Facebook - Artistic Artifacts' Creative Minds

On March 11, at 9:30 AM (eastern time) I will be participating live on the weekly Facebook page of Artistic Artifacts' Creative Minds Facebook page. The program is an interview with Judy Gala about my new book, Roll with the Classics. The interview will remain on their page for future viewing.

For the past couple of years I have been quilting non-stop at home. I have designed 3 new rulers and written a book. To accomplish this I have made over 30 quilts, and numerous pillows, for-the-table projects ;lus a dozen tote bags tote bags. I have become intrigued with making tote bags using pet-mesh, a stiff screening material that makes great see through totes. I add a quilted pocket to the outside of the bag and I am good to go. 

Here is a pair of bags, using a new Cut Loose Press pattern and my newest ruler, the Wonky Log Cabin. I made a traditional quilted bag and a mesh bag, both with a convenient outside pocktd using one Wonky Log Cabin quilt pocketblock. You can order the ruler and the pattern from my website: jeanannquilts.com

New! Pineapple Trim Tool with skinny strips

Tomorrow, Wednesday, January 5, Creative Grids will  be introducing my new Pineapple Trim Tool. It makes 6", 9", or 12" blocks. The finished strip width is 3/4" instead of 1".  I will be watching, so come join me to see how it works.

 

A live live demo starts on Wednesday, January 5, 1:30 PM Eastern Time. Below is the link for the video.

 

https://www.facebook.com/Checkerdist/videos/

 

Attached are projects I made using the ruler. Two table runners, two small quilts and 1 twin size quit. It was great fun making the quilts. Some were quick one day projects and others not so quick. All use scraps or precuts such as layer cake squares, fat quarters or 2-1/2" precuts.

 Pineapple Pinwheels

Pineapple Surprise Table Runner

Pineapple Puzzle Wall Quilt

Gumdrops Baby Quilt and Game Time Table Runner

Dreams

Do you ever dream about quilts? I often do and last night I had a curious dream. In this cream I moved to Hawaii so I could design fabrics for quilters. I love to watercolor flowers, so the fabric I was designing had lovely big flowers with lots of leaves. Hidden in the leaves were little creatures. there were lizards, bees, ladybugs and the like. I have never dreamed of moving to Hawaii but I have visited and the flowers that grow there are big and beautiful. Where did this dram come from? Who knows? Here is my watercolor of cone flowers and one I call exotic flowers and sunflowers.

Several years ago I did design a fabric line for a company, it was called Charleston and the prints were similar to those available in the 1800's. Here is the quilt I made using my fabric line

The quilt was featured in the book, Log Cabin Quilts that I authored with my sister, Janet Houts. The book is out of print but you may be able to find a used copy on Amazon.

Memorial Day

As always, on Memorial Day I want to remember my Uncle Ronald who died in WWII. He was my mother's only brother and I promised her and my Aunt Cleita that I would always keep his memory alive. I have registered him at the National Cathedral in Washington DC. They have a special chapel and a memory book for this purpose. There is also a wonderful WWII Memorial on the Mall in Washington DC, it is both moving and inspiring. 

Here is the only photo I have of Uncle Ronald. 

Ronald Perrine Havers

Pvt Havers was born 1918, died 1945 in Manila where he was buried. He was a member of the 129th Infantry, 37th Division. He was awarded the Purple Heart with 2 Oak Clusters for his service after action that resulted in injury during the battle at Bouganville in the South Pacific. 

Memories

 The renowned children's author and artist, Eric Karl, has died. Andover Fabrics interpreted many of his books into fabrics and I was honored to design quilts for Andover using these fabrics. Here are three of the many quilts I designed for the caterpillar. 

Lost and Found

Rainbow Swirls is one of my favorite quilts. Some time ago I thought I had lost it. This week I discovered its whereabouts. It was lent out as part of a quilt market display along with several other quilts made with my various trim tools for perfect blocks every time. All are coming home next week.

