Family Ties is a jelly roll friendly quilt pattern that is strip pieced for a quick finish! No sewing individual squares together, although you could if you wanted to.
Lovely spring weather means that quilts can be photographed on the clothesline again! There is nothing better than natural light for photos, but it definitely is touch and go - it can't be too gray, can't be too bright, can't be windy, can't be rainy. Oh my, a girl nearly gives up waiting for the perfect time!
To me, the strips of squares represent the ties of family - each unique, different, some facing a different direction, but yet all tied together in some way. I have been enjoying Zoom calls every Saturday afternoon for the last month with my family - my parents, sisters, brother, spouses, and some of our nieces and nephews. I don't live by any of them and only see them a handful of times during the year, so this is a real treat. My sisters and I often continue the call for another hour after everyone else has signed off. I am hoping they're all on board to continue them at least a couple of times a month after #quarantine has passed. That's Family Ties!
You know I love strip piecing, right?!? This quilt is definitely strip pieced - you'll cut strips or use a precut jelly roll, then sew strips together and cut segments and then sew the segments back together to create blocks. The key to strip piecing is an accurate seam allowance so the strip set is the correct height; if the strip set is too tall or too short, the units will not fit together very well when pieced into blocks, and then the blocks won't fit together well when they are joined. It's a snowball effect that doesn't get better at the next step. Strip piecing begins with accurate strip width and then with an accurate 1/4" seam allowance.
Here is a video tutorial if you're interested.
I've also noticed that thread weight makes a big difference in accurate piecing. I used to use 40-wt thread because that is what my longarm machine uses, and it was easy to just use the same thread. That is until I received a huge spool of Aurifil 50-wt in 2018 as an Island Batik Ambassador. Game changer! That 50-wt thread took the accuracy of my piecing to a whole new level! Now I use Superior So Fine polyester thread,
available right here. I prefer polyester because there it runs cleaner with less fuzzies.
Quilting is a modern design called Belly Bop in bright blue thread. :) I rarely use colored threads for quilting and was so happy to be able to in this quilt.
The backing is a fabric I found at my local quilt shop. It's Cherry Lemonade from In The Beginning fabrics.
Quilt Stats:
Pattern: Family Ties,
available right here or below
Size: 50" x 70" Throw
Fabric: Miss Kate by Bonnie and Camille and Gooseberry by Lella Boutique with Miss Kate solid blue.
Batting: Hobbs Heirloom 80/20 cotton poly
Backing: Cherry Lemonade from In The Beginning fabrics, available
here and
here.
Quilting: Belly Bop on
Gratitude, my Handi Quilter Fusion with ProStitcher, in bright blue thread
