Another Windstorm?

I am awake and listening to the winds ramp up again, although the worst of this storm may track further south of us. We had a few inches of snow yesterday afternoon followed by warmer temps. The snow melted overnight and now it’s raining. Temps are supposed to fall again later today.

I can’t keep up.

Elaine and her brother and his wife—my traveling companions from last weekend—have been without power for about 48 hours, as has our church. The electric co-op is doing its best to repair the lines but it is slow going.

I didn’t get a lot of sewing done yesterday but I did finish quilting some of the yardage for another quilted jacket. This will be a Grainline Studio Tamarack Jacket. I made that pattern earlier this year. It is a popular pattern, although I’m quilting the yardage before cutting out the pieces. The pattern instructions have you cut the pattern pieces and THEN quilt them, which results in smaller pattern pieces because of shrinkage due to quilting. That makes it harder to get the sizing correct. There is a bit of waste using my method, but I can always make small zipper pouches out of the leftover quilted pieces.

This is the outside fabric (Glaze by Libs Elliot for Andover):

I did 60-degree diamond quilting using Fabulux, a variegated trilobal polyester thread from Wonderfil. This is such a simple quilting pattern but so effective.

The inside fabric is Besties by Tula Pink:

I have never been much of a Tula fan, but for some reason, I had to use this fabric. And it coordinates so well with the Glaze.

I have almost finished quilting enough yardage to cut out the back and both fronts. I’d like to quilt the last piece of yardage today—for the sleeves—so I can put the jacket together. Once I make the class sample for the Burnside Bibs, I’ll be done with my class samples for a while.

While we’re on the subject of quilted jackets, Anna Maria has designed the Rosebud Jacket Pattern:

I like shawl collars, but this one may be a bit too much of a statement for me. This a great pattern for color blocking/mixing and matching fabrics, though. I might be persuaded to break into some of my precious Tim Holtz fabric stash to make this one.

I have learned a lot about quilted jackets this year. I‘ve made roughly half a dozen versions—that includes muslins—and I think my BU jacket has been the most successful one to date. I’ve made patterns designed by garment sewists who weren’t quilters and patterns by quilters who weren’t garment sewists. I have moments when I think I should design a jacket myself because I am both a quilter and a garment sewist, but then I hit myself with a virtual 2x4 and come to my senses. The world does not need another quilted jacket pattern.