Quilts by Julie Ramsey
scrap
Crazy-quilt uke case
Jun 12th
My sister plays the ukelele, and I’m making a quilted case for it. She ordered a bunch of fabric scraps on Etsy, and I’m doing a crazy-quilt style case for it. I originally planned to do just a pattern of different-sized squares, but after mis-cutting a large section, I decided to run with it and add all different shaped pieces.
The next step is to quilt the top, then cut similar-shaped pieces out of a solid fabric for the bottom. I’m not looking forward to inserting the zipper, but I’m sure I’ll figure out how to do it eventually, even if by trial-and-error 
Great-grandma’s scrap basket
Feb 27th
This morning, I decided to take a break from the Tetris quilt and pull out some blocks that I hadn’t touched in months. Nothing like needing a break from a big project to reduce the number of UFO’s sitting around, huh?
These are simple pinwheel blocks I made from a sampler-pack of 1930s reproduction prints. I decided the pattern would be something my great-grandmother (who was an amazing quilter and made many hundreds of quilts in her lifetime) would have made with similar fabric. Granted, it probably would have taken her much longer, and the quilting would be much nicer than what I have planned, but I still think it’s a neat sort of tribute.
As it turns out, I had just enough blocks to make a top just the right size for a Quilts for Kids project. The workmanship isn’t quite up to snuff for something I’d want to sell on Etsy, though I imagine I’m being much too particular; there are a handful of spots where the pinwheel “arms” don’t match up to one another, even though you can’t really notice unless you’re looking for it. Regardless, I’m sure this one will keep a kid warm in the hospital!
Interesting note: the quilt that’s hanging in the background was actually made by Great-Grandma, probably sometime in the ’50s. I love the way it brightens up the room, and it’s very inspirational!
To-do
Jan 10th
Now that I’m almost finished with the Tennessee Waltz quilt, it’s time to get a new project or two started up.
The first is a pattern using charm squares I bought from Connecting Threads using their “Impressions of Kyoto” line. I haven’t gotten it put into Electric Quilt yet, but I’ll be taking “in progress” pictures soon.
The second project is a bit more ambiguous, as I don’t have a pattern yet. I spent an hour and a half wandering around the fabric store without any sort of inspiration, until I discovered a few “jelly rolls”* sitting around in a hidden corner of the store. The set is made up of assorted blue and green batik fabrics, so I figure I’ll do something scrappy with them, probably along these lines:
I haven’t seen a whole lot of good jelly roll patterns on the Internet, so I imagine I’ll write up a step-by-step tutorial for this one as I work my way along the pattern.
As I mentioned in my last post, I’m newly unemployed, so I’ve got a lot of spare time for sewing (when I’m not busy updating my resumé and searching for leads). I haven’t had a lot of time for quilting as of late since I’ve been busy with life in World of Warcraft, but now I’ll have plenty of time to catch up on the projects I’ve been hoping to start for a while.
Viola’s Scrap Basket– blocks
Oct 8th
I finally finished the blocks using my package of 1930′s charm squares, and I really like the overall effect (save that lone yellow block in the middle). I’ve decided to call it “Viola’s Scrap Basket” after my great-grandma, who was an amazing and prolific quilter; I figure she would have used a lot of prints like these during her sewing career.
Crazy cabin quilt blocks
Aug 1st
I dug into my scrap box and tried making a few blocks using a crazy-quilt ruler I picked up a few weeks ago. It’s a five-sided shape, and the goal is to add various-sized strips around it, log-cabin-style.
I think I like the effect, but I’m not sure if I like it enough to go ahead and make a whole quilt out of it. Maybe if I added more strips and made 12″ blocks instead of these 9″ ones, it’d look better? Or maybe if I set it on black sashing?
I’m not entirely sure where to go with it, but I do know that I really like the colors!
Strip Twist
Feb 22nd
Since I’ve got tons of brightly-colored scraps sitting around, I tried the strip twist pattern at quiltville with dizzying results! I think is looks crazy, but in an organized way, and it looks very happy.
I think I did a pretty good job on the binding for this quilt; rather than tacking it to the back by hand, I finished it with a zig-zag in extra-fine invisible nylon thread. The corners aren’t the best, but I figure that’s okay in the big picture. If Amish quilters can have one deliberate flaw in their quilts (since only God is perfect, so we shouldn’t bother trying), I figure that wonky corners aren’t all that bad
Scrap Basket Surprise
Jan 11th
The first of three quilts made for friends’ graduation gifts. I needed a way to use up all of the brightly-colored scraps from my Tetris quilt, and this did a good job of it without being overwhelming.
The pattern is Chunky Churndashes from Quiltville, which has lots of great scrap patterns!
