My New Adventure

I started quilting nearly 40 years ago. I started as a hand piecer and a hand quilter, but over time I started piecing by machine and then quilting using a longarm. The photo below shows a sampler quilt that I completed when my husband was recuperating from surgery. We call it our healing quilt because he rested under as he was healing. Now, anytime one of us is ill, we rest under this quilt. It is a pattern by Eleanor Burns called Pioneer Sampler, and it was one of the first quilts that I quilted using my longarm.

Below is a photo of another of my favorite quilts. I made it to commemorate my younger son becoming an Eagle Scout. I sewed all of his rank patches and other important patches on the front of the quilt and his search and rescue photo from his Philmont Boy Scout Camp adventure on the back of the quilt. Fortunately, he did not need to be rescued at Philmont. I used a pattern by Eleanor Burns called Stars and Patches from her book, Still Stripping after 25 Years. You can read more about it here.

After I retired in May 2016, I began JANDA Bend Quilts. It seemed like a perfect blend of my love of quilting, love of teaching, and my desire to make the world a better place. JANDA Bend Quilts is dedicated to helping others enjoy the art of quilting by

• Teaching quilting skills,
• Designing patterns, and
• Supporting a community of quilters.

Teaching Quilting Skills

I am a Quilt in a Day Certified Teaching. I am able to teach any of the Quilt in a Day patterns. I also teach other workshops as well. Below are some photos from my most recent workshop. I taught the Seven-Pointed Star pattern by Cheryl Phillips of Phillips Fiber Arts. See photos below. For more information about workshops,click here.

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Developing Patterns

I have just started developing patterns, but my first quilt pattern called Geese in Flower Pots is shown below. The quilt is made of three different sizes of Flying Geese Blocks and is available as a digital download in my Quilt Shop. This summer, I will be releasing the Harvest Baskets Quilt Pattern. It will be a sampler quilt of 12 different pieced baskets.

Supporting a Community of Quilters

In addition, I participate in some of The Fat Quarter Shop quilt alongs. Below is a photo from their Jolly Jazz Bar Quilt Along. Be sure to see my reveal for the Fat Quarter Cubes Quilt Along on Friday April 27, 2018.

Dream Vacation: RV Quilting!

Okay. I admit it. I have recently become obsessed with RV Quilting. This past year, I joined an RV Quilting Facebook Group Page. It is so fun! Best of all, we are having a rally this spring! So I will be able to meet some of the RV Quilters that I have been reading about. We are going to have workshops, a shop hop, door prizes, and just basically quilty fun! Be sure to stop by my blog to read my about dream vacation. In the meantime. There is a photo below showing my RV trailer and my RV Quilting experiment. Read more about it here.
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Meet Some More New Quilt Bloggers!

Now it is time to meet some more of the New Quilt Bloggers! The following bloggers are being featured (along with me) this week:

Gail at http://quiltinggail.wordpress.com 
Rachel at http://rachelrossi.design/blog 
Tracie H. at http://www.ricefordstreams.com 
Wendy T.  at http://www.piecefulthoughts.com 
Jan at http://cocoaquilts.com 
Michelle at http://www.creativeblonde.co.uk 
Terry at http://tlcquiltsblog.wordpress.com (Fellow Happy Stitching Team Hive Member!)

Finally, before you leave, please answer the following question in the comments:

What is your dream quilty vacation?

Or, feel free to add other comments or questions concerning this post. I'd love to hear from you!

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Quilting!

This post was originally published by JANDA Bend Quilts.

I chose fabrics from my stash. I had some True Blue fabric by Eleanor Burns from Benartex Fabrics. I used light blue, light yellow, dark/medium blue, dark/medium yellow, and a blue and yellow floral border from that line. Then I added white tone-on-tone fabric from my stash for the diamonds and for the first border. Fabrics are shown below. 

After cutting the white fabric into width-of-fabric strips, I cut the diamonds with the diamond template. See photos below. The template is included in the pattern. I also cut the other fabrics into width-of-fabric strips and then into rectangles as directed.

The light blue, light yellow, dark/medium blue, and dark/medium yellow large rectangles were ready for assembly. The smaller dark/medium blue and dark/medium yellow rectangles were placed in pairs, wrong sides together, and cut on the diagonal. Putting the wrong sides together before cutting on the diagonal, resulted in two pairs of mirror-image triangles. See photo below.

The triangles were then sewn to the diamonds in pairs. Two arrangements of diamond-in-rectangles are needed as shown below. The detailed instructions helped with the alignment of the triangles.

Then, I assembled the rectangles and diamond-in-a-rectangles as shown below and added the borders. 

Piecing this quilt top was fun. I look forward to quilting it!

