It's all about the jelly roll rugs

We had Sit n Sew yesterday. One of my favorite days of the month. Despite that fact, I was way over in my daily step count. Why? Well, it seems that I do a lot of walking when the group is over and not a whole lot of sewing. I help carry the sewing machines down the stairs and fetch things if someone forgot something. I've no idea why so many steps, but it was a wild day. One of my highest activity days in a while.

So I'm ahead on both challenges. The goal was to catch up before the end of January and that is accomplished as long as I can keep up with the daily minimum which shouldn't be a problem.

If you've been following along, you know that I have a special setup in the corner of Studio B just for making Jelly Roll Rugs. One of my sewing machines in the portable cabinet so the bed of the machine is flat with the tabletop and then two more tables, one behind the sewing machine and one at the side to support the rug as it expands. I'm not sure how many rugs have been made there now, but it's quite a few.

Rose finished another one yesterday. The strips came from a jelly roll that she had. This picture does NOT do justice to the brilliance of those strips. It's absolutely stunning and I think more than one of us wanted to keep it! It was perfectly flat!!

Rose's jelly roll rug

Matter of fact, she liked this color combo so much, Rose had purchased TWO jelly rolls. The rug above is her second rug. The other one, which she made last fall, started with the green in the middle and worked out to purple. What do they look like together?

We have a super cute model to show us the difference between the two rugs. Shoot - I don't remember the dog's name, but she is a cutie. I hope she's a cuddler cause you just want to snuggle your face in her gorgeous colored coat. And look at that face!! She's asking - "Is this one mine?" I think she's saying that she likes that one best!

Two jelly roll rugs

It's fascinating to see these two rugs. Made from identical jelly rolls. The one on the left was started with the purple on the inside and the one on the right was started with the green on the inside. While I like both, I'm liking the one on the left better. It would appear to have more contrast as well, although they use the same color of strips!

Liz brought a jelly roll and her batting and started the process of making the long ball of "string". The longest part of the process is getting that batting into the fabric strips. She made good progress. She's back on Sunday for another Sit n Sew day so just left her stuff downstairs ready to go on Sunday morning.

Liz's progress on her jelly roll rug

When I was doing some tidying up, I found TWO balls of cording that I had made to make two rugs. Oops - I forgot about those. Maybe I could sell them?

I didn't get pictures of what the others were doing, but everyone made good progress on their projects. The conversation was good, the company was good and we did get some sewing done.

Anyway, I made an attempt to clean some stuff up yesterday. I had a bucket of quilt tops that needed backings made. I had searched through the backings and found fabric for this quilt. The quilt top is on the left and the backing is on the right.

Quilt top and backing

Now the backing is made, the binding had been made before and the whole thing got moved to the "to be quilted" pile. I think that the square of green fabric is there in case I didn't make enough binding. I didn't bother to check, the extra fabric is there if needed. 

Quilt top, backing, and binding

Then I pulled another quilt off the pile. This is the quilt top.

Completed quilt top

The binding was already made for this one as well. DSo what stopped me from making a backing until now? Nothing! Well - except before the cleanup, it was NOT an easy job to find backing fabrics in the stash room.

Binding and the quilt top

Within seconds, I had located this piece of yardage and so very quickly got the backing sewn together.

BAcking fabric

So that's another quilt that gets moved to the "to be quilted" pile.

Quilt top, backing, and binding moved to the "to be quilted" pile

Oh - you think I made progress?? Well, I did - sort of. But there's still more tops that need borders, bindings, or backings. I'll get through it. I have confidence in myself and I could make a huge dent in that pile and maybe even get everything done if I scheduled one day to do it. I might consider that because it would clear up some stuff that's been sitting around.

I pulled one quilt top out of the bucket. I knew that it needed borders added on three sides. HOWEVER, the fabric to do that is NOT in the bucket. And this quilt is on my Dirty Dozen list for 2020. Hmm - where the heck is that fabric? I'll be scouring the stash room and the UFO boxes to find the darn project box. This is why we should NOT have UFOs. It takes a ton of time to manage them.

I trimmed several quilts and filed away the batting scraps and the excess backing. I managed to get the binding on one of the quilts.

Binding on a scrap quilt

Again, if I took ONE day and focused on the trimming and the bindings, I could clear that pile as well. I'll have to think about that one. In one way it's good to get it done in a day. On the opposite side of the coin, it can be boring to do the same thing all day long.

It was a totally chaotic day as we had Sit n Sew, the fireplace was serviced, the house was cleaned. And after all those people left, I had a very long conference call to participate in while I packed my suitcases for a trunk show on scrap quilts at the Brampton Quilt Guild. What a fun group of ladies! And great to see so many friends. Thanks for having me!!!! I had loads of fun as I recounted the stories behind the quilts.

Let's just say the conference call started on my phone, moved to the computer, back to the phone and ended while I was in the car. The wonders of technology! And I almost did it seamlessly. One small snag as I couldn't find the MUTE button to unmute myself. I know how to do it now.

I'm happy to report that I finished The Huntress by Kate Quinn. A very long book, but well worth the read. I've realized that we have to STOP talking about books on sewing days. The new one I started this morning was also recommended by someone at sewing and I got two new recommendations yesterday. I have a whole shelf of books of my own to read!!!  At least the new one is half the length of the one that I just finished. PHEW!!!

I might have to look into a new pair of headphones as well. Earlier this week at the gym, while on the treadmill, I tuned into HGTV. I know - watching TV which is NOT my thing. Well, after three days - I was bored to tears. The format of every show I watched was the same. A handyman (be that a plumber, a carpenter, or whatever trade) with a designer-ish wife. They would transform a house for a young, smiling couple. Seriously--- why do we have so MANY of the SAME shows. I won't go into details, but you sure wonder at the knowledge (or lack thereof) some of these people have.

I nixed the TV and started to listen to my audiobook. Way more interesting. However, my little earbuds don't drown out the sound of the music in the gym. I wonder if noise-canceling headphones would work better?? Those big over the ear things? We have a pair around the house - I'll have to check them out.

Thankfully the next two days are somewhat quiet. I do have a class to teach tonight, but no prep work required. Just grab a book and get in the car. But I have a lot of computer work and sewing/quilting work so it's going to head down all day.

Oh - and if you live near me - get outside and enjoy the weather. When I got ready to leave the house this morning, I realized that I did not have my wind pants on. I dug around in the dark in my gym bag and couldn't find them, although they are in there. Oh - it's not cold outside. So there I was at 5 AM outside in my gym shorts. It's NOT cold out.

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!