housing? Very comfortable rooms for 2 or 3 (if you don't bring a roomie, you can ask for one) most with a private bath. The houses are scattered all through the main part of the school and have names like Rock House, Little House, and Log House.
The top of this post has a link to the school's website...you'll enjoy the pictures!...or click the link below and get the page for my class. Look on the right side for the other classes being held that week, so you can bring a friend or loved one along with you:
 https://www.folkschool.org/index.php?section=class_detail&class_id=5381 .

If you want to read more about my class and see pictures, just type Campbell school into the search box.
It's going to be a lot of fun...I'd love to see you there!