Texas Two Step with a Jelly Roll

Today I completed my second Jelly Roll Rug... & I've learned a lot. My first rug was a challenge not only to understand the technique, but also because my Babylock refused to cooperate. (It kept skipping stitches and drove me crazy!)

Before I started this next rug, I cleaned out every speck of lint and fluff. But it still didn't matter. For whatever reason, my Babylock Elisimo hates this rug and it still skipped stitches!!! I tossed and turned overnight and contemplated if it was time for another tuneup at my shop--- (they take weeks & these Texas rugs are for my kids). 

Then I decided to see if things went differently with another machine. I unpacked my Bernina "workshop" machine" & it was a VERY DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE. This rug seemed to WANT to be created and DID NOT SKIP STITCHES with the walking foot. Once I got past the first few twists, the rows started joining very easily and I found it to be rather relaxing. The only time my stitching went off, was when I would take my eyes off the needle & glance at the rug to admire my stitch work! 

But, I'm jumping ahead...

I used all the same supplies:

Roma Lambson's pattern, Moda's Bluebonnet Patch 

Jelly Roll, Bosal Katahdin precut batting, 

Auriful 50 thread & a jeans needle.

Since I knew exactly what I was doing this time 

everything moved very quickly. I chain pieced the strips. 

Cut seams & ironed them open to make the endless strip. 

I added the batting, triple folded it in and straight stitched in place using the walking foot. I continued carefully rolling in to a ball as needed. 

I didn't rush... all was relaxed.

Eventually my beautiful ball was ready for... 

UGHHHH!!!

Then I realized I screwed up!!!

SO, Here is what I learned:

I do know the technique to make the rug. 

But,

it is important to glance at the pattern for reminders! (Especially for me!)

I forgot that the outside of rug needed to be the first part of the strip to be prepped, sewn, & rolled...

AND

far more important: 

that is where the tapering needed to be!

That meant that by the time I finished my rug- I would not have a nice edge :( ...

Alas- I did not figure that out until my final 6 inches of rounding...

So there you have it- 

CHECK & RECHECK THE PATTERN INSTRUCTIONS!

My "rope" atop my first rug that I promised to mail out to my daughter:  

The disaster of skipped stitches caused by my babylock... and my attempting to resew over the rows repeatedly

I would eventually give up- 

& put my seam ripper to the challenge 

 I put my Bernina 350 in to the sewing table space

 normally housing my Babylock.

Not having a large flat surface became an issue later,

 since this rug is definitely not as flat as the first... 

but hopefully the starch took care of it.

Bernina 350: RickyTims Special Edition

Zig Zag Stitch 2: with walking foot at 5.5 width at 3 length

Rugs ready to ship for 

my daughter & my daughter-in-love

My Bluebonnet Patch Jelly-roll Rug

Today I finally finished my Jelly roll rug!!! 

I cannot recall the last time I finished a big project (without looking back on this blog!!!)
Since I don’t drive or get about much these days, I was quite late to jump on the jelly roll rug band wagon…
I don’t remember if I stumbled on it on pinterest or FB the first time, but like just about everyone else, I fell in love with Roma Lambson's Jelly Roll Rug pattern (from RJ Designs). 

I finally ordered my supplies on line and was ready to give it a try. But nothing in my life is simple these days… And what started out as a jump on the jelly-roll rug bandwagon came to an abrupt halt. 
A family tragedy would relocate me out of town for 5 weeks. After my return, it would be weeks before I would have the motivation to do much of anything…

Roma Lambson's pattern is excellent! And it seems everyone on youtube & Pinterest was ready to cheer me on and offered up videos of their tips, screwups, and encouragements. So TY to all of the cheerleaders out there- 
My turn to pay it forward.

To make this rug, obviously you need a jelly roll. Since I haven't the patience to cut strips of my overstocked stash that I may need for "something someday"...
I purchased: Moda's Bluebonnet Patch 

You can also use your own left over batting and merge select strips... ummm, yeah- that wasn't happening.
Bosal Katahdin sells a precut 2 1/2" batting to make this more doable & I bought 2 rolls... 

I pretty much left the strip arrangement as is since Moda did a great job of making it flow. But- I wanted a navy border, so I did pull those fabrics to the beginning of my strips... 

The pattern said to make long fanfolds to tame the long strip… but then "THE CALL". 

I knew I was about to leave town, so I wrapped mine around a piece of cardboard and sadly it stayed like that for a hellish 2 months… 

Eventually... I started to stare at everyones postings again and reentered my sewing room and decided to give it another go...

"Roping" takes longer than any other part of this and I honestly wondered why on earth I was not just buying a rug at Target...

