I became Aunt Gina about 20 year ago, and it has always been one of my most favorite things!  When I met my husband I was gifted 1 beautiful niece, and 2 adorable little nephews, and they were my world.  I love them all so very much, and watching them grow up and become adults has been one of the dearest things to me!  When they were small my husband and I lived in Texas and they all lived in the Midwest, so I looked forward to vacations down to the coast all year long.  Sometimes we would stay in hotels, sometimes we would take RV's down and stay in the campgrounds on the beach, but no matter how we traveled, we had tons of laughs.  Well.... earlier this year I learned that I was going to become GREAT Aunt Gina, because my oldest nephew is having a little boy!  You know the first thing I thought of was quilts and blankets, little baby booties, booger suckers and stuffed animals, but mostly quilts!! ha ha  So it got me thinking about fabric and patterns and I had no idea what to do first.  Nothing seemed cute enough or original enough, I kept changing my mind because nothing really came from my heart if I was using another designers patterns.  

One of my personal rules I follow as a maker is to never create the same thing twice, every handmade project I start has to have at least a little touch of me, and they always have a story behind them.  Some of the stories are very deep, with a lot of meaning, most of the time the story is not super obvious from the outside, but if you ask me the meaning, you better pull up a chair because it wont be a short story.  Quilts are my canvas, and this time it had to be very special! 

So it finally hit me, my most memorable times being Aunt Gina, were the times that I got to be a big kid with them.  I love animals, sunshine and outdoors, but most of all, the beach!  The times we all spent together in the sand were the best, no stress, just relaxing with the fish.  So that's what I tried to create, in the form of a quilt.  The kids would stay up late and we'd look for frogs at night with the flashlight, spend time in the aquarium, and throw food to the seagulls, it was the perfect time under the palm trees!  Being Aunt Gina is the best, and I hope that someday I can share those same memories with baby Max as he grows up! 

I used fabric from my stash to create this beachy-love quilt using a variety of block patterns from great designers, and a few I created myself, and then I did the layout with no pattern, on the floor in my studio, late into the night one weekend.  If you see green words that means I linked what I used. 

These two blocks, along with a few others, came from a couple of my favorite quilt block designers. Ellis and Higgs & Burlap an Blossoms.  I always check both of them out when I am looking for individual block patterns! 

I also got several of the block patterns from Elizabeth Hartman's Awesome Ocean Pattern, then I made some simple patterns for the fish, bubbles, and kelp to fill in. Oh and the letters came from the Pillow Talk book that I have in my library by Laundry Basket Designs.  Here's a late night pic from the floor of my studio while I was trying to come up with the layout...

Once I finally got the top all put together, I loaded it to the long arm, and added some bubble texture, I picked out Naomi's Bubble Bath digital pantograph, and I was really pleased with it.  Little back story, I first put yellow binding on this one, and after I got it on I didn't like it, so I pulled it all off and added red polka dot.  I am such a dork LOL But I liked it much better! 

I decided not to put minky on the backing, even though it's so soft and snuggly, I always feel like cotton backing is more traditional and might last longer, so I picked out this Tree of Life yardage.  But, I did make a small minky throw blanket to stuff in the diaper bag for the cold car rides, stay tuned, that's coming up soon below...

I have an old Brother embroidery machine, so I had to break it out to add his full official name to the back side, isn't it cute?   
​Now lets talk diaper bags.
This bag pattern is something I came up with years ago as I was in a big bag making phase, it's super simple, and I like that, I get frustrated with big long bag patterns, they are not for me.  I put a yard of Moda Cross Weave on the long arm, quilted it with the Cobblestone digital pantograph and then cut the side pieces, and bottom, it makes it so simple. Oh and I used the black Kraft-Tex paper for the straps and zipper tab, it's a fun product, comes in several colors & it feels like a thick paper, but you can wash it and it holds up like fabric, and after some handling it looks a little like worn leather. 
There is afun book with several Kraft-Tex bag ideas too, check it out! 

