Look Who "Popped" into Town!

For my 2nd entry into the Blogger's Quilt Festival, I'm posting my original design Mary Poppins quilt.  

I created this quilt from a old cross stitch pattern I never seemed to have finished in the 90's.  The quilt pattern was totally drafted in Excel (stems from my daily spreadsheet nerdiness!) and created in 10" blocks.  This allowed me to work on any block I wanted to help break up the process.  I saved most of the harder blocks til the end!  The quilt was started in June 2015 and I just finished it up in July 2016, just in time to enter it into the State Fair of Texas.  Sadly, I didn't place, but just taking the plunge and putting myself out there was enough pressure for me this year.  Hopefully next year I can create something worthy of a winning ribbon.

I created this especially for my younger sister who absolutely LOVES Mary Poppins. She even has the top part of this same image tattooed on her upper arm. She is truly an inspiration to me. Though we lost touch for about 14 years, we recently (the past 2-ish years) have become reacquainted and I've learned of the hardships she's had to endure during the time we lost touch. She suffers from Neuromyelitis Optica which is a rare disorder caused by the immune system attacking the body’s healthy cells, with attacks directed mostly against the eyes and spinal cord. This causes inflammation of the spinal cord and optic nerve, which can cause loss of vision, mobility, and sensation. Although there is no cure for NMO, investigators are seeking a treatment to prevent additional attacks or relapses.  Together with NMO, she is the super-mom to two kids in the Autism Spectrum.  She and her husband are true angels on earth for all God has given them.

Even though I was hoping to win a ribbon in the fair with this quilt and have it hang for all to see who visited the fair, that just means that I am that much closer to gifting it to her.  It's going to be a total surprise!!

The finished quilt measures about 65" x 100".  The top is made from only Kona Black and White.  The back is a lovely cloud fabric that I purchased online as well as the rainbow paint-stroked binding.

I hope that this quilt will give her comfort when she is feeling down or has to go have her port flushed or to snuggle up under when she's receiving chemo treatments.  I want it to be a constant reminder that I love her and am always here for her.  She lives in Utah and I in Texas.  Not too far away, but still too far to hug her every time she needs it.  Hopefully this quilt will help fill that void.

My local longarm quilter, Janie, did a spectacular job on the quilting.  It's called Popcorn, but totally looks like puffs of clouds!

Enjoy!

Jenn

#QuiltsforPulse

Hello quilty friends!  Man I need to obviously get off Instagram and get back to blogging!  It has been quite some time since I've posted. Well there is a perfectly good reason!  I've been SO busy quilting!!  Yes I have been on quite a role lately.  I hope to be posting several more posts of what all I've been up to lately because if I tried to post it all here, I'm afraid you'd be reading for days!

First up is one that I'll be sharing on Blogger's Quilt Festival in the ROYGBIV category hosted by Amy Ellis!

So let's start off with a very special project that I just completed and mailed off last month to Orlando, FL. Alissa Lapinsky, the Orlando Modern Quilt Guild President, made a plea to all quilters far and wide, either guilds or individuals, to help out with making/assembling blocks/quilts for the victim's families and first responders/medical personnel of the Orlando Pulse Nightclub shooting that occurred on June 12.  Such a horrible and senseless act.

As quilters, when someone is hurt, we just want to help and Alissa had the brilliant idea for her fellow quilters to make heart blocks or whole quilts to donate to the people who were affected by this tragedy.  

The movement flooded Instagram like a California wildfire and of course, I jumped right on board!  Any and all quilts would be accepted, but Alissa thought it would be great for us to use the heart block pattern on Cluckclucksew's website in bright rainbow colors.

So I started sewing and the more blocks I made, the more I wanted to see it through to the very end and make a whole quilt!!  All the fabric came from my stash (are you not surprised?!?!).  The backing is a clover print vintage sheet that I thought would be perfect for this project as that is what these people need most- a bit of LUCK.  I did have to buy the binding fabric.  I thought the rainbow polka dots really finished it off.

I am proud to say that mine will be donated to someone in need in Orlando.  You can check out the Orlando Modern Quilt's blog for pictures of quilts/blocks that have been donated thus far.  Or Alissa posts pics alot on Instagram - just look for her feed under orlandomqg.  To date, over 800+ quilts have been donated to this cause!  Way to go fellow quilters!!

