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Tuesday, July 31, 2018

One Monthly Goal :: July 2018 Update


My July One Monthly Goal was to finish a quilt I started four years ago as a new quilter. All I had was yardage and this one block


I made the block after making my first maple leaf quilt for a friend's baby.


The colors were inspired by my husband's citizenship quilt


The Dutch Canuck quilt is for the best man at our wedding, Joel, and his family. They live in Canada, but also share Niels' Dutch ancestry. Earlier this summer, they asked if they could come for a visit. We love hosting guests so we enthusiastically said, "yes!" Then I got to work.

When they arrived at our house after a long day of driving, the quilt was on their bed.


For the back, I used fabric from Niels' quilt to make a Dutch side.


It was a fun quick quilt to make. And eventually, I will make a full separate post about it!


Previous OMGs:
July 2018 - Dutch Canuck Quilt
June 2018 - Daybed Pillow
June 2017 - no goal

Linked to:

Quilt #106 :: Good Morning, Eileen


I am some catching up to do sharing my finished quilts! Today I'm sharing quilt #106, which I called Good Morning Eileen because it's made from the oops blocks when I made my Good Night Irene quilt. 

My original idea for the Good Night Irene quilt was to make all scrappy blocks. But I decided that they were too busy together.


 I kept the blues and replaced the turquoise blocks with ones that used the same two prints. Much better.
I didn't want to waste the turquoise blocks, so I alternated them with big blocks to come up with a new quilt. It was an easy finish and was perfect for the project for which they were made: gifts for a local kindergarten class. 


I can't show the photo of the adorable boy who chose this quilt, but I can share a picture of my adorable boy with it.


Linked to:
BOMs Away Monday @ What a Hoot
Design Wall Monday @ Small Quilts & Doll Quilts
Finished or Not Friday @ Busy Hands Quilts
Finished or Not Friday @ Slice of Pi Quilts
Let's Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts
Linky Tuesday @ Free Motion by the River
Main Crush Monday @ Cooking Up Quilts
Midweek Makers @ Quilt Infatuation
Monday Making @ Love Laugh Quilt
Moving It Forward @ Em's Scrapbag
Needle & Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation
Off the Wall Friday @ Nina Marie
Oh Scrap! @  Quilting is More Fun than Housework
Show Off Saturday @ Sew Can She
To Do Tuesday @ Sew All the Things
Wait Loss Wednesday @ The Inquiring Quilter
Whoop Whoop Friday @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict
WIP Linky Party @ Silly Mama Quilts
WIPs on Wednesday @ Esther's Blog
Whoop Whoop Friday @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Quilt #99 :: Good Night Irene


I'm a little behind with sharing my quilts which is why I'm posting a picture of quilt in the snow when it's 90 degrees outside! Today's quilt is my version of Good Night Irene. It's been on my to do queue for awhile because my scrap bins are overflowing. 

I started out making both the blue blocks and the turquoise and gray pieces scrappy.


When I place the blocked on my design wall, I thought it looked a little busy so I put the turquoise and gray blocks in my Oops and Orphans pile.


I quilted with a big spiral. I was especially proud that I made this entire quilt out of stash. That may say something about the size of my stash...


This quilt was made for my local church ministry, Piecemakers. We make quilts for a variety of places, but this one went to one of my favorites, the kindergartners at a local school. 


It is unusual to see the recipient of donated quilts, but in this case, the school invites us to the school to meet the kiddos and watch them pick out their quilts. I can't show the face of the happy little girl who picked this quilt, but I can show this one. She was so sweet. She gave me a big hug and told me blue is her favorite color. I hope it continues to bring her joy in the years to come.




Monday, July 9, 2018

Pat Sloan Podcast


So...I have some pretty big news! Sometime today, my interview with Pat Sloan will go live on her American Patchwork & Quilting Podcast!

If you aren't familiar with Pat Sloan, she is a popular and prolific quilter who hosts many sew alongs at her website, I Love to Make Quilts.  


I have been part of Pat's active Facebook community, Quilt Along with Pat Sloan, for several years. The quilters there are supportive and talented. I didn't jump into social quilting until less year, so while I admired the progress others made on Pat's sew alongs, I wasn't a participant until I saw her write about her upcoming Grandma's Kitchen quilt. 


