Green...and Purple, too! My Recycled Quilt

I've been going through my UFOs and trying to work on something a little bit each day. One of the projects I recently came across was a stack of green and purple flannel and a huge bag of old jeans.  I had started cutting out 3 1/2", 4 1/2", and 6 1/2" squares from jeans my kids, husband, and I had worn holes through.

I had already started pairing one denim square and one flannel square (no batting in between), and stitching big Xs through the middle of them with a denim needle. I remembered getting stuck with the layout and trying to figure out how many more I needed of each fabric.

Surprisingly enough, the break had cleared my head for this problem. I even found a sketch I had done to show the layout. Now it was just a matter of cutting, "quilting" and stitching it together ala those shaggy raggy quilts we were enamored with not so long ago.  I love all the different shades of denim.

I saved two large squares with pockets from my husband's jeans. I figured they'd be great for stashing keys or ticket stubs in. Then I made some 9-Patch blocks (with the 4 1/2" squares), some 4-Patch blocks (with the 3 1/2" squares), and some bigger 4-Patch blocks (with three 6 1/2" squares and one smaller 4-Patch in each).

Let me tell you, this thing is HEAVY when you get to putting the last chunks together. I'm so glad I didn't try to do rows. Instead, I did three by three 12" blocks, two by two 12" blocks, and two sections that were two by three 12" blocks. Then I put all four sections together. It was only the last three seams that felt like I was wrestling it through the machine.

Then I stitched all the way around the edges and threw it out on the green grass in the sunshine for a picnic.  It is about 60" x 60" finished.  I love it!

I hope you are enjoying a beautiful spring weekend!

Congratulations!

To Jaye from ArtQuiltmaker. You are the winner of this book:

Please email me at JENGGREER at GMAIL dot COM with your snail mail address and I will get it out to you right away!

Thanks for playing everyone!

Go With the Flow - A Day on the Chattahoochee

It's Spring Break around here and the weather is perfect for a staycation. In our quest for things to keep everyone entertained, we have managed paintball, golf, a movie, playdates, quilt guild, and now kayaking.

I grew up rafting on the Chattahoochee River, fondly referred to as "Shooting the Hooch", but had never kayaked or canoed before.   Since my husband actually had to, you know, WORK, I was taking the kids alone and was a little bit anxious.

I needn't have worried.  The guys at Go With the Flow in Roswell were great.  They showed the boys how to load the boats on the car (my biggest fear) and gave us all the gear we needed.  I had packed a cooler of drinks, lunch, and lots of sun screen, so we were ready to go!

There's a great place to put in just 2 miles away, and it was easier than I would have believed to get the boats and all the gear to the dock and into the water.

Soon we were on our way. What a gorgeous day! We paddled upstream about 2 miles to a local park where we stopped and had lunch. Then we were back in the river for a lazy ride back downstream to the car. 

Anyone else stay-cationing this year? What ideas do you have for keeping the bickering to a minimum?

Shades of Easter

After this post by Jennifer Ackerman, I knew exactly what to do with the leftover Easter egg dye. I found some scraps of PFD fabric...

...folded it and wrapped it in rubber bands....

...and left it in the dye for about an hour.

I love the pastels and patterns.  Since I have no idea how they'll wash, they are perfect for fabric postcards and ATCs. 

Where's your inspiration coming from these days?

Wordless Wednesday - 4/7/10 - Face Off

Going to Guild - Charlotte Angotti

A new month means a new guild meeting, and April is one of the few months when Gracie gets to join me.  I always hope for a good program with lots of quilts when she is with me, since there is nothing worse than a bored child at a serious lecture.  Luckily we were blessed this month with the hilarious and prolific Charlotte Angotti!

I wish I had been able to take the class with everyone else on Saturday.  It sounds like they had a blast, and the work shown is fantastic.  I love how she uses very basic blocks and LOTS of fabric to create dramatic patterns.

I love how she puts dozens of one color together to create depth and texture.  She said, "You can put all these reds together because they have the same name.  It's a rule."

At one point I asked about machine quilting.  Charlotte tossed this quilt to me so I could examine it.  She says she does all of her own quilting on a domestic machine, all in her own meander.  In truth, it looks almost like a feather, and is incredibly beautiful.  But she's right;  upon examination, the same "pattern" was in virtually every quilt there.  She also uses lots of bright, variegated threads so the quilting really stands out.

But when she tossed the quilts and handed them around and folded them any which way, she said something that stuck with me.  She said that her quilts won't last because she's so hard on them; that if she witnessed an accident on the way home, of course she would use her quilts to cover up the person in shock.  She said, "These aren't Smithsonian quality quilts.  These are wrap-around-a-family-member quality."  And I ask you...which ones are the most precious?



P.S. If you ever get the chance to see Charlotte in person, make sure to ask her what kind of batting she uses.

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

I confess. I'm hooked.

I have become completely obsessed with Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution.  I'm a Johnny-Come-Lately, I'll admit, since I had no idea who he was until last week when my walking buddy asked me about the show.  She sent me a link to watch the first episodes online, and we were off to the races!  Pretty soon I was following twitter feeds, joining facebook pages, reading the New York Times, and TiVo-ing Anderson Cooper, Oprah, and Good Morning America!

I'll also confess to making my kids' lunches last week in an effort to avoid the school lunch.  (I did let Gracie buy pizza on Friday, much to my chagrin.  I'm trying to make it a good thing, not a punishment.) 

Is anyone else watching this?  Is everyone else watching this and I am just slow?  You can watch the first two episodes online; the newest episode will be on ABC tonight at 9 pm.  Let me know what you think!

My Second Blogoversary Giveaway!

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Wow!  That last blogoversary just blew right by without me even noticing!  April Fool!

Technically it was March 28, but who's counting, right?

To celebrate, I would like to give away this book:

The usual rules apply - the RNG will choose from those who post here and link back to Quiltin' Jenny on their own blog. If you add your name to my followers (see the sidebar), your name will go in the hat twice. (No, I'm not above bribery. Isn't that what these things are for?)  I'll draw in one week, on April 8, 2010. 

Thanks to my readers, especially the ones who've been here since the start!