It feels like it’s been so long since I’ve been really able to commit to a big quilt project. I’ve done a few small projects here and there but it sure doesn’t scratch that quilting itch to play with some fabric and make something wonderful! – The Jelly Roll Rug Pattern!
I’ve had this small (or not so small?) Jelly Roll Rug project on the back burner for a while because I was busy with quilts and too many other things going on. About a week ago, I finally decided it was time to pull it out and let me tell you… it has been a breath of fresh air.
A little something different can do wonders for your inspiration and creativity!
First of all, I had mixed feelings about this project because it was kind of slow going in the beginning… but the longer it goes on, the more I find myself planning another one… isn’t that too funny?
What do you think about the subtle pattern/texture? I wasn’t sure what to expect so I chickened out decided to go with simple fabric patterns to see what happens.
In hindsight… you could absolutely pick something wild and crazy or stripes and polka dots… anything with these rug patterns! Even scrap fabrics would make a really fun and useful rug.
(This is where I get myself into trouble, planning my “next” rug project before this one is even finished… what can I say?)
The only thing you really need is A LOT of Jelly Roll Strips. Like so so many.
You’ll feel like the line of fabric is never ever going to end…
A Note about working with Jelly Roll fabric…
Jelly Roll fabrics really stick with you… quite literally.
If you have worked with Jelly Roll fabric bundles before… you know this drill… but I didn’t heed my own warning and well… Ladies and gents, do NOT wear black. Just do, not wear anything that you would mind looking like you’ve been kissed by fabric confetti, because there is no avoiding this disaster. None.
I’m calling in a new fashion trend for us quilters. – In-the-middle-of-my project-chic AKA lint-brush-way-over-where? ooh or what about #creativitykisses 😉
After you sew all the strips together, you line it up with the batting and follow the instructions to create the “rope”
Current Progress of the Jelly Roll Rug
This is where I currently am. I’m working on my “rope” after sewing all the strips together and working it in with the batting.
Note on a tool that I thought wasn’t necessary to buy, but a friend talked me into it because… peer pressure, right?
[Turns out she was right] If you plan on making even one of these Jelly roll rug patterns, you NEED to invest in this.
It was a little awkward working with it at first, but I’m fairly sure there is a youtube tutorial (perhaps I will film next time I’m working??) or something similar out there, but I took it out of the package and immediately started playing with it until I could make it work on my own.
It helps you fold and crease the fabric as you’re pulling together up this big chunky roll of fabric… by about 5 minutes in, I realized there was no way I could do without it. (also, the only way to get it off is… to bring it all the way through to the other side of you looooooong jelly roll strip!)
I know its a work in progress and I’m making a little progress at a time in between other events that we have going on right now but its really creatively satisfying and I’m excited to finally be starting on this project!
The Jelly Roll Rug is going to turn out amazing and I’m really looking forward to putting it in the little half bath that I have attached to my sewing room so that it is just a quilty as the rest of the space!
Something that has been on my mind a lot recently has been trying to use what I have on hand to create quilts instead of feeling like I HAVE to go out and buy a lot of fabric for each and every project. AKA Scrap Quilting!
It is so tempting to walk through the aisles like I have all the money, time and storage space in the world… when in fact, I’m running short on all three of those things! haha
Scrap quilts are so easy and fun. A lot of times you take away the stress of selecting the perfect fabrics and colors and choose to focus on fabrics that contrast with each other.
In other words, throw caution to the wind and make something wild! The final outcome will be a wonderfully creative expression of using what you have on hand!
Quilters have been using this method for generations, using torn dresses and saving shirts that were beyond repair, fashioning bits of fabric into beautiful works of art made into a quilt!
What is a scrap quilt?
Scrap quilts use a random assortment of fabrics. You can use the little bits of leftovers from previous projects. You can also swap with friends to get some fresh fabrics to play with!
Whatever you have on hand is fair game in a scrap quilt.
(At least for every single quilter I know) It really isn’t unusual to have tons of scrap fabric lying around … why not use it and make it into something wonderful?
How to Choose Fabrics for Scrap Quilting
Variety is the key to curating a collection of scrap quilting fabrics. Choose all sorts of fabrics, even fabrics you don’t really LOVE. – (Someone has to be a secondary fabric!)
Choose a mixture of print types: florals, geometrics, calico fabrics, novelty prints, stripes, plaids, batik fabrics—the more variety, the better.
Fabrics in a wide range of colors make a lovely mix!
Choose fabrics with prints of all sizes.
Tone on tone fabrics are a great ‘background’ fabric to add
Neutrals give your eyes a soft place to rest and break up areas of the quilt that could otherwise be too busy.