The rainbow stripe block was inspired by a pattern on Jaybirdquilt's blog.  So fun and easy to make.

Enjoy!

Jenn

POLKA DOT CHARM SWAP - OFFICIAL DETAILS

Hello Quilty Swap Friends!

By now, you have received an email or IG message from me to let you know you are officially in the Purpleheart Ori"Jenn"als Polka Dot Charm Swap.  For this swap we have a total of 9 participants!!  We are up 3 from our last one - so welcome newbies!! Glad you joined us and thanks for those returning who participated in the first one!

This is my 2nd time hosting a charm swap, and I'm really excited for this one! 

Who doesn't love Polka Dots??

It's super simple and in return you get a mix of fun fabrics that you might have never known existed had you not joined in!

Here's what you need to do.

STEP 1:  Pull from your stash or purchase 1/3 yrd each or FQ of 10 different 100% cotton quilt shop quality polka dot fabrics.  The fabrics must read polka dots.   Any color or polka dot design is ok.  Wanted to do a few more fabrics since we have more people this time.

STEP 2:  Rotary cut 9 5" x 5" squares from each of your 10 fabrics and put them all into a ziplock baggie.  Mark your name on the outside of the baggie.

STEP 3:  Mail your squares to me with a FRE addressed back to you with postage already on the envelope.  Or if you'd like, I can notify you when squares are ready to be shipped and you can send me $6.00 via Paypal and I will purchase your return FRE.  Or a 3rd option is to send me $6.00 cash along with your squares and I will purchase your return FRE.

STEP 4:  Once everyone's squares arrive, I will divide them up and each of you will receive back a total of 90 squares, including 1 pc from each of the 10 you submitted.

DEADLINE to mail and receive them by me is FEBRUARY 29.  I will then turn them around and have everyone's mailed back out by MARCH 7, 2016.

I hope that everything is clear.  If not, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE ask questions!! I will be happy to answer any and all questions.  You can post a comment on this post or email me directly at purpleheartorijennals@yahoo.com.

Let the cutting begin!!  Keep this fun up and we just might be doing some

"THEMED" charm swaps!

Take care!

Jenn

POLKA DOT CHARM SWAP

Hi Friends!  I need to keep my sewing streak on a roll so I thought I'd host another charm swap!  The last Orange/White was well received, so let's do it again!

Anyone out there in blogland interested in an POLKA DOT charm swap?  I'm posting this on IG as well as here on the blog.  The more the merrier I always say!

Let me know because I'll be posting details by the end of next week here on the blog.

There's not much to it.  It involves buying various POLKA DOT fabrics, cutting into 5"x 5" squares, sending them and a self addressed FRE to me (charm swap mama!).  I'll divvy them up and send you back an assortment from everyone involved!  Easy peasy!  Make something fun with them or simply add them to your stash.

Comment on this post or send me a separate email saying you'd love to join in and I'll send you a confirmation email.  If you do comment via this post, please make sure that your email is attached to your profile.  If you have friends that would like to participate, just have them email me!  I'd love to include them even if they don't have a blog or an IG account.  purpleheartorijennals@yahoo.com

This will be great fun!

Sew little fabric....sew little time!

Jenn

The Dresden Quilt and Birthday Boys

January!  I love the nip in the air this time of year.  Sorry to all my quilty friends that are buried in the snow!  Kindof wish we had a little down this way in Texas.  We'll probably get ours next month.

But in the meantime, I FINALLY found my way out of my sewing funk and back to the machine!  It was only to make and attach binding, but it was still sewing none the less.  I bought this beautiful quilt top on Instagram for like $40!  What a deal!  All of the Dresden plates are HAND SEWN together and appliqued to the orange fabric.  Vintage Vintage Vintage!  I was totally in love at first sight!

After "sitting" on it for a bit, I took it to my local longarm quilter, Janie Merritt, SHOUT OUT!! and she worked her magic with a Baptist Fan pattern.  I wanted something vintagey.  And boy did she deliver!  I love how it turned out and can't wait to get it all washed up and start to snugglin' under it! It's a big one for sure - about 68" x 90".  The backing is a vintage sheet that I had been hoarding, uh, saving, just for the right occasion!  Amazingly, the blues and reds of the backing match the Dresden plates perfectly.  The muted blue polka dot binding was purchased from JoAnn's on SALE! (of course) from their new Buttercream fabric line.