Thanks for stopping in to see a little bit of me "behind the seams!"  
It sure was fun to make all of it while thinking of all the memories of being Aunt Gina, feel free to comment with your thoughts or questions.  Follow me on Instagram for all kinds of great weekly posts, or click below to visit our favorite online quilting shop! 
Happy Quilting!

Hey y'all!  I'm just hopping on to share a quick tutorial for you.  Just a little something I made here for a baby gift recently, and it was so fun and easy I thought maybe someone else might like to try it!  It's a simple half hexie, with borders!!!  

First, I decided I didn't want to use my 5" half hexie, or a 10" half hexie ruler, one was too small and the other too big, so I made one with template plastic.  You can also Google printable half hexies and just scale them down as you print them so they are around the size that you want, and then use the print out to cut the template plastic, there is no wrong way to do it.   I picked out 8" (that's what you see in the pic above) and here is how I made it.  

I just pulled out a piece of cardboard, from a cereal box, and I cut it out based on the measurements on my cutting mat, then I took that over to the template plastic and made the final cut.  Here is the exact template plastic that I purchased, and I really liked it! 

Then to make things fast and simple, I purchased a layer cake, this is a 10" precut and it is perfect for this size template, you will even have extra to put in your scrap bins or use it for a pieced backing.  I used Paintbox Haze for my background fabric because I had an entire bolt I previously purchased, but you can use any light background, or even a grey would be great too, my very favorite is Zen Grey,  or here are some great low volume backgrounds to pick from.  Oh an my favorite thread is Aurifil chalk, I buy the big cones and they last a really long time, Fat Quarter Shop has thread on sale right now too, so you might want to stock up!  

The fabric cutting is super simple, this is a great beginner pattern, so don't get worried, you got this! 
A.) Cut 2 of your Half Hexie template shapes from each layer cake piece
​(I only used the dark fabric and left the lighter ones for my scrap bin)
Background fabric will go on 3 sides of each of your template pieces,
you'll need to cut 1.5" strips from your yardage, then subcut into 5" and 7"
B.)  each half hexie will need 2- 1.5x5" for the sides
C.)  and 1- 1.5"x7" piece on top.  

First sew the two side pieces on and trim off extra to be the same as the template, then sew the top piece on and trim extra, video below will explain in more detail.  (Wondering what machine I'm using?  Link below to my exact Juki model, I have had this machine for about 12 years now, I LOVE it!!!)  I usually arrange my blocks on the floor or you can use a design wall, then stack each row in the order you picked, or order some design boards, the are great to take blocks from the floor to the sewing machine and zoom, zoom, sew your rows, then attach all the rows.  

After several layouts on the floor I ended up doing 10 rows with 6 half hexie in each row so I cut 120 of 1.5"x5" pieces and 60 of the 1.5"x7" pieces, but you can make yours as small or as large as you'd like.  You can also skip the bordered portion and just sew all the half hexies together in rows, you'll have a quilt finished in a weekend if you skip it.  Just have fun!  I was thinking this would be adorable to throw over a car seat with minky on the back.  

Ta Da, it's all together, and I decided I am going to make bias binding so I will leave the angles on the top and the bottom, but you can just cut the top and bottom to make it square all the way around, tons of options! Video below with instructions on how I cut bias binding...

Next up, it's my favorite part... Quilting!!  I picked out Bubbles Original digital quilting panto, because I love bubble quilting on baby quilts, plus this one has miny on the back and I didn't want the quilting to be too dense, so it would still be snuggly.  After I pulled it off the long arm, I used my favorite folded corner ruler to trim the curved edges, it's great I use it for all kinds of things, you need one!  

I also decided to make a little fabric box to match.  I saw one in a magazine recently and it gave me the idea to use 10 of the leftover layer cakes pieces along with some Soft and Stable so I could deliver the gift to the shower in a little box that could be used later for toys.  I also love to use Soft and Stable on diaper bags and other bags, its easy to load on my long arm, and get great textures for the bag panels.  

Hey y'all, I'm back to share some tips on making a quilt using old t-shirts.  
T-Shirt quilts are a great way to clean out your closets and drawers, and still save all the memories that come with each shirt, and I'm going to show you what works best for me. 