Scrap Quilting is also a really great way to try out new patterns and blocks that you’re not entirely sure of just yet!
My Favorite Scrap Quilting Books
If you’re wanting some more information on scrap quilting ideas, these are some of my favorite books out there on scrap quilting! *Just a warning… it can be completely addicting… and oh, so much fun!*
I’m adding in Amazon links, but you might also be able to find them at your local library or quilt shop too! Ask around and see if you can swap a good brook with a friend too!
So it is finally here, photographed and ready for you to see! We moved about 2 months ago and I had to reconfigure my whole sewing room again! Just FYI, Here is my sewing space in our old house. 🙂
[Fair warning, this post has A LOT of photos 🙂 ]
First of all, I love you so much for your sweet emails and politely asking when I was going to show what I did with my space haha but seriously, y’all don’t understand when I say I didn’t know exactly what I was getting myself into with moving. whew! I don’t know if we will ever do that again!
My husband and I have moved plenty of times before. Most not by choice. In the past, the military packed and moved all of our stuff for us. Or we had sold most everything we owned and just bought new things to slowly build our new home, so we didn’t have a lot of belongings.
We lived in our last house for 8 years. If you’re under the impression that a baby comes with a lot of things… Nope… it is nowhere near the number of things that two children who think everything is worth keeping come with.
I can’t fault them entirely though… there was also me with an entire home office of crafting supplies and quilting fabrics too! 🙂
I know people move all the time and I am so proud of you for doing it. It was just… rougher than I expected. That is all.
BUT it has been a few months and things are finally running smoothly here again… we’re here and it is finally time to share my new sewing room with you!
DISCLAIMER: Please know that this is a creative space and as such… things will most definitely change and shift and probably get painted at some point or another. Freedom to change is a powerful thing!
I wouldn’t call this “finished” by any means… but it is functional and I love my space!
I hesitate so much to show you these next pictures, because… well, you will see! But I feel like in order to appreciate what it looks like currently, you have to know where I started!
My old house had a formal dining room that was open concept to the rest of the house and my mess was constantly on display. Our new house has a “mother-in-law” suite with a half bath and bedroom. It is now my sewing room. Upgrade? YES! And I’m so excited about it!
So here it is… the good, the bad and the messy…
I know to see my before pictures is going to be helpful to someone, even if it is just an ego boost that at least you’re not in as bad a shape as I was, right?
[Type A personalities… you might want to look away!]
When we moved in, things just got dumped in the general area of where they were supposed to go. It took me FOREVER to really sort things out and organize it all again…
Another view – the other side of the room… getting better but still a disaster… (hey at least I can see a floor now!)
I tried several different furniture layouts until I found one that was what I was comfortable with. The one above was good in theory but ended up cramming me into a cubicle-like-workspace in only 1/4 of the room – Not a good use of the space.
If you’re curious about what method I use to decide how to organize and furniture placement… I’ve written out everything in a step by step guide that you can download instantly here 🙂 It is one of my most popular downloads and has helped SO many people create the space of their dreams.
Just so you know… there was no HGTV crew to come in here and help me heave all my furniture around and plan out my strategy to find the floor again. It was all just me… and it all took place over the course of about 3 weeks from the “before” to the “after”!
The After Pictures
When we knew we were moving, I got rid of a bunch of my fabric and a lot of the quilts I had laying around. I tried my best to clean out and purge when I wasn’t using.
Needless to say, I still had A LOT of stuff to fit into this room again. It is still a work in progress as I fill the walls up and find a place for everything.
This is my sewing space!
As you can see, I made sure that there were multiple workstations for people to come over and sew with me! There are lots of tables to spread out and lots of good lighting as well!
*The really awkward closet situation is something I am at a loss for at the moment, but hopefully someday I’ll figure out a solution to be able to use to space efficiently.*
My Sewing Table
Underneath the sewing table, I have a cube shelf that holds fabric bundles, fat quarters, current project boxes and yarn.
A New Armoire for Storage
Behind my Sewing Table is this big beautiful monstrous piece of furniture! It was actually used in my kid’s playroom for toy storage in our old house.
It is huge and solid and so so heavy. When we had the movers move our furniture to the new house, I mentioned that I wanted it to go upstairs in the game room area… The sweet man looked at me and shook his head!! haha. It was a nope, not happening.
Thus, we pivoted the plan and now it belongs to meeeeee!
I’m using it to hold more quilts and fabric and general crafting supplies. The nice thing about it is that while the inside could use a trip to The Container store and some organization… right now, I can just keep the doors closed so I don’t have to see the mess and work on it one step at a time!
Just between the Armoire and my sewing table is the perfect spot for this rolling cart. It is one of my favorite places in the sewing room because it’s uses are endless! I currently use it to hold my quick grab sewing tools and it helps keep my sewing table in a more tidy state.
