You thought I wasn't coming back, right?

I never thought that.

But I have been asking anyone who'll listen, "Really? It's May? How can it be May already?" 

No excuses. Maybe a short explanation. I was working on so many secret family projects that I couldn't post for a while. Once they were finished and gifted, I was a bit burned out. Throw in some travels (which upset any semblance of routine here), the ease of Instagram (where I have been posting) and there you have it ~ blog neglect. I recently got my mojo back and decided to update here with a few posts and then return to regularly scheduled programming. Ok, let's go!

Last year while I was down in Texas, visiting Molly, she was complaining about her husband constantly appropriating her beloved college quilt for TV viewing. Always on the alert for possible Christmas gift ideas, I mentally jumped right on that! Upon my return, I immediately pulled out Sujata Shah's's book, Cultural Fusion Quilts. If you recall, I wrote a post on this book for her blog tour and my enthusiasm at the time wasn't just a favor to a friend. It's a great book full of ideas for quick and 'full of life' quilts. 

My son-in-law is a tennis player so I decided to go with that theme. With so many novelty sports fabrics available these days, I was startled to find that these three prints were about the only tennis fabrics out there. My big challenge was finding compatible fabrics to tone down that neon ~ no small feat! I tried to mostly pull from the stash and once I had a decent selection, I returned to the book to find a block pattern that could handle the large, bold prints.

I settled on the Windmills quilt pattern from the book and made a few blocks in the recommended 7" size but thought they looked a bit clunky with so many of my small scale prints. One of the great things about Sujata's method is that the block directions lend themselves easily to fine-tuning a project size. After making a few smaller test blocks, it was obvious that 6" blocks would work better and the design wall was quickly covered with them. Luckily, I was able to find some compatible fabric in the stash with enough yardage for the borders.

I had to use some of this text print of Australian locations since my son-in-law is from Sydney. (And he did notice it within minutes of opening the gift!)

I was then faced with quilting decisions. I think I need to make a large sign for the sewing room wall that says PRACTICE YOUR MACHINE QUILTING! because I never think of this until I'm staring at a quilt top with a gift deadline. The top always looks so wonderful (Don't they? Nothing like a newly finished top!) and then I'm reminded that, just like I forgot to lose those 5 lbs last month, I also forgot that I meant to practice machine quilting. Now what? 

If you're inexperienced in free motion quilting, I think the easiest way to machine quilt is to do something simple that is straight-line-ish. I first stitched all of the horizontal and vertical seams in the ditch, effectively outlining the blocks. Then I stared at the design for a while until I could see an easy but complementary solution for anchoring the block interiors. Working from side to side (the shortest distance), I echoed the blade edges in 'freehand' line, working diagonally from block corner to block corner. Here's a (very) quick sketch to illustrate.

I used a neutral gray thread, but illustrated the stitched rows in red and green to differentiate them from each other. If you click on the quilt photo just above the illustration, you can see how it looks on the quilt. (A few of the block rows were quilted in corner to corner 'petals', but then I experimented by adding that center square on some of them. Fancy!) Since the blocks were pieced in free-form style, there was no need to be fussy about the quilting design. Just like the windmill blades, some are fat, some are thin. Nothing fancy but I did feel the quilting complemented the block design. (Note to self: PRACTICE YOUR MACHINE QUILTING!)

Tennis quilt  60"x72"

This and my first Cultural Fusion quilt were both gift deadline quilts yet a pleasure to work on, though that doesn't mean it wasn't a dash to the finish. In my rush to get it wrapped before the kids' arrival, the best color capture photo was this quick, draped-on-the-couch shot. I kept the quilt a secret so it was a nice surprise for everyone on Christmas morning!

Comments

[Pam Cope]

welcome back!! I need to learn about instagram. I haven't posted on my blog in a long time too, and thought I would start today, but first got sidetracked by your post. I love Sujata's book, lots of my friends are making quilts from it. It is so interesting and unique. As usual, I can't wait to hear about your family - i mean grandbaby! and where you have been traveling to. Take care, cant wait to read more about what you have been up to!

[Heidi]

glad to see you posting again :-)
of course now I have to follow you on IG too.
This quilt turned out really wonderful.

[janet]

What a fabulous gift - a wonderful quilt! Love the text fabric. I always enjoy your posts :0)

[Thimbleanna]

What a wonderful surprise to see you posting again! You have a LOT of catching up to do -- we want to hear ALL about your travels -- AND your other projects. What a great quilt -- I'll bet SIL loved it!!!

[Roxanne]

Yeah! You're back AND with a great quilt--I'm surprised at the lack of available tennis fabrics. You made it work and used your stash and the colors are vibrant and fun. I am not on IG or FB but did click on your link and loved the mittens. Did you make a Christmas stocking for charity this year?

[Celeste]

I had not checked your blog in awhile. Happy to see I haven't missed much.
I know you have been busy as we all are. Have a great summer and I'll keep checking for anything new. PS love seeing pics from your travels and quilts in progress!

[Sujata Shah]

Jan,
This quilt turned out so beautiful I am glad you tried smaller size blocks too. I have had many people now trying different size of blocks and making them their own way. Which is the whole idea of freeform blocks. I love your choice of prints and colors. And a very clever quilting pattern too! Glad you are enjoying the book. By the way, getting back to blogging is so tough! I just posted after three months! Hoping to stay with it. Have a great week!