Now it is your turn! I enjoy seeing your posts! You can link up your in-progress or completed piecing projects using the blue button with the frog below. Please note that the thumbnail photos and links will not show up on this page. You will need to click the blue frog button below to see the photos and links. This may be a little different from what you are used to.  The link-up will be available until Saturday, April 21, 2018 at midnight. If you prefer, you can also link up on Instagram using #PiecefulSundayatJANDABendQuilts. ​ ​

Thanks for stopping by. If you have questions or comments, please go to comments or contact me by email. 
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​Happy Quilting!
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This post was originally published by JANDA Bend Quilts.

As you can see my trailer is very small. I like it that way, but quilting inside would be very difficult. I would need to take apart my bed and convert it into table and benches. The bed is designed to do this, but it would be pretty inconvenient to do that everytime I wanted to sew. I decided to work outside. It was a cloudy day, so I scouted out an indoor "sewing room" near the camp laundry room. It had a sturdy table and electricity! In addition, no one seemed to be using it. With a good back-up plan, I started cutting the logs for my log cabin blocks on the picnic table at my campsite.  (I was continuing to work on my40th Anniversary Quilt in a Day Quilt.) See photo below.

It was very easy cutting the logs outside. However, I was particularly careful about labeling the logs carefully. After all I might have to run to the camp laundry room to dodge showers! I labelled each set of logs and then stored them in plastic bags. 
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One of the advantages of RV Quilting is that you have visitors!  Below is a photo of one of my two visitors that day. The other visitor was a quilter who stopped by to invite me to the the camp quilt guild. It turns out that every Wednesday the quilters at the camp meet in the camp activity center (another rain venue!) to quilt! Unfortunately, I missed the group by one day, and I was only staying a few days at the campsite. She explained that she and other quilters come to this Florida campground and stay 3-4 months during the winter. Of course, they needed a quilt guild! For future trips, I decided to ask about quilt guilds when I check into camps.

​I set up my sewing machine once all of the logs were cut and organized, and I began sewing. In order to get power, I used an outdoor extension cord and plugged it into my clamshell kitchen at the back of the camper. Some of my first piecing is shown below.

Just so you don't think that I eat primitively during RV Quilting, here is a photo of my dinner. I made Shrimp Caesar Salad in my clamshell kitchen. Yum! 

I have decided that my quilting experiment was a success. Now onto the RV Quilters Rally!

Now it is your turn! I enjoy seeing your posts! You can link up your in-progress or completed piecing projects using the blue button with the frog below. Please note that the thumbnail photos and links will not show up on this page. You will need to click the blue frog button below to see the photos and links. This may be a little different from what you are used to.  The link-up will be available until Saturday, April 14, 2018 at midnight. If you prefer, you can also link up on Instagram using #PiecefulSundayatJANDABendQuilts. ​ ​

Thanks for stopping by. If you have questions or comments, please go to comments or contact me by email. 
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​Happy Quilting!
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This post was originally published by JANDA Bend Quilts.

In the photo above, you can see the small demonstration board that I made. I used an artist's easel to hold a piece of foam board covered in batting.  It was easy to make and was used to show pieces as they were sewn together. The workshop was from 9:00 am - 4:00 pm and included an hour for lunch. Quilters do need nourishment!

The photos below show how hardworking these ladies were, I had so much fun teaching this class that I can hardly wait for the next one!

As you can see below, the finished products were beautiful! A big thank you to everyone who participated! I hope that you enjoyed it. I had a great time.

Now it is your turn! I enjoy seeing your posts! You can link up your in-progress or completed piecing projects using the blue button with the frog below. Please note that the thumbnail photos and links will not show up on this page. You will need to click the blue frog button below to see the photos and links. This may be a little different from what you are used to.  The link-up will be available until Saturday, April 7, 2018 at midnight. If you prefer, you can also link up on Instagram using #PiecefulSundayatJANDABendQuilts. ​ ​

Thanks for stopping by. If you have questions or comments, please go to comments or contact me by email. 
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​Happy Quilting!
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This post was originally published by JANDA Bend Quilts.

​The first step is to sew fabric strips and then to use the Perfect Seven ruler to cut the pie-shaped pieces for the circular star. Frankly, I found this to be the most challenging part. After I cut a piece correctly, I kept it nearby so that I could refer to it as I continued to cut the other pieces. I used a medium, a dark, and a background fabric, as shown.

I cut seven orange pieces and seven turquoise pieces. Notice that the different colored pie-shaped pieces are mirror images of each other. I used a wooden iron to finger press the seams. To reduce bulk, I finger pressed toward the dark on the turquoise pieces and away from the dark on the orange pieces. This helped reduce bulk when joining the pieces. I do not recommend using a regular, heated iron to press the pieces, however, because I think that it would stretch the bias edges and make it difficult to end up with a flat circle when the pieces are joined. 