I followed all the pattern instructions... except for rationally clipping... I used every clip I owned on that first color strip to get started!!! My Purple Thang had no wheres to go!
But eventually I relaxed and clipped further and 
further apart.

& by the time you create that basketball sized ball of fabric rope it is such a sense of accomplishment- you can't wait to start making your rug.

My biggest problem was skipped stitches. 
I changed my needle 3 times. I could literally hear them getting dull!
I took apart and cleaned out threads & batting fluff from my machine. 
I switched between my straight, open, overlock, & walking feet. I played with different threads & adjusted my tensions... 
Each day I did a few more rows & starched & pressed the hell out of them for a week or "sew".

In the end, I concluded: for my 7 year old Babylock Elisimo- my walking foot was best joining the roping to complete the rug. 
And-
I wasn't going to sweat a slipped stitch here and there- it's a rug, not an heirloom quilt!

Actually- I look forward to making my next one!

and finally:

A Pineapple "Chanukah Bush"

This year it seems everyone is creating 

Pineapple Christmas Trees!

So, I decided to give it a try as well....

I started with a standard store-bought pineapple 

and put it upright in a pretty bowl

I wanted to decorate with small ornaments... 

but the pineapple leaves would not support them. 

So, I tied ribbons all about & trimmed after

I filled the base of the bowl with dreidels, 

added a bow atop...

and an old pair of sunglasses to make it cool!

I decided to display "her" surrounded by 

menorahs my kids made 20 years ago...

instant Chanukah color!

HAPPY CHANUKAH YA'LL!!!

...For the love of Silky & Honey

It has been 2 months since "THE WEDDING". 
We survived- celebrated- and the photographs await scrap booking.
When I nagged my son once again about the thank you cards- he actually told me "our pen ran out of ink". 
INK! 
An apartment of 5 residents shares only one pen & it is now out of ink... seriously?

Anyway... I concluded- I can not control everything, but there are things I can take on. 
Ready emotionally or not, it is long overdue. 
Years have passed, and now he is happily married. So it is time to reclaim his bedroom and turn it in to a guest room. 
He and his WIFE will visit eventually & bunk beds just won't cut it.

So I finally took a deep breathe and decided to stop procrastinating.
A room full of a lifetime of memories, laughter, tantrums & love. 
A room he so easily left behind- perhaps without so much of a second thought-
now bringing me to tears.. as I am full of thought.
A shrine you might say to my little guy.. minus the mess on the floor it always had when he lived 🏡 home!

So where does one begin to pack up the childhood of all those "had to have its"... 
Those things taken on by a younger child as MINE MINE MINE- and so easily discarded by an older son. 
Disney toys once actively involved in sibling play. They took him to Infinity & Beyond!
Leagues of Lego's & Action Figures- replaced by Gameboys & WW11... both Later further replaced by MACs & XBOX.
Hours and hours spent with Pokemon Cards & Comic Books- ALL later replaced by Internet reads & text messages. 
Every nook and cranny reveals a forgotten treasure... an abandoned "MINE MINE MINE"

Well- WTH do I do with all this collectible stuff NOW???

When my son was 8, we visited Japan. His bear "Honey" and a small bit of soft flannel cloth known as "Silky" were left behind. I cannot remember a day from the time he started crawling he was not dragging them along. 
The world could have come to an end that day. 
NOTHING ELSE MATTERED. 
He was inconsolable... and it was MY FAULT they had been left behind when we switched cities. (Everything is ALWAYS the mothers fault after all).
Amazingly, Honey & Silky were rescued by hotel staff and shipped to us first class. I shudder to think of the cost of their travels- they HAD TO BE RESCUED & language barriers allowed us the option not to ask.

And now... 16 years later... I found them buried in a corner... beneath a papermache top hat. Poor Honey... 

I am packing up so much that I doubt will ever be looked at again. I know the cast of "The Big Bang Theory" would kill for those comics and Pokemon cards. The fully built Lego models... the action figures and All Things Star Wars.

Of course I will cherish & safely pack away Honey and Silky forever, but what of all the rest. After the "must saves".
I honestly don't know WTH one does with it. The collectibles, the books, the hoarded saves. 
ARGHHHHHHH!

So... for now at least... time for a break (& to stall a bit more).

Heaven help the next person 

who unsuspectingly opens his closet!

 an update:

...BE OUR GUEST!!!!

It took 4 coats of bright yellow paint to cover 

the blue walls & repair patches

 It is amazing how much you can order on line... 

and get delivered to the door shipped free!

 After all the furnishings were assembled... 

the big decisions of which quilts to hang dominated...

 I've spent endless hours snuggled on this loveseat 

reading with our kids... 

now it is ready for overnight guests

BE 

OUR 

GUEST