 Look at this quilting!!  It really gave the quilt some added life!

He totally loves my quilting obsession especially when he gets to model the final product.

He totally thought of this as a King's Cloak!

Now onto the really fun part!  This little fella turned 7 on Tuesday.  SEVEN?!?!  Where the heck did the time go??  He was pretty excited but now is on the count down til his 8th birthday so he won't have to ride in a booster seat any more!

We also celebrated my dad's 71st birthday, which is exactly a week before Malek's.  I'm so fortunate I have him as a Dad and the kids are pretty stoked about having him as their Grandpa!

He's not crazy about his sister at all!!

Still able to pick him up after all these years!!

I hope to have some exciting adventures in 2016.  Hope you will come along for the ride with me!

Happy Quilting!

Jenn

Endings and Beginnings

Happy 2016!  I can't believe I pretty much missed all of Fall posting here on the blog.  The end of 2015 / start of 2016 has been a rocky road for sure.  On December 29th, I lost one of the most important people in my life, my grandmother, Lillie Belle Franklin.  She's always been known to me as Mamie.  The best Mamie anyone could ask for.  She was a very spiritual, sweet, kind and soft spoken woman.  She was the peace-keeper in the family.  Or always tried to be.  She always saw the good in everyone.  I was always close to her and my grandfather growing up but over the past 29 years since he passed, I became very close to her.  As an adult, I grew to appreciate her more and more and craved all that she could teach me before she departed this earth.

She taught me to sew when I was about 7.  Started out with the most important thing, Quilting!  She loved to make quilts and I loved spending time with her doing that.  The first quilt I ever made was for her. I wanted her to know how important she was to me and to thank her for teaching me her beautiful gift. 

She was also an excellent cook!  Her chocolate pies, fried potatoes, meatloaf and pinto beans were legendary.  Luckily she shared those recipes with me before she passed and I have since mastered them as well so that her legacy continues on for many more years to come.

 The love she and my grandfather shared for 44 years was the most pure I've ever seen.  You don't see alot of that these days.  Once she went into the nursing home almost 7 years ago, I started cutting squares for her to hand piece together into quilt tops.  It was still her favorite pastime even at 90 years young.  The quilts she made are now my most treasured possessions.

So now that she's gone, I will also hold her strongly in my heart for all the rest of my days.  I'm so honored that my children had as many years with her as they did.  She will always hold a special place in their heart too.

 

Four Generations - with Emma about 2 months old.

This is the last picture I have of us together from Thanksgiving a few months back.

This is a rose from the bush outside her house - 30 degrees in Texas and it's still blooming! No filter taken with my phone camera - even matches my sneakers!

 

Here she is with my grandfather whom she married at 16.  This was probably taken sometime in the early 40's.

  

This is now one of my most precious photos - two quilter's hands locked together forever.

Love them while they are here..........

Jenn

Commission Quilts

I had the opportunity to make another commission quilt from a sale in my etsy shop.  My client sent me some really cute clothing that both of her small daughters had worn and I worked my magic to create a wonderful RAINBOW quilt.

I started with the heart print fabric and pulled together other corresponding fabrics as well as some other plaid & floral outfits that she had sent me to use.  My client and I were both delighted how it turned out.

 

 

 

 At the same time I was making this sweet rainbow quilt, I was making another commission quilt for a co-worker to use in her photography business.  She wanted something vintage and anyone who knows me knows I'm all about the vintage look.  So out came all my vintage sheets!!  Much of the fabrics for this quilt I already had cut up.  Then all I had to add were pieces from some of my latest thrift store purchases.

OMG - I am in LOVE with the rounded corners!

Somehow this shot didn't quite turn out like I thought it would, but at least I attempted it! lol  The face behind Purpleheart Ori"Jenn"als!

I'm afraid it was a bit too shady for this shot.  The colors were really vibrant.  It was really hard to part with this one.  Luckily I have TONS of vintage sheets left and could whip up another for myself!

2016 is going to be the year I quilt more for myself and family!  I'm going to call the shots and everything I make is going to be 100% me!

Happy Stitching Friends!

Jenn