Finished Quilt for Hands2Help

I just finished this quilt as part of the Hands2Help challenge at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.  It will be going to Happy Chemo. 

I have not labeled it yet, because I have no idea what to call it.  Any suggestions? 

The fabric was part of the same kit I used to make Sunrise, Sunset.  I used 19.5 strips to make this lap size quilt. 

Here are the two quilts together.  It is amazing to me how different they look. 

I based this quilt off of the Jelly Roll Race tutorial at Missouri Star Quilt Company, but I kept the strips 5 inches wide. 

I learned a lot making this quilt and tried out some new things.  It was my first time using polyester thread for FMQ.  It is the Omni thread from Superior Thread and worked pretty well.  I also used a new Handi Quilter long arm ruler with grips on the bottom.  I bought both the thread and ruler last week at the HMQS. 

The grips on the ruler helped so much.  Completely worth the purchase.  I had tried just using masking tape on the bottom of the ruler on my last quilt.  The grips made a huge difference.  (That black knob on the right is part of the stitch regulator on my Tiara, a sit down quilting machine.)   

I think my favorite part of the quilt is the wavy line in the feathers from the ruler.  It was really nice practicing with the ruler on a project that wouldn't show the ruler work imperfections as much.  This is how the vine pictured above turned out.  I love the double vine, and the ruler helped a lot. 

Just remember that my strips finish at 4.5 inches.  So that feather is nine inches wide.  I really wish I had started quilting the feathers smaller, but once I started I had to keep them big.  My practice feathers turned out so much better, because they were smaller.  (This practice piece was lots of fun.)

I tried a couple different approaches in the feathers.  First I quilted the large horizontal feathers.  Then I tried to do some random feathers. 

It was a lot harder than I thought it would be, but turned out nice.  Once again, I think it would have been easier with smaller feathers. 

After quilting random feathers, I wanted to practice some more straight feathers.  So I quilted straight away from the horizontal feathers.  The grid marks on the ruler helped keep the vines perpendicular to the rows of fabric and parallel to each other. 

My eleven year old son, Cheetah, really liked the feathers that "grew" out of the other one.  After quilting the feathers last night, I was a little discouraged.  However, after a good night's rest and looking at the quilt from a distance, I like it a lot better. 

I backed the quilt in a tan fabric from my stash that came 60 inches wide.  But what time I saved not piecing my backing was spent piecing my batting.  I used to think that lap quilts weren't a good use of batting, because you had a lot left over.  When you take those pieces and zig zag them together it seems like free batting. 

The binding was some of the floral yardage that came with the kit.  I didn't have enough of the red background, so I added some with the green background.  You have to look very close to see the difference. 

I did the binding completely by machine.  I seem to be doing that a lot more recently. 

All in all, it was a fun quilt to make which I hope will help someone going through a rough time. 

I just love the texture from quilting. 

Quilt Stats #104
Name:  Any suggestions?
Pattern:  Altered from the Jelly Roll Race
Quilting design:  Large feathers using a ruler for the vine
Fabric:  from my stash
Amount used:  6.5 yards
Batting:  Frankensteined Warm and White
Size:  About 52 x 72 inches
Date finished:  May 2014
What I learned: 

• The ruler grips were extremely helpful. 
• The polyester thread worked well and was less linty. 
• I think smaller feathers would have been easier, but would have taken longer. 
• 5 inch strips for the Jelly Roll Race worked well for bigger prints.

Here is one more picture of my helper who wanted to jump on the quilts.  Monkey just got new glasses and is doing surprising well at keeping them on. 

Also, I just added an "About Me" page which has a couple cute pictures of my boys. 

XX,
Jasmine

P.S.  I will be linking up with Needle and Thread Thursday, Can I get a Whoop Whoop (links on side bar), and Finish it up Friday.  I will also be linking up with Amy's Free Motion Quilting Adventures for the first time.  She is doing a series on using rulers while quilting.