Our son just graduated from 8th Grade, so I decided it was time to pull out all the shirts I have been saving through his childhood and make a quilt for him.  I saved around 50 shirts for this one, so when I have that many I will always arrange them in a variable placement like the photo shown above, rather than in rows with sashing in between.  *I'll share some previously made quilts below explaining that layout in a little more detail.  

Once I have decided what kind of layout I will be doing, the first thing I start is to cut the shirts up.  At first this seems like a terrible idea, cutting into such precious shirts, but it makes lot of smiles in the end, I promise!
​**When you see green words, that means I linked the products I use.
​
First:  Have a good pair of scissors and a brand new rotary blade handy when you start this project, 50 shirts will dull a new blade!  You can do this step a couple different ways, you can either take your scissors and cut from the shoulder seam of the shirt down to the bottom on both sides, or you can simply place a template on top of both layers of the shirt and cut with your rotary blade.  If the shirt has things on both sides you want to use in the quilt then you will want to use the scissors and cut the front away from the back and then use the template to center the cut over both designs.  I got this June Taylor template years ago, and it has held up well and works great, it also comes in a tshirt quilt kit if you want to try that route, or you can use the Creative Grids 15.5" for multiple quilty things...

Next:
Now that all the shirts are cut it's time to put some interfacing on the back of them.  This step is not necessary, I have known people that do not use it, but I find it is MUCH easier to handle the shirts if they do not have all the stretch.  The interfacing will add a layer to the back side of the shirts to make them heavier and sturdier so you can cut them square and get better results overall.  There are a zillion different kinds of interfacing out on the market, I use Pellon 906F, I buy big rolls of it because I used to make a lot of t-shirt quilts, but you can also buy it by the yard at your local craft shop.  The idea is to cut the interfacing just a tiny bit smaller than the shirt you are putting it on so you can avoid the extra adhesive around the edges that will get on your iron.  I used an iron the first couple times I made a tshirt quilt and then decided I would invest in a heat press to save time, it is well worth it if you plan on making more than a few of them! Since I got mine so long ago, I can't share the exact model, but I will share a similar model that is the same size and should work very similarly.  Check it out....
Here is a short video of the heat press in actions, I really love how fast it makes things!

Ok, we are getting to the fun part now!  The layout with 50 shirts has no right or wrong answer, you just make it work the best way you can, and just go with it.  I usually try to put all the shirts in piles based on similar size, then you can sew them into sections.  But first, I lay them all out on the floor and figure out what shirts I want in the middle.  Remember if you are putting this on a bed, the shirts on the corners are going to hang over the side, so put the important ones in the middle.  Below is a picture of mine, I ran out of floor space in one room so I moved around until I found the space, haha you just have to laugh and have fun with these.  Once you get an idea of what layout you want then start sewing them into sections. If you look at my picture below, I sewed the red one on the top right to the white one below it, and then again to the red one under that, then I worked in the row to the left of it and then I added the third row from the left.  So those 11 shirts are all sewn together, then I just continue to make quadrants.  If you notice on the left side under the red pizza shirt, I needed a few inches to make that section long enough, so I added a 3" Raiders fabric in.  Its just like a puzzle, you have to trim some down, and add some in sometimes.  Don't be scared to make it work for you!

Now that all your shirts are finally together, you will begin to feel like a ROCKSTAR, and it's ok if some of the sides are not exact, mine never are, even though you put that interfacing on them, there is still a little stretch.  You can square the edges up after the quilting, just try to leave some blank space on the sides of the text so you don't cut off any important shirt parts in your trimming. 

When I quilt T-Shirt quilts, I always pick pretty simple panto designs, or I do simple free hand meander.  With so much going on with the shirt text, I don't like to see really heavy quilting over the shirts.  This time I picked out the Paradox digital design, it's perfect for anyone, and stitches out pretty fast.  Here are a few pictures while it was on the long arm frame.  People ask me all the time if I use batting, the answer is always yes.  I have never made a quilt without batting.  I use Pellon 80/20 batting for almost all my projects, I have been using it for years, and I love how it washes, and its great for snuggles! I buy my big rolls at a wholesale company now, but I used to get the rolls on Overstock, during big holiday weekends they always have great sales with free shipping!  Woo Hoo! 