                                                    

Rainbow Swirls is partially shown in the upper left corner. Next to it is one of my original Pineapple quilts. The bottom row features the mini Trim The Tree tale runner using the mini Curvy Log Cabin Trim Tool and the and the Citrus Table Runner. Rainbow Swirls and Citrus Table Runner are made using the original Curvy Log Cabin Trim Tool. All are available on my website jeanannquilts.com

Finding a New Home

My youngest daughter, Heidi, has a 13 year old daughter, Cymia, who recently went on a week long holiday with a friend and her family. Before leaving Cymia was worried about what her parents would do without her for a whole week. They said, "you'll see". What they did was redecorate their apartment living spaces and master bedroom. Heidi came shopping at my lace to find a new quilt for her living room accent wall. She selected the quilt that is on the cover of the  Quilting A Circle of Nine book. 

Close view of the newly quilt display.

Long shot of the living room with quilt positioned over the couch.

You can order the book for $14.50 from jeanannquilts.com

The book has 12 quilts designed by me and by my sister, Janet Houts. Complete directions are included for each of the quilts. There are only 15 copies left, so make haste before they are gone. (In Bridgerton, 1st episode) Eloise yelled "MAKE HASTE" to Daphne, shocking the family. I loved it!)

Neat and Tidy? NOT

I would like to share my quilt studio area with you. It is not very neat but it is very creative for my personal style of working and quilting. In fact, messy might be the best description. It seems messy is a life-long condition and obviously incurable.

Sewing Station

Ironing Station

Cutting Station

Last week I found my second grade report card. Look on the left side and you will see the teacher was supposed to check for "good citizenship attitudes". At the bottom of the list is "Keeps desk and work in order". This area is not checked. Many years have passed since second grade, and I have not yet mastered keeping my "work in order".My studio is creative and productive. It may be too late for keeps work in order, but not for creativity. 

Spring, at Last

How many of you feel like you have been in a cave for months? I have! Between being in lock-down for a year and the short dreary days of winter cold and snow, I have been in a gray funk. I have been saved by longer days, daylight savings time, and 2 Covid vaccine shots. For the past month I have been looking forward to going to Target to buy a  30" tension rod to hang a curtain my mother crocheted for me in my kitchen window. It's old-fashioned, I know, but It reminds me of my mother who passed in 2000. Enough of memories and expectations. 

I am ready to start sewing again. I have designed a new ruler...it will remain a very secret until we release it next fall. There is so much testing to do when designing and developing a new trim tool and I just love the process. 

In the meantime, I have been digging through my finished quilt stash and I found two little applique pieces that I am selling. Just go to Etsy and search for Jean Ann Quilts. You will be there with the click of a mouse. They are so, so Spring! I don't think they will last long. The actual colors are brighter. Yellow never photographs well. 

Spring Tulips is $48.50. Spring Bouquet is $60.00. Both have free shipping.

Happy Valentine's Day - It's a Deal

How about a sweet quilting deal for Valentine's Day? I have decided to offer my self-published book as a free bonus gift for everyone who orders both Log Cabin Trim Tools needed to make the projects in the book. The book offers 12 quilt projects to make. The rulers make traditional log cabin blocks, half log cabin blocks and courthouse steps blocks. That's 3 blocks from one ruler. Purchase both rulers...get the book as an "I love quilting" Valentines gift. Here are images of two of the quilt projects in the book, the book cover, yet another of the 12 projects you can make using the instructions in the book.           jeanannquilts.com

       

                    Mountain Sunset - 6" ruler       Party Lanterns - 4" ruler      Little Log Quilts Cover   

Here are images of the rulers. Remember ORDER BOTH RULERS. Do NOT Order the book. If you add the book to the order you will be charged for the book. If you order both rulers, the book will be included automatically, you don't have to order the book. This deal ENDS at midnight, February 14. The deal lasts only one week so don't delay. jeanannquilts.com

Woven Ribbons - Make Me!