I have another work area that faces the window where I can change my point of view and soak in some sunshine.
Fabric Storage! (well, some of it)
On the other side of the room, I have a big tall shelf (from IKEA if you couldn’t tell… I shop there a lot for home furnishings!) I store a good part of my favorite fabric – though not all of it.
A Design Wall Space
I also have a large blank wall area for my design board! It is great to be able to leave my projects out and keep them up off the floor.
My favorite part?
My most favorite area of my new space has got to be this corner right here!
I think it is because it is the area that is “finished” the most.
[PEG BOARD TUTORIAL COMING SOON!]
My dream was to have a space for a pegboard wall for my tools. I finally made it happen! Because I know someone would want to see, I took pictures along the way and I have a blog post coming soon so you can see just how easy this project was and why I can’t believe I waited so long to make it happen!
[DIY DRY ERASE BOARD TUTORIAL COMING SOON!]
I also LOVE my dry erase board! first of all… it cost me $7. Yep. And it is so so sooooooooo useful! (and… PINK! I love pink, I was hesitant to go with such a bold color at first but I am so glad I took the plunge and embraced my love of PINK! It makes me smile.)
I love having my reminders and thoughts and ideas up in front of my face all the time because sometimes… even if I write it down, there is a chance I won’t find that piece of paper again for a while. Do you ever do that too?
This dry erase board makes it impossible to lose track of current projects and deadlines as well as ideas I have for future projects.
I love having a space for all my tools in a neat and organized fashion!
My second favorite part…
I really love filling this space with things that bring me absolute joy. Everything in here inspires me and brings back wonderful memories!
I think this is probably one of the best things you can do for yourself is to fill your space with things that you LOVE. Even if its silly little trinkets… limit it to only the most important treasures.
“GRACE” was my word for 2019. And I fully embraced it… I love the idea that while I strive to be everything to everyone and accomplish my dreams and sew alllllll the quilts while I’m also moving and raising a family etc etc etc *BREATHE*… I am allowed to fail and I am allowed to not be perfect and I am allowed to have GRACE.
Because when you have GRACE, you look at yourself like you would a child who is struggling and just trying to do her best and with grace, you have love and compassion.
Anyways, that was my GRACE tangent 🙂 here are a few more inspirational things that I have up in my sewing room.
I have some stickers that I picked up from a conference that are beautiful reminders!
I have one of those letter boards that are SO in and trendy right now and honestly, I love it so much… but it takes FOREVER to write on the darn thing! To make sure you have all the letters and make sure that what you want to say is really impactful because you KNOW it is going to be a while before you change it again haha… so this is my current message 🙂
…and there you have it!
This is what my sewing space looks like thus far!
I’m still adjusting things as I go and moving/organizing, but it isn’t meant to be staged for a magazine photoshoot! This space is messy a lot of times there are multiple projects and kids in it!
What are some of the struggles you have in your sewing spaces? Do you need more storage ideas or are you running out of space? How do you deal with multi-purpose rooms?
Tell me down in the comments! I would love to hear your thoughts!
If you haven’t joined in on the fun of finishing up your WIP and UFO pile… you HAVE to check out this post. I made a vow to work on my unfinished quilts and document it so you can see that it IS possible.
We all have piles of unfinished craft projects or quilts that we were once passionate about… don’t even bother telling me you haven’t any while you try to hide them in a closet. There are no secrets here between you and I.
I’m quite proud but I can only show you one of the projects because the other is still not yet been given as a gift! So look for another post in the coming weeks because it is THE SWEETEST blanket! I love the way it turned out.
Ok, so a slight bit of backstory on the quilt that I am going to share with you today.
When the little boy we sponsor in Mali, Africa told me he loves rainbows… I knew just what to create for him! I’m learning that this child and I have a lot in common already! 🙂
I found a rainbow-striped fabric at Hobby Lobby a while back. It has been waiting for this very quilt 🙂 Do you ever get that feeling when you have the PERFECT fabric for a project?
I decided not to use a pattern and just play with the fabric making it up as I go. (Sometimes these are the most fun quilts to create). Simple. Beautiful & makes the fabric shine.
I simply cut the striped fabric into squares and turned them to create the chevron pattern. Each square is 10.5″. Finished size is 10 inches once sewn together.
The blue fabric I used to frame the quilt rows and the binding is reminiscent of a beautiful clear sky!
Check out the fabric on the backing of this quilt! Oh my goodness, right?!
It is adorable and inspired me to find a picture book all about space and the planets to send him with the quilt!
When you find fabric for a really good deal, this is why I say to STOCK UP!
