WEAVE IT BE QUILT ✨ ✨✨

The WEAVE IT BE QUILT is pieced together in ombre fabrics in all the colors of the rainbow.  It was designed by Callie Works-Leary.  

I had a hard time choosing a quilt for my great nephew who will be turning twelve.  He's too big for the cartoon quilts with Minions or Paw Patrol characters on them but still young enough that I wanted to make something just a little playful.  Then I remembered how he lit up his bedroom for Christmas with the coolest light display ever and so I picked this quilt with its fun pattern that weaves bright and bold colors together to create a unique illusion of sparkling light.  Plus this pattern has yet another illusion ... when all those squares and rectangles are sewn together they appear to be woven strips of fabric when they're actually not.  My great nephew also loves magic so I'm hoping he'll appreciate the illusion woven into his quilt.

For this quilt you need what is called a Jelly Roll of fabric strips.  I used a Boundless Ombre Jelly Roll. I have never worked with a Jelly Roll before.  I thought the reason they made Jelly Rolls was because the strips were precisely cut into two and a half inch strips.  Ummmm ... this jelly roll ... not so much.  I'm used to cutting my own strips and I just couldn't get that perfect quarter inch seam using these at all.  After I was done I read an article online where someone else had the same problem and they suggested trimming each one before using.  Well, live and learn.  I didn't get those perfect quarter inch seams so all the piecing was off which then made it more difficult to work with this on the longarm.  This quilt was most definitely what we call in the south a "hot mess" when it comes to precision. 

Once you open up the Jelly Roll you take the strips and cut them into smaller strips, rectangles and squares.  You'll end up with a rainbow of 331 pieces for your quilt top.

Then you sew three strips together.  You'll do this 36 times.  

Then you take each strip set and cut it up into four smaller strips. You'll end up with 144 of these.

Then you assemble them together like the picture below and sew them together.  It's like a little puzzle.  You make 36 of these.  Once sewn together they appear to be woven in and out.

Then you sew together your 36 blocks and put on four borders and your quilt top is all pieced!

Then comes the fun part!  You load it onto the longarm with your batting and your backing.  For the first time I'm using black batting.  It's Quilter's Dream Polyester Black Batting.  

This is a busy quilt so I didn't want to do too much in the way of fussy quilting to distract the eye.  Instead I wanted to add to that illusion of weaving so I stitched in the ditch around the woven strips of color and then in the black spaces in between them I sewed lines 1/4 inch apart to flatten the quilt around the strips and make them pop. 

For the border I quilted a woven pattern which worked perfectly around the quilt.  But when I took this quilt off the longarm and laid it out I just wasn't happy with the stripes not having any quilting in them so I put the quilt back on the longarm and quilted X's in each square which made diamond shapes when put together.  With the graduation of colors in the ombre fabric these little diamonds almost look like their twinkling.

I used Aurifil Monofilament thread for the top and Glide thread in black in the bobbin. Monofilament thread is like fine fishing line so I dropped the tension to .75 and the stitch length to 8.  When I started quilting I set the machine speed to 220 and worked back up to a normal 250 as I warmed up.  I used a BERNINA 80/12 Topstitch needle.  

Palm Precision Handle on right and normal handle on left.

I also quilted this quilt with my hand in a brace.  I use the toggle on/off switch repeatedly which is on the end of the handle and I ended up with a messed up thumb.  Halfway through I switched over to the Palm Precision Handles.  These handles were designed by Hans Herzog to be used for small free motion quilting such as stippling or for quilter's with arthritis.  I was able to sew with one of these (I only use one hand to quilt with) without using the red side button and therefore didn't have to use my thumb.  This allowed me to still quilt while giving my thumb a break. The Precision Handles weren't really made to be used for ruler work, which is what I was doing on this quilt. There are times when the ruler stretches underneath the handle and you can't get a good placement.  And there are times when you need to reach around and can't because the handle is in the way.  But other than that this handle worked beautifully and will be my go to until my thumb heals up.  

I hope my great nephew loves his quilt!  Remember to pick up a needle and thread and stitch some love into your world❣️