Once your quilting is done, it's time to trim and bind.  I usually trim mine so there is about 1/8" of batting left all the way around, and I used 2.5" binding.  If I am machine binding, I will use the walking foot to help with the weight and bulk, then I add the binding to the back, then fold over to the front so I can see my final stitch better.  If I do hand binding I add it to the front, then fold over to the back.  This time I did machine binding...

Looking for fabric or notions? Check out The Fat Quarter Shop's huge selection

If I have 12-20 shirts then I will usually place the shirts in rows all cut out the same size and add sashing in between. Here are a few examples of what I mean by that.  These shirts were all cut 15.5" with the template I mentioned above, then 2.5" sashing in between, sometimes I add a border, sometimes I don't, just depends what I am looking for.  ​

I hope you are inspired to pull out some old shirts and make something that will last for years to come!  I would love to hear your feedback, share your pictures on social and tag me, I love to see your projects!  #ginatell #threadgraffiti 
Happy Quilting!! 

I decided that since I love all things rusty orange, blacks and greys that I would use Smoke & Rusty by Lella Boutique, it has a fun modern fell, and it will match my house great!  
I added an alternate pattern option to the bottom (keep scrolling down) since I wanted my runner to be a little shorter. Check out what I did a little different, and feel free to ask questions if you have them.  My runner came out 22x65, here is a sneak peek...

Since I made my table runner different, the size for my backing will be shorter, but you can still used the above layout, you just wont need as much fabric on the right and left side of the center block. I explained down below how I figured my backing in the alternate pattern section. 
​ I upload my logo to Spoonflower, put the image on repeat until I get the desired size and have it printed on white cotton fabric, then I cut them and use them as labels in my quilts.  ​

When I started this sew along I wasn't sure if I was going to want the table runner to be as long as the original pattern suggested, so I made some changes to make mine a little shorter.  
Here are the changes I made... 
First, I decided that I really liked the block that was featured on the backing because the Smoke and Rust fabric collection only had a few pieces of the rusty orange in the bundle, and I wanted to use them on the front.  So instead of making week 4 block (Paradox) and week 5 block (Westward) on the front, I decided I would make two of the week 6 blocks (Friendship Bracelet) block instead.  But since they are only 12.5" blocks I needed something added to them to make them fit, so I added 6 HST and a sashing strip.  
*Tip: So depending on the cutting of some patterns, there are often a lot of corner pieces that are cut off and not used after the trimming, so I made a little video and took a few pictures to give a little mini tutorial to show you how I better use that leftover.  

So now that you have my HST tip, you can use it on future projects.  I almost always do this when I have the opportunity, and then I can trim them down to the size I want and use them on the backing or make matching pillows, y'all know I love pillows!  *In the video I sorta stumbled as I mentioned the cutting part, you will only cut once, right down the middle between the two lines, pictures shown below...

If you want to use my alternate pattern, you'll need to add:
6 - 4.5" HST (half square triangles)
2 - 2.5" x 12.5" sashing pieces (sew between the block and the HST)
I used 1.5" strips for sashing and borders pieces (A-D-C in week 7 instructions)
Backing: Because I made my table runner a little shorter, my backing was made using 3 blocks in the center and then filling in around that. I simply laid my table runner top on the floor, and figured that I would need 8.5" on top and bottom of my blocks to get enough extra to load to the long arm.  I then placed that piece center on the runner top, and measured out to the left and right to figure how much I would need to either side. All pieced backings will be a little different, the best way I have found is to lay my top down and figure things from the center and measure my way out. 
Binding: I usually use 2.5" strips for my binding, then I machine stitch it to the top with the sewing machine, press flat, then fold over the back side, hold with wonder clips and hand stitch it down using matching Aurifil 50 thread and Lori Holt Binding needles.   

My alternate option comes out to be 65" long, rather than the original 80".
OH, and if you look at the picture above, I alway leave the little tails on the border strip, then I trim them down so they are perfectly square after I take it off the long arm.  I dont do this on quilts, but I always do on smaller pieces that are going on tables, I want them to look perfect up close on a table.  