Once the pie-shaped pieces were cut and finger pressed, they were sewn together in pairs and then pairs were sewn together to complete the circle. It is important to match seams, but the seams should lock since they were finger pressed in opposite directions. Then, the pairs were sewn together to complete the circle. See the photos below.

Once the pieces sewn together, a circle of fabric was appliqued to the center of the top where the pieces meet. I used raw-edge applique, but other methods can used as well. I quilted the table topper by sewing in the ditch and then attached the binding. I used bias strips for the binding. That made it very easy to bend the binding around the circle. See photos below.

If you live in Northeastern Oklahoma, I hope that you will join me for this fun workshop on Saturday, March 31, 2018!

​Now it is your turn! I enjoy seeing your posts! You can link up your in-progress or completed piecing projects using the blue button with the frog below. Please note that the thumbnail photos and links will not show up on this page. You will need to click the blue frog button below to see the photos and links. This may be a little different from what you are used to.  The link-up will be available until Saturday, March 25, 2018 at midnight. If you prefer, you can also link up on Instagram using #PiecefulSundayatJANDABendQuilts. ​ ​

Thanks for stopping by. If you have questions or comments, please go to comments or contact me by email. 
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​Happy Quilting!
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This post was originally published by JANDA Bend Quilts.

I receive their Newsletter and have ordered online from them. If you live near Baton Rouge or are (sort of) passing through, you need to check this quilt shop out. They have beautiful fabric at a reasonable price and are super helpful and friendly. They even let me take their picture for my blog. The bolts of fabric in the front are the bolts from which they cut my purchases.

Their selection of batiks was amazing! I chose mainly blue fabric this time for my two quilt classes at the RV Quilters Rally.  I needed a light, a dark, and three mediums for the Random Star Quilt. I love these colors! I was supposed to select a medium and a dark solid/tone on tone for the attic windows setting for the T-Shirt Quilt, but I went a little rogue. I could not resist the dinosaur fabric! It just seemed to fit my science theme for the T-shirt Quilt so well. We will see how that works out!

As you can see I love their fabric, but what is really special about The Quilt Corner is their amazing classes.  They have such a variety of quality classes to choose from! If you live in or near Baton Rouge, LA check them out. If you live far away like I do, check out their online shopping.

I have a lot more to share about my Quilting Road Trip, including what it is like to RV camp and quilt. I will save that for next time!

Now it is your turn! I enjoy seeing your posts! You can link up your in-progress or completed piecing projects using the blue button with the frog below. Please note that the thumbnail photos and links will not show up on this page. You will need to click the blue frog button below to see the photos and links. This may be a little different from what you are used to.  The link-up will be available until Saturday, March 17, 2018 at midnight. If you prefer, you can also link up on Instagram using #PiecefulSundayatJANDABendQuilts. ​ ​

Thanks for stopping by. If you have questions or comments, please go to comments or contact me by email. 
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​Happy Quilting!
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This post was originally published by JANDA Bend Quilts.

I made the awning myself.  I love my clam shell Teardrop. The back opens to reveal a full kitchen with a sink, running water, two propane burners, drawers and cabinets, a prep counter, a small refrigerator,  a TV, and a sound system. Inside there is a small bathroom,  a bench, storage, a table and bench that turns into a queen-size bed, another TV, and an entertainment center with radio, CD player and DVD player. All the comforts of home!

So far, I have only done hand stitching while glamping. The photo below shows the hand sewing that I did when we travelled to see the Solar Eclipse. However on this trip, I will be bringing my new portable sewing machine with me. I have a whole list of needed supplies for the classes that I will be taking. That was helpful! I will be making the Random Stars Quilt and a T-Shirt Quilt. They have indoor space for the classes and for free-time sewing. At the campsite, I can set up my sewing machine on the indoor table if the weather is bad. If the weather is good, I may sew on the campsite picnic table. I am playing that by ear.

I am particularly excited about the T-Shirt Quilt because I will be using science-related T-shirts from when I was a high school science teacher and a science education professor at the university. The Random Star Quilt is beautiful as well.  I am pre-cutting fabric before I leave.

​​I plan on doing a shake-down glamping trip with sewing to make sure that I have everything I need.  This is going to be so much fun. I will try to take photos and do interviews so that I can share them here.  However, mainly I am going to have fun. For information about the RV Quilters group, see our Facebook Group Page!

Now it is your turn! I enjoy seeing your posts! You can link up your in-progress or completed piecing projects using the blue button with the frog below. Please note that the thumbnail photos and links will not show up on this page. You will need to click the blue frog button below to see the photos and links. This may be a little different from what you are used to.  The link-up will be available until Saturday, March 3, 2018 at midnight. If you prefer, you can also link up on Instagram using #PiecefulSundayatJANDABendQuilts. ​ 

Thanks for stopping by. If you have questions or comments, please go to comments or contact me by email. 
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​Happy Quilting!
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This post was originally published by JANDA Bend Quilts.