 Here are the instructions for the Woven Ribbon quilts shown in the previous post. The quilt is made from scraps so there are no yardage amounts except for the inside and outside borders. For the outside border you will need 1/2 yard and for the wider outside border you will need 1-1/2 yards. 

The top block diagram gives the size to cut the strips to the exact size. This drives me crazy. It takes hours and hours to cut every strip to the exact size and I don't have the patience. I just want to sit down and sew. Therefore...

I made my blocks using my original 8" Log Cabin Trim Tool. When you use the tool cut your strips for the blocks at least 1-3/4" wide (they can be wider) and use any length scrap you have as each round of strips around the center square are trimmed to exact using the Log Cabin Trim Tool after they are sewn in place. There are 3 rounds of strips around the square to make each block. Trim each round as it is completed and before you proceed to the next round. If you don't have the tool you can order it from my website jeanannquilts.com or order from my Etsy shop.

I sew the borders in place and trim to size, taking care to make the side borders are the same width and then the top and borders are the same length as well. For the side borders cut 8 strips 1-1/2" x WOF. Sew together end to end, sew side borders first and trim, then the top and bottom borders. Cut the wide borders 6-1/2" x WOF and add to quilt in the same manner as the narrow borders.

Today I made a pillowcase

It has been some time since I posted and honestly, some time since I have done any sewing. Being in double lockdown has had me feeling "down" due to the virus and a city almost under siege. I live in Washington DC. Today I have decided it is time to be "up" again. So, I started sewing with something simple...making a pillowcase for my bed in a bright chevron print fabric. The small toss pillow is made using the Creative Grids mini-pineapple ruler with a pattern and the ruler available on my website - jeanannquilts.com

The quilt was in my first book on  log cabin quilting. It's not the first time I made this setting. 

Here is the original Woven Ribbons quilt, made about 10 years ago. I am searching found the files for this setting but they need to be updated. I will post them next week, I promise. This quilt uses my original 8" Log Cabin Trim Tool by Creative Grids.Watch This Space.

Stepping Out

On Saturday, November 7, I will redoing a facebook LIVE program demonstrating my new 10" Log Cabin Trim Tool Duo at a local shop in Virginia named Artistic Artisans. The facebook page is Artistic Artisans. Simply go to facebook and enter the name and you can easily find it. The live program starts at 9:30. See you there!

For a demo that lasts about 30 minutes, I needed to make "step outs" showing how to trim a Log Cabin blocking using the new trim tool. It took almost all day, but here are the step outs that I will be trimming tomorrow.

Starting at the bottom left:

1. Cut a precise 2-1/2" center square. Then cut 1-3/4" wide strips in white and green and 1-1/4" wide strips in beige and yellow. 

2. Sew (2) 1-3/4" white and (2) 1-3/4" green strips around the center square. I always add strips in a clockwise rotation. You can choose to add in a counter-clockwise direction if your prefer. Just be consistent and always go in the same direction as you add each round. Press and trim each round when it is finished using the 10" Log Cabin Trim Tool Duo.

3. Sew (2) 1-1/4" beige and (2) 1-1/4" yellow strips to the trimmed unit. Press and trim.

4. Continue alternating wide strips an then narrow strips in each round until the block finishes at 10". There are (3) rounds of wide strips and (2) rounds of narrow strips.  

It is easy and fun and you end up with a perfect block every time even if one of the strips is a smidge off when sewn in place. The great thing about the tool is this...if there is a small irregularity in the width of one of the stitched strips the trimming makes a correction so it is the perfect size before you advance to sewing the next round of strips. Without this small "as you go" correction the block can be very much out of whack when you finish the last round. The trim tool prevents this looming disaster. 

Making Progress

You would think in these stay-at-home days I would complete more than eight blocks in 10 days. Alas, I have had a lot of distractions.

After sewing 1 sample block I am ready to stitch in sets. I usually sew a set of 4 or 6 or 8 blocks in color family groups. I find this to be time saving and it keeps sets of identical blocks in order.