And just to make things a little more fun, I will share with you some of my behind the seams pictures of the quilts that I got to load to my the long arm for the book.  I was lucky enough to quilt the quilts featured on the book covers and inside the book too!  

I have some quilty friends sewing along with me, you should follow along for lots of inspiration, since we will all be using different fabrics. 
Visit the Fat Quarter Shop blog for lots of links for all the bloggers sewing along too!
​  ​
Gina Tell (@gina_tell_threadgraffiti), Thread Graffiti
Jen Belnap (@thesmittenchicken),  The Smitten Chicken
Jeresther Thorpe-Page (@Sew_SweetSeeBee)
Lisa Johnson (@intheboondocks), In the Boondocks
Mona Phelps (@mona.phelps), Bluegrass Stitches
Pat Sloan (@quilterpatsloan), Pat Sloan
Patty (@elmstreetquilts), Elm Street Quilts
Sondra Davison (@sondradavison), Out of the Blue Quilts

​Please follow along on Facebook and Instagram for updates, and be sure to hashtag your progress with #JollyBar3QAL on Instagram and Facebook so we can see and share your work!

Until next time, Happy Quilting!!!
​Gina

Pointed Possibilities is the name of my new pattern, it was inspired by a barn quilt I saw in Iowa several years ago, and was originally made for my Sister-In-Laws wedding.  She loves red, so I thought it would be fun to do a variety of scrappy reds with a champaign colored background. So I worked with the team at It's Sew Emma and we recreated this new version with a beautiful new collection called Roselyn by Minick & Simpson.  Over the years I have made and gifted many of my own original patterns, and I've had a couple published in magazines, but this is my first pattern to be published by It's Sew Emma & Fat Quarter Shop.  It is a huge honor to team up with them for so many long arm quilting projects, and now to bring some of my pattern visions to you too! Oh and the pattern is FREE too, so I'm super excited to see what you'll will make, the color possibilities are endless!! 

So here are some of the fun details... 
This pattern is FREE, so all you need is some of the Triangles on a Roll papers to keep your HST perfect, if you have not tried them they really are wonderful, they make your blocks perfect and that means your entire quilt will be square and perfect too. 
The pattern comes in 6 sizes, and the largest one (RED version above) is available in a Quilt Kit with a backing set! Click the Shop Now below for all your quilt shopping needs, and I'll share more about the smaller sizes below....

When we decided to make the pattern available in several sizes that meant we could have lots of fun with color options!  The sample makers at Fat Quarter Shop helped me make them, and then I quilted all of them on the long arm with a variety of flower panto designs.  So remember as you begin picking out the fabrics, this is a great pattern for two colors, or you can use the entire collections and make it more scrappy looking. 
​Here is the info on all the panto designs that I used:
1" inch panto is called Flower Spray 
2" inch panto is called Flower Power 
3" inch panto is called Maggies Rose 
4" inch panto is called Zen Flowers
5" inch panto is called  Lively 
6" inch panto is called Fresco 
Bonus Pillow using 2" triangles on a roll - panto is called Daisy and Dots 

How fun is this!?  On the left is the 6" kit using Roselyn, then 5” using Dwell in Possibility, then the 4” quilt I made myself using Confection Batiks by Kate Spain, and my very favorite grey background Zen Grey they look beautiful together (more pics below), the 3” is Rise Ruby Star, the 2” is Happy Days, and the tiny 1” is Elinor’s Endeavor.  Last but certainly not least, I had to make a pillow too, y'all know I have a bit of a pillow obsession so it was a must, I used the blues and aquas from the same batik collection along with scrappy Moda background and made a pillow using the 2" triangles on a roll.  This is a pretty fast pattern so it's great for beginners, or anyone looking to make something fabulous in a weekend!  

Since I did the long arm quilting on all the quilts, I will share some behind the seams pics of the long arm in action, and share some other random pics as I pieced the 4" size along with my pillow, lots or fun stuff below... 