I love this space fabric. I think I purchased 15 yards of it at $2/yard! I have had it in my stock for a while but I just knew that I would come in handy for an easy quilt backing.
As for the quilting, I also stayed with simple. Straight line quilting. I’ve been infatuated with every single “matchstick” quilt I have ever come across.
The quilt just folds so lovely and bends with every curve when you’re snuggling under it! A lot of this has to do with the quilting lines…. so while it takes FOREVERa really long time if you haven’t tried it, I highly suggest you give it a try sometime.
It also has a sort of mindless satisfaction feel to it while you’re working. Easy and a steady motion that calms the mind and gives the brain rest.
I’ll share more quilts as I finish them 🙂
How are you doing in your own personal WIP/UFO challenge??
Hey hey, quilting friend! Raise your hand if you have a few WIPs & UFOs (works in progress and unfinished objects) in your sewing room!
(Obviously, MOST of us do!)
Are you seeking motivation to vanquish your WIPs & UFOs from your space?
Maybe you are wishing for a secret phrase to leap off this page and give you the determination that you need to finish them!
Perhaps all it really takes is someone to come over and glue your buns to your chair so you don’t have any other choice but to work on them? – (I’m not signing up for that, by the way)
I have been sorting through my sewing room and I’m noticing that the WIP & UFO pile is much larger than I would like it to be. oops.
In short, the sewing room challenge was a great success. So, I’m doing it again (yes, again) with a little more organization and I’m totally asking you to join me!
The plan is to complete one WIP project a month until I no longer have any more projects to work on…. (haha. just kidding, I will always have unfinished projects laying around because when I buy something new, I can’t wait to get started on it!)
I created several pages so you can choose which layout works best for you! I really think we work better in numbers. And I would love for you to do this challenge with me!
So… what do you say?
You can follow my progress by clicking the menu at the top of the page BLOG > MY QUILTS or searching for “SEWING ROOM CHALLENGE.”
I’ll be posting monthly updates as I finish each project.
OK… on to the contest details… and then on to more pictures and detail images of my contest entry!
If you follow me on Instagram, I already shared some pictures over there 🙂
Bob Ross was a wonderful painter and an even more wonderful person. I could honestly write a whole blog post just on him! I won’t because I know that is not what you’re here for… but I could!
We love Bob Ross in our house 🙂
So when I saw that the theme for this year’s Cherrywood challenge was Bob Ross… well, it was a given that I would be working on something to enter.
This is the selection of fabrics that were provided for the contest. The mission: Create a 20″x 20″ quilt piece that incorporates these colors with the inspiration of Bob Ross.
Image from Cherrywoodfabrics website (because I cut into my fabric before I took any pictures… I didn’t think that one through!)
Bob Ross painted all of his paintings using only 8 colors of paint (plus white and black). So it was only fitting that our quilted masterpieces be limited to only 8 colors of fabric, right?
We were allowed to incorporate other colors in the piece via another form of medium – paint, beading etc….. i.e. as long as it isn’t any other fabric.
The last day to enter for the 2019 show was today (July 1, 2019) so I really hope I will get to see the other entrant’s quilt pieces soon.
Here is my Cherrywood Quilt Contest piece!
“Dear Bobby…” My 20″ x 20″ Quilt in it’s entirety!
There is so much detail on this quilt and so many little areas that I really want to highlight… so I’m sharing lots more photos so you can see it all 🙂
First, the details of Bob, himself… and that HAIR!
I couldn’t neglect the chest hair and signature denim colored button down shirt…
Bob Ross’ love of nature and the planet earth is something we should all aspire to have. He saw beauty in everything. “Happy trees”, “Happy little cottage”. He saw the planet for what it could be if everyone loved it.
Here is some more details of the piece and the quilting.
There was a lot of experimenting with this quilt – Not something I totally recommend doing when you’re entering a contest piece… but these are when the experimental ideas come, ok?
I added an extra layer of batting to the quilt in hopes that it would puff up and show more dimension in the quilting… and it did! Just look at the mountain!
As fro the sky… I have to tell you that yes, yes I did totally watch Several episodes of Bob Ross’ show while I was making this quilt. I also watched a YouTube compilation of all the times Bob Ross instructed people on how to paint clouds while I was painting these sky decorations 🙂
I didn’t realize just how much fun this project was going to be until I began… I think I will forever be entering in the Cherrywood Quilt Contest each year!
My quilt was accepted into the show and will remain on tour with the cherrywood exhibition until 2022! If you happen to see a bunch of Bob Ross inspired quilts, keep an eye out for me 🙂 My quilt did not win a ribbon or a placement award this year. While I would have loved to have won, it is truly an honor to be chosen for the show. There were so many beautiful quilts that were created!