The first block for the quilt we are making is of course the Log Cabin Block. After all, Log Cabin Quilts was her first book! I will be using Homestead Fabrics from Benartex which were designed by Eleanor Burns. The photo above shows the six medium and dark fabrics that I will be using for the medium and dark logs of the block and the beige fabric that I will be using for all of the light colored logs. The bright red fabric will be the center square for each of the blocks. As Eleanor explained today, a red center block is traditional and represents the hearth with is the heart of the home. The light colored logs represent the good times of life and the dark logs represent the troubled times.

Eleanor also demonstrated how to use the new Quilt in a Day Log Cabin Ruler to make 12" and 6" Log Cabin Blocks. The ruler is not available in stores yet, but it was included in the 2018 Block Party membership. I received mine last week. It is shown in the photo below.

I am making the king size version of this quilt, so I need to make 28 Log Cabin blocks by next month. Wish me luck! Next month we will see the first two sampler blocks in the quilt. If you are not a Block Party member, or if you missed the live program, you can see the video on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tLPYJWG14o&t=28s​. Enjoy!

Now it is your turn! I enjoy seeing your posts! You can link up your in-progress or completed piecing projects using the blue button with the frog below. Please note that the thumbnail photos and links will not show up on this page. You will need to click the blue frog button below to see the photos and links. This may be a little different from what you are used to.  The link-up will be available until Saturday, February 24, 2018 at midnight. If you prefer, you can also link up on Instagram using #PiecefulSundayatJANDABendQuilts. ​ ​

Thanks for stopping by. If you have questions or comments, please go to comments or contact me by email. 
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​Happy Quilting!
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This post was originally published by JANDA Bend Quilts.

​The pattern is easy to follow and results in accurate Hunter's Star blocks. The required pieces are rectangles and squares. I wanted to make multiple blocks, so I cut strips of fabric and then cut them into the correct-sized rectangles and squares. Some the squares were cut along the diagonal to make right triangles. After sewing the rectangles to the sides of right triangles, the block was trimmed as shown below. I found that it was important to press seams as I went, making sure that they were pressed as directed. This resulted in seams locking during construction and more accurate piecing.  However, I did not used an electric iron. I pressed the seams down with a wooden iron. If you do not have one, you could finger press the seams. I did not use an electric iron because I did not want to stretch the bias edges of the triangles. 

​A triangular block with the colors reversed was made as well. Then the two contrasting triangles were sewn together to form a square as in the photo below. Note that it is important to match the inner square corners along the diagonal. The block was trimmed to 9 1/2" square. I used my Quilt in a Day Square Up Ruler. Finally the corner triangles were added using the flip and sew method to complete the block unit as shown at the top of this post.

​Once the unit blocks are made, they can be arranged in a variety of ways. Here are some examples.

​I decided to make a table runner. The photo below shows my table runner ready for quilting. It used a total of 12 blocks in three colors. The border fabric is the same as the background material.  The table runner is quite wide and long at 24 1/2" by 60 1/2". I have a large table that it will fit on very well.  I plan on quilting it primarily in the ditch on my sewing machine.

 
There will be a pattern available on The Fat Quarter Shop website for the table runner, and lap, twin, and queen sized quilts. Check it out! It is a very versatile pattern and lots of fun to make. There are additional variations of the Hunter Star Quilt block on Instagram. To see them, use #fqsquiltalong, #hunterstarquilt, and #classicandvintage.
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Thanks for stopping by. If you have questions or comments, please go to comments or contact me by email. 

​Happy Quilting!
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This post was originally published by JANDA Bend Quilts.

I am also excited to start the Quilt in a Day 2018 Block Party! My husband gave me the block party as a Christmas present. I have participated each year for many years. I enjoy Eleanor's Block Party videos which I can see over the internet, and I enjoy seeing the new books before they are for sale. This year is the fortieth anniversary of Quilt in a Day.  I plan on revealing my pieced blocks here as we go. You will need to wait until next year for the patterns and instructions though. I will be using Eleanor's new fabric line called Homestead by Benartex. I purchased yardage for the borders and background and two Layer Cakes for the blocks.  I know that this will be a fun journey. If you are interested in participating, see Quilt in a Day (not an affiliate link). There is still time to join in!

Now it is your turn! I enjoy seeing your posts! You can link up your in-progress or completed piecing projects using the blue button with the frog below. Please note that the thumbnail photos and links will not show up on this page. You will need to click the blue frog button below to see the photos and links. This may be a little different from what you are used to.  The link-up will be available until Saturday, February 17, 2018 at midnight. If you prefer, you can also link up on Instagram using #PiecefulSundayatJANDABendQuilts. ​ ​

Thanks for stopping by. If you have questions or comments, please go to comments or contact me by email. 
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Happy New Year and Happy Quilting!
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This post was originally published by JANDA Bend Quilts.