Kimberly also made a YouTube video tutorial for this quilt, I was bummed that Covid kept me from the Fat Quarter Shop film room for this one, but we had to make sure to keep everyone safe.  Maybe soon I will be able to get back into the film room, I miss all my FQS buddies!  

I hope y'all enjoy my new pattern and I can't wait to see what everyone will make, the possibilities are endless, so please use the hashtag #pointedpossibilitiesquilt & #ginatell when you share on social media so Fat Quarter Shop and myself can see what you are working on! And don't forget to follow me on Instagram, I will be doing a GIVEAWAY for the full kit and re-sharing as I see your creations pop up!
Find me on Instagram HERE ​
​
Happy Quilting! :)
Gina Tell 

These days we are all shopping online a little more than we probably ever did before, I know I sure am, and since I work from home full time, I often go from my night time pajamas to my day time pajamas with a shower in between (LOL).  So I decided to do some online shopping, spring time comes pretty soon here in Austin Texas, and I am always looking for something bright and fun for the days I leave the house.  So check this out!! 

I found this super fun online store called Zappy Dots and they agreed to offer a 20% off discount code to all my friends for your first order! How fun is that?  You will need to use the code Zappy20 and you can include @zappydots as well as the hashtag #zappydots if you share to your social media.  They have some great apparel to help you accessorize outside your creative spaces by bringing you wearable designs from amazing quilters, cross stitchers, and artists! Naturally, I picked Kaffe, and let me tell you these are so soft and comfy, you are going to feel like you are still in your pj's but you are NOT going to look like it!! 
They also have all sorts of accessories, and gifts too!  
I shared direct links to the things that I have here down on the bottom, along with a few videos, trust me, you are going to love these clothes, they even have some options for those creative men in your life!!

​https://zappydots.com/midnight-diamonds-v-neck-flair-tee-by-kaffe-fassett.html

https://zappydots.com/midnight-diamonds-zappy-band-by-kaffe-fassett.html

https://zappydots.com/autumn-chintz-magnet-collection-by-kaffe-fassett.html

https://zappydots.com/snip-by-lori-holt-of-bee-in-my-bonnet.html

https://zappydots.com/garden-party-by-kathy-doughty.html

Hope you enjoy these super cute items! 
Happy Quilting
​Gina :)

​When the stars align, it can only be Serendipity! We are proud to present the 2021 Serendipity Quilt Along!  Join us as we go row-by-row in making this beautiful quilt featuring Spring Brook by Corey Yoder for Moda Fabrics!

Our Serendipity Quilt and Cross Stitch Chart benefit Make-a-Wish Central & South Texas.
​

As we embark on our 8th Annual Charity Quilt we continue to be amazed by the generosity of this sewing community and inspired by the stories of the children who have been granted life-changing Wishes. The way the fundraiser works is that we offer the Serendipity patterns as FREE downloads during the event for a suggested donation of $5 each to our Make-A-Wish Central & South Texas campaign. Or feel free to make a larger, one-time donation of $50. No amount is too small and every bit counts. We’ll start releasing the seven patterns that make up this quilt on March 1, 2021. Every two weeks we will publish a new pattern on the Jolly Jabber Blog, or I will share links here too. 

Here are some details from the Fat Quarter Shop:
​To make a quilt just like this one, you’ll need the Serendipity Quilt Kit and Serendipity Specialty Pieced Backing Set, available only at Fat Quarter Shop.
Our exclusive quilt kit includes 11.5 yards of Spring Brook fabric designed by Corey Yoder and a background from Thatched, all from Moda Fabrics. This includes all fabric to complete the quilt blocks along with background, borders and binding for the Serendipity quilt. In addition to the fabric, this kit includes three specialty Foundation Paper Piecing Pads by It’s Sew Emma that will be happy helpers for tricky blocks. (You will be able to piece these blocks without the foundation paper using the included pattern instructions, we just really like how perfectly precise they make the blocks!) Bonus alert – the kit comes packaged in an exclusive keepsake box with magnetic closure.
A second bonus of purchasing this quilt kit is that you will have all the block and finishing patterns before they are released from March through July of 2021. The Serendipity printed pattern set will only be available early as part of this kit.

