I don’t like goodbyes and I had a tough one a few weeks ago when I had to say goodbye to a dear friend and co-worker who moved. Lori and I had worked side by side for almost 12 years and she was a part of my day to day work life in a big way! We worked so closely together on projects through the years that we were almost like an old married couple who begins to finish each other’s thoughts and sentences. Crazy, I know but it was a comforting feeling to work with someone who I knew so well!
Besides being incredibly smart and talented in the work setting, Lori is a woman of great personal strength, faith and integrity. She always made me laugh, (many times to the point of tears), with her stories about her family and kids. We shared lots of sad tears too, as we both have lost our precious mothers in recent years. She knew immediately what I was feeling when I said I missed my mother and she could say just what I needed to hear at that moment. I knew I wanted to make her a quilt as a goodbye gift—what better way to surround a good friend with a warm hug even when she is far away!
The cheery, happy colors of the new line, Simply Color by V and Co, were perfect! I chose the green, blues and greens for Lori’s quilt. I am going to save the orange, pink, gold and purple for another project.
Precuts of a charm pack and jelly roll come together so easily for this quilt. This finished throw size quilt measures 50 inches by 60 inches.
Choose 20 charms you want to use and pair up with 20 of the jelly roll strips, making sure you have good contrast between the charm and the jelly roll strip.
Cut off selvages for each strip. Stack two strips to speed up cutting.
Cut each folded jelly roll strip into a 5 inch strip and a 9 inch strip. Each strip gives you two 5 inch and two 9 inch pieces. Set aside the remainder 15 inch piece to use for a piano key pieced wide border.
Sew the 5 inch strips to the bottom and top of the charm. Press. Sew the 9 inch pieces to the sides. Press.
Trim each block to 9 inches. Arrange blocks in rows of 4 blocks x 5 blocks.
I don’t have pictures of the sashing steps but it is easy….First, cut (49) 2” x 9” sashing strips.
Sew vertical sashing strips to the sides of the blocks in each row of 4 blocks. (5 sashing strips in each row).
Cut (30) 2” x 2” cornerstones and sew to horizontal sashing strips. Start and end with the small cornerstones. (4 sashing strips in each row).
Sew the long horizontal cornerstone/sashing strips to the vertically sashed rows, matching seams carefully. Sew rows together.
Sew narrow border strips (1 ½ inch wide) to bottom, top and sides.
Arrange the extra 15”strip pieces together in a pleasing color combo, and sew strips together in sections. I used some extra jelly roll strips and added in some strips of the same white that I used for the sashing to get the length I needed. You will need 21 piano keys on the bottom and top borders and 26 piano key pieces on the sides. You may need to play around with this to get the color arrangement and length you want.
Sub cut the sewn strips into 5 inch wide sections. You can cut the piano key border in more narrow sections if needed.
Use 5 x 5 inch squares as cornerstones for the border. If you cut the piano key border less than 5 inches, adjust the size of the squares. IE… if you are using a 4 ½ inch wide border, cut your border cornerstone squares 4 ½ x 4 ½ inches instead of 5 inches.
Sandwich, baste, quilt and bind. I quilted using straight lines both vertically and horizontally. (The binding fabric is from Amy Butler’s Lark and the backing is a JoAnn’s fabric). To view more of Grandma Jane's tutorials, including sandwiching, basting, quilting and binding, click HERE.
Wash and dry so your quilt is all warm and snuggly and ready to be mailed off!
How would you like to have some of the “Simply Color” fabric to make a special friend a simply wonderful quilt to show them how much you love and adore them?
Enter to win TWO CHARM PACKS AND A JELLY ROLL of "Simply Color" with a comment (or two, three or four).
To enter the giveaway, do one or all of the following (please leave a separate comment for each entry):
1. Tell us about that special friend or person in your life who helps you get through your day with lots of smiles and laughter.
2. Become an official follower of The Cottage Home Blog (Google Friend Connect, Email or RSS Feed).
3. Become a fan of The Cottage Mama on Facebook (click here).
4. Share this giveaway with your friends on Facebook or on your own blog.
Giveaway open to US Residents only.
Giveaway open until Thursday, September 20, 2012 at Midnight (CST).
So there you have it! There are four chances to enter to win and make your very own Jelly Roll Friendship Quilt.
What a blessing those friends are in our lives. Thank you, Lori, for all the laughter and even the tears we shared! Miss you lots!
Thanks for guest blogging, Mom ~ you are simply the best!
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