Melanie Testa

Somewhat Obsessed

I love the concept of the jelly roll quilt, simply accepting what happens when you sew strips together, fast, simple, almost mindless piecing and quilting in order to wrap yourself in ‘warms’ while watching tv, during the cold winter months. You can purchase strips in prearranged bundles or cut your own, in color groupings to your liking. It is like opening a bag of potato chips and devouring them, except, you get a colorful quilt out of this! It kinda feels like cheating, but I like to think if it as a reprieve from the other creative stuff I do. It is ‘weekend quilting’ and I love doing it. It really does relax me!

I sewed this one up a few weeks ago, during my retreat weekend. Each gal pal gave two strips of cloth to each person participating, we could use the cloth at our discretion, so long as each person and their fabric was represented. This quilt top, both front and back, contains fabric from each of my gal pals. Later in the week, I will update the blog with a picture of the other side. David and I have been using both of our jelly roll quilts to make ‘nests’ while we curl up and watch tv each night. What could be better? 

So In the spirit of easy, fun piecing and in an effort to start using my own hand printed cloth, I gathered some of my cloth and cut 60 degree triangles, pleasingly arranged. I sewed them together without thinking too much about color, placement or composition. I just wanted to piece and see how my fabric looks alongside each other in a mindless manner.

This quilt top taught me to enjoy simply pieced blocks. The 60 degree triangle block is easy to cut, simple to piece and it looks pleasingly more difficult than it really is. It is a win-win sort of block.

As you will see below, I went on a cutting tangent. This quilt top (I am on a mission to make two sided quilts, I want to stash bust!) is predominantly commercially printed cloth, there are a few low water immersion semi-solids and a few of my latest multicolor prints, but they are in the minority. Anyway, this quilt top has really been an eye opening experience for me. The cutting tangent helped me to understand how to group colors while cutting so that sewing four patches together is pleasingly mindless and effective! See. I am on a mission to mindlessly make!

I am in love with this quilt top, it is teaching me something. I haven’t heard the full story yet. The opposing side of this quilt top will be very similar but will feature my own printed cloth, predominantly. 

Anyway, I am piecing, machine quilting and sewing bindings like it was 1994! Hey wait, did they do that, like this, back then? Now, I am just making things up!

 

My Mom gave me this sparkly, glow ‘riddled’, stained glass art piece featuring the Wonky Star. This is happy making. It links my Mom, Wonky Star quilt blocks and me! I love owning a piece of my Mother’s work, she has been working to improve her skills and sell her work, I love her dedication and her wares. Thanks Mom.

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Comments

  2. Just lovely! I love the spontaneity of your new work, its flow, and most of all how your energy and passion for this love of fabric and art come through and inspire!

  3. I love your hand-printed fabrics- the chair print, the beautiful greens, the beautiful soft pinks of your flowers and the splash of orange from the triangle in the corner.
    A few hints at how you came to understand how to group colours to make mindless making would be wonderful!!
    Lovely stained glass too!

  4. You are making me want to get back into piecing! I agree – it is mindless and therapeutic!

    Love your Mom’s art! I had no idea!

    Hey Girl: we’re getting a kayak! 😉 As soon as I am able post-op, I’ll be out kayaking on our lake! WooHoo!

    Happy New Year!

    xxoo

  5. I too rediscovered the joy of ‘just going with the flow’ as I create my first quilts in almost twenty years. The quilt for my granddaughter morphed into six quilts! Quilt for granddaughter, one for each of my sons, one for a new great niece, a ‘flood’ donation quilt, and one for my granddaughter when she moves to a full sized bed! Three were queen sized, one youth bed sized, the other two lap (cuddle) quilt sized and all were made from ‘stash’ fabrics! It was an eye opener to return to my roots!

  7. Love what you are doing with your fabrics and others too! You make me want to give my 60 degree triangle ruler I accumulated somewhere. However I’m so into no rulers lately but you are giving me a desire to use it!!!

  8. Love your free flow piecing. It is inspiring me to attempt something similar as I really want to bust my stash. Some of the fabrics are like 30 years old, it is time for them to get cut and sewn me thinks!
    Happy New Year!

  9. Your quilts make me happy. They have such a cheerful look to them. I love your chair fabric. Whenever I see paper or fabric with chairs, furniture, architectural motifs, I think of you. The same applies to birds and blousy roses (can roses be blousy?).
    I do have a question. When you cut your 60 degree triangles, which side is on the bias? I have always shied away from all triangle quilts because I was afraid they would have poochy areas from the bias being stretched. When I hand pieced, this wasn’t a problem, but I don’t know what the feed dogs would do.
    Happy New Year to you, your Man, and Peach!!!! I hope 2014 is just fantastically fabulous for you! xoxo