​The quilt finishes at 64.5″ x 74.5″ and is suitable for confident beginners to experienced quilters. You can also use your own choice of fabrics by using our fabric requirements and checking back every two weeks to download the patterns as they are posted!

I was lucky enough to be able to do the long arm quilting on this one, and it's just breathtaking to see in person, y'all are going to love it!  Here are some behind the seams pics I took...
Kimberly picked out a panto design called Floral and I used Glide 60 thread (color Cool Grey 3) and I love it because it sinks in and doesn't overpower the background color in the pattern.

I hope you'll join in, this is such a great cause. Lets all help the children.  

Happy New Year to all my quilty friends!  2020 was such a strange year, filled with uncertainties, and difficulties, but it was also filled with a lot of family, and love.  During this past year I have been so blessed to build new friendships with such great people, I have welcomed many new clients and continued to work with old ones, while reminding myself during the hard days how much I love what I am able to do each day.  Being a long arm quilter has brought me so much joy, having my days filled with color and design does not suck!  So I just wanted to take a minute to thank all of you for being here with me!  

I just uploaded all kinds of new pictures on my webisite home page from this year if you want to check them out.  I am so excited,  I have some big dreams for 2021, and I have some fun things that are scheduled to happen, and a lot of hope that some other things will fall into place, so please stay tuned... 

I am most active on Instagram these days, so if you don't already follow me there, I'd love for you to come check it out.  I share almost all of the projects that I work on there, and Instagram has some great tools to provide links so you can find things easily.  Click here to follow. Once you find me (@gina_tell_threadgraffit) you can click on the link in my profile, and that will take you to images of all the things I share, and a direct link will be there to shop for those items, it's a new feature for me, so I am pretty excited!  
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At the end of each year it's fun to compile the top 9 Instagram posts in one place to share, and these are mine from 2020, wow I had 85K likes this year, y'all rock!  

Everything here can be purchased at Fat Quarter Shop, because they are awesome and have all things quilty and fabulous, and did you know they have a flash sale every day with some great discounts on products you need!? I have truly been blessed this year to work on so many beautiful things for Kimberly and her team, and there are so many new things on the way this year too, I can hardly keep up! Click the button below to fill your cart :)

I'm really looking forward to the New Year, I dream of brighter days, happier tomorrow's, and wish all of you a safe and healthy year!  Happy Quilting!  :)

Ever since Lori Holt’s new book, Quilter’s Cottage came out, I have fallen in love.  It is such a sweet reminder that home is where the heart is, and makes me think of my childhood spent outdoors near a lake in Illinois while eating a whole lot of apples right off the trees.  

Fat Quarter Shop is celebrating the big finish of the Quilter’s Cottage Sew Along and asked me to include some of me behind the seams pictures for the finish.  I was lucky enough to piece the main quilt and do the long arm quilting on all the projects in the picture below.  Lori Holt is so much fun to work with, so I have some fun sneak peeks...

I have been long arm quilting about 4 years now, and I love what I do each day.  Some days are spent doing custom quilting, while others I do e2e digital pantographs.  Regardless what kind of quilting I am doing, I am loving every minute of it.  

The main cover quilt I added the "Daisy Delight" digital pantograph using white Glide 60 thread.  I used Glide because I love the sheen it has, and because it produces almost no lint, so that helps keep my tension pretty.  60wt thread is skinny, so it allows the texture to pop more so than the actual thread, it sinks right in and creates beautiful stitches.  

I also quilted the pillows and the flower runner on the long arm too.  The pillows are always a lot of fun, I load one big piece of white cotton, then a layer of Quilters Dream 80/20 batting, then place each pillow top over.  Then I used my long arm to program each pillow to stitch out the pantograph that has been chosen.  It makes it easy to quilt them all at one time.  Then for the table runner, I did straight lines running diagonal to created a crosshatch, this simple quilting really makes a statement on the right project. 

This is my favorite picture of the quilt I made, my son and I took it out to the lake we live on to get a picture before I loaded it onto the long arm.  