The 4 log cabin block with the dark sides were completed first, as my sample block is in this group. The 4 blocks with the bright sides were completed yesterday. The quilt I am making has 20 blocks so I have 12 blocks to go. My next group will have 6 identical blocks. The group after that will have 5 and there is one stand alone block for the center of my star so it will be a "one of". Let's hope I have more progress this week so I can complete the all the blocks next week.

Creative Process - Prep and Sew

Time to cut and sew a "test" block before cutting and sewing the blocks for the entire quilt. I always do a test block to make sure I have my cutting correctly figured for each of the strips in the block. The test block also helps in figuring the amount of each fabric needed to make the entire quilt. Note the finger protector. I sliced off the tip of my finger last February with my rotary cutter. A trip to the ER then a visit to a hand specialist at Johns Hopkins resulted. Diagnosis: finger tip amputation. It will never grow back. Now I use protection every time I cut. I have special finger bandaids I ordered from Amazon, the finger cot you see here, and sometimes I uses my quilting gloves I ordered from Leah Day. They all work to keep my finger safe. 

Sewing prep consists of arranging strips in a silverware divider tray to keep the prints and colors organized. 

  

Test block complete! Each row stitched and trimmed with the new 10" Log Cabin Trim Tool Duo. I compare the block to my printed illustration of the quilt to make sure I sewed it according to the plan. Satisfied, I will sew the remaining 3 blocks in this color combination. Then I will repeat this process for the remaining blocks in the quilt. Test block first, then all the blocks that match before moving on to the next group.

A Quilt Design Journey

Starting today I am going to walk you through my design process for a new quilt. The first thing I do is work up my design on the computer using Adobe Illustrator. I have a MAC so I don't have the popular design program most people on a PC use. Here is the design I am getting ready to sew. The artwork has a few notations as to block size, number of blocks, all with labels to keep them in order. The blocks will be made using my new 10" Log Cabin Trim Tool Duo by Creative Grids.

The biggest decision is selecting fabrics. I decided to use some of my extensive collection of Kaffe Fassett fat quarters to make this quilt. 

Fabrics auditioned but not selected.

\

Final selection...I think

I have grouped the fabrics according to color assignments for the blocks. I will be adding solid light colors in white, yellow, orange, and either beige or grey to add contrast.

Now I am off to sew some blocks. Come back on Monday to see how they turn out. Sewing a sample block in each color family will determine if I continue with these fabrics...or not. 

Log Cabin Duo YouTube Demos

There are 3 demos on YouTube showing how to use my new 10" Log Cabin Trim Tool Duo. I am really excited about this new tool. It is so versatile. Just open YouTube and type in creativegridsusa and you will go directly to the video demonstration that will show you how to make several variations on the basic 10" block using the one ruler. They are many demos for a variety of Creative Grids rulers on YouTube. You can also go to the Creative Grids USA facebook page to see more about the ruler and patterns. 

Support your local quilt shop by asking for this new ruler, the 10" Log Cabin Trim Tool Duo. If they don't have it you can order from my website: jeanannquilts.com 

NEW! LogCabin TrimTool Duo

For the past year I have been working on a new Log Cabin Trim Tool. Here it is, with the special features that advances this ruler into a new realm of log cabin possibilities. Visit my website to see ordering details: jeanannquilts.com

·      Fully illustrated step by step instructions

·       Two sets of markings - one for 1" logs and one for 1/2" logs

·       Make blocks with all same strip widths or combine the two widths

·      Cutting instructions for strip widths and center square printed on tool

·      Slides easily over fabric until pressure is applied

·       Exclusive grippers hold fabric in place while cutting

Projects and Patterns

Rick Rack Table Runner  - Size: 18” x 54” 

This Way and That Quilt - Size: 54” x 54”

Ring Around the Rosie Tote - Size: 18” x 20”

Fly Away Log Cabin - Size: 54” x 68”