My Gramma Ann passed away in 2014 When my family was packing up her things, I requested some of her clothes so that I could make a quilt with them. I had only been quilting for a year at that point. I wasn't confident enough yet to cut up her clothes out of fear of making a mistake. So I put them in a tote while I waited for inspiration.

Nearly a year ago to the day, Pat posted the first block of Grandma's kitchen, called "The Kitchen Table." Just seeing the name, I was transported to Grandma's kitchen in tiny Blackduck, Minnesota. I thought her cupboards were so cool because the doors were flat panels that opened only when you pushed them. I spent many hours entertaining myself by opening and closing those cupboards.


I knew then that this sew along was just the inspiration I needed. I decided from the start that my quilt would be all about Gramma's life, in and out of the kitchen. You can read about the entire process here.  My mom and aunts were very excited about the quilt and talked about who should get it...so...I made six of them!


After finishing each block, I would post it to a link up on Pat's website and/or share the block and its story on Pat's FB page. A few times, Pat herself would comment on the post! And then she contacted me privately after seeing all six quilts, and asked if I would be on her show. Of course, I said, "YES!" 


I hope you enjoy listening to the interview as much as I enjoyed talking to Pat. 

Finally, I have to share one last thing about this project. My mom and aunt were so grateful for their quilts and send me the most wonderful thank you notes and gifts. My aunt Lori, did something really fun! She took all the blog posts I wrote and had them bound up in a book. What a labor of love! 


They say the internet is forever, but this is such a thoughtful way to make sure that Gramma's legacy lives on to the next generation(s). 


I've so enjoyed re-reading the blog posts again. I wrote them as I went along, without knowing how the quilt would turn out. It is really cool to read them all at once, kind of like binge-watching a favorite show!


 I love that she wrapped the book in the blue paper that inspired block "Pantry Goods."



If this is your first time here at de Jong Dream House, especially if you visited after hearing the podcast, WELCOME! This blog started as my husband and I build our dream ultra energy-efficient, universally-designed dream house. After moving in, I posted about organizing and green living. Once I discovered quilting in 2013, my blog started featuring more and more quilts. And that's mostly what you see today. 

You can also keep up with me on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram. Thanks for keeping in touch!


Saturday, July 7, 2018

One Monthly Goal :: July 2018


My summer woes have continued. After my hand and foot healed, my machine broke! It took three weeks to get it fixed. The thread cutter jammed so whenever I turned on my machine it made a horrible grinding sound. My regular shop referred me to a shop and hour away in less that 48 hours, they had her fixed. I was a very happy girl!


It's been almost two months since I've been able to quilt every day so now my mojo has waned. I'm going to try to get back on the bandwagon this month by making a quilt for some family visiting the month. 


I made this first block four years ago when I made my husband's citizenship quilt


I have a new idea for the layout for the Dutch Canuck quilt, so I may have to add this block to the Oops block pile and make another variation. Stay tuned!

Previous OMGs:
June 2018 - Daybed Pillow
June 2017 - no goal

Linked to:

One Monthly Goal :: June 2018 update


I haven't had a very productive summer of sewing. At the end of May, this happened.



I only had to wear it for a few weeks, but then this happened.


I took my Pfaff Quilt Expression 4.2 to the shop. I just had it serviced in April, so I was a little bummed when the thread cutter jammed only a 6 weeks later. After two weeks in the shop, it was recommended that I bring it to another shop an hour away. I drove it out that day and got it back on June 30th. I got right to work on my One Monthly Goal, but didn't quite finish in time to be part of the finish link up on Elm Street Quilts

My goal was to make an accent pillow (or two) for our new day bed. 


I only finished one pillow in the few hours I had before the end of the month. I made it rectangle-shape with the idea of using it as a neck pillow. I'm going to use it a bit before deciding to make more or making squares.


I wanted to make the pillow easy to wash, so I made a pillowcase as well as a pillow. I could have bought a pillow form and made the pillowcase to fit it, but why do things the easy way? Plus, I have a ton of scraps that are perfect for stuffing pillows. 


I used muslin for the pillow. 




Previous OMGs:
June 2018 - Daybed Pillow
June 2017 - no goal