I had so much fun with this project, and I hope you do too!  The book is great, and it really makes me feel so happy to see this adorable quilt! You can check out all the information about this quilt and all the extras on The Fat Quarter Shop blog, and order your copy of the book today. 
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I would love to see your pictures, so feel free to tag me on Instagram anytime if you have questions or want to show off your quilting.  I love to see them! 
Happy Quilting 
​Gina Tell 

The Jolly Bar Book Volume 2 includes 20 quilt patterns designed by my friends at It's Sew Emma just for these precuts.  Grab a Jolly Bar, pick any design and sew! These quilts offer a wide range of styles while still being beginner-friendly. You will want to make them over and over again. 

The Fat Quarter Shop has hosted the Jolly Bar Row Along, and it did not disappoint!  I had so much fun being creative and adding all my own touches to this quilt, you can scroll down for all my finished pictures, and visit my social media too.  I made mine two sided, the front is all low volume, and the back is bright and modern with a lot of quilting texture to make things fun.  Feel free to reach out if you have questions. 

Here is the one Kimberly made:

To make this pattern you will need the Jolly Bar Book Volume 2.
(Kimberly used  Bloomington collection by Lella Boutique for Moda Fabrics.)
Here are the fabric requirements, grab your supplies and come sew with me! Download your copy here. 

Block 1: You'll make 12 of the Sparrow Tracks Blocks this week, and then later we will put into rows, and have some fun with quilting!
Block 2:  You'll need to make 5 Spinning Spools Blocks this week-
Block 3:  This week we make 4 Migration Blocks -
Block 4: This week we make 2 of the Crushing on You Blocks -
Block 5: This week we make 3 of the Due North Blocks -
Block 6: This week we will make 2 Blissful Kisses Blocks - ​​
Finishing: This week we will add sashing between blocks, and add whatever boarders you’d like.  I wanted to keep mine small, so I just did 2” borders.
Backing: SURPRISE!  This is the first time I have ever made a two sided quilt, the key is laying it out often to make sure you have the focal blocks in the center, so you don’t loose parts you want included in the extra overhand that you provide to your long arm quilter.  So I made the blocks for the back using a variety of blue Spotted 2019  and I then decided on a very off center layout, so if I did goof on the centering, it wouldn’t be as noticeable.  I used one of the other patterns from this great little book called Tweed Quilt, along with one background from the Zen collection. I decided to make it a little darker and brighter since the front side is all low volume.   For the front I used Modern Backgrounds More Paper Jolly Bar by Zen Chic for Moda 

There is a fun lineup of quilty friends who will be sewing along.  Check out their social media and blogs to see their progress and tips along the way!
Tracie Henkel (@joyfully_tracie), Riceford Streams
Sondra Davidson (@sondradavison), Out of the Blue Quilts
Pat Sloan (@quilterpatsloan), Pat Sloan
Melanie Call (@abitofscrapstuff), A Bit of Scrap Stuff
Jen Belnap (@thesmittenchicken),  The Smitten Chicken
Hilary Jordan (@byhilaryjordan), By Hilary Jordan
Gina Tell (@gina_tell_threadgraffiti), Thread Graffiti
Geraldine Wilkins (@livingwaterquilter),  Living Water Quilter
Carole Carter (@frommycarolinahome), From my Carolina Home

Here is the block schedule, click the green below to be taken to The Fat Quarter Shop Blog post for full details...
June 29th * Sparrow Tracks Block
July 6th * Spinning Spools Block 
July 13 * Migration Block 
July 20th * Crushing On You Block 
July 27th * Due North Block 
Aug 3 * Blissful Kisses Block
Aug 10 * Finishing
** Since I am a long arm quilter, I also have a ton of fun deciding on the way I will finish my quilts.  Sometimes I do digital pantographs, and sometimes I like to do custom quilting, this time I picked out a panto called Bread Basket, and I love the orange peel kinda look it has.  I uploaded a video on my Instagram if you would like to visit me there too.  Click here: Instagram 

Be sure to share your progress with hastag #jollybarrowalong -
​oh and if you want me to see them add my tags #ginatell #threadgraffiti