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I actually started on this project a mere month after Fiona had been born.
I was still greatly fatigued, in lingering pain, but was on the up swing. I felt like I needed to find something to do that did not involve poop, milk or screaming.
I hadn't been able to get around very easily back then. The basement stairs to my new sewing room had been a big no-no for the last month. So, it was with great satisfaction, one random day I had enough energy to go downstairs and sit in a quiet room for an hour.
By myself.
That is a big deal, guys.
I started a Jellyroll 1600 pattern, so named because it's 1600 inches of fabric in the beginning, but finishes to a tidy 48 x 64 quilt, that's a little smaller than a twin sized quilt. If you add a few borders you can easily make it to a twin size.
The above picture was taken in September 2012 when I started, but I didn't actually touch this project again until June 2013! Such is the life of a quilter.
I realized that the jelly roll I'd picked out (Ten Little Things by Moda) was very "busy" looking once it was all sewn together.
In fact it was chaotic looking and it hurt my eyes.
I decided I would need to break it up with a solid color which would mean cutting thru my perfectly nice quilt top. You might cringe at cutting a perfectly pieced quilt top, but sometimes you just have to risk it.
It was quite a bit of calculating square inches, measuring twice, and then double checking again before I cut anything.
After a few little slip ups in the measuring department and cutting out more blue fabric, I managed to get it all sewn up.
It was now the end of June.
Oliver's birthday was fast approaching and I had to make a decision on how to quilt it. I decided ultimately that it would be easier to send it out than try and quilt such a big top on my tiny table. Even though I'd quilted large projects in my studio before I'd never sent out a piece of work to be professionally finished.
It's hard to pack up your hard work, mail it far away and hope beyond hope that the quilting will be what you imagined.
(Quilted by Missouri Star Quilt Co.)
3 long weeks later it came back. I was downright thrilled with it.
Fiona even approved!
Though I didn't get it back in time to finish it for Oliver's actual birthday party, he did get it two weeks later to rave reviews and heartfelt thanks.
Things that are worth remembering when quilting a quilt top:
If it's going to be loved and used for lots and lots of years make sure your quilting is close together and uses a design that will go ALL over the quilt.
This helps minimize stretching of seams and fabric resulting in a huggable quilt regardless of all the washing and drying it will go thru.
Want to try your hand at doing a Jellyroll 1600?
Missouri Star has a really great tutorial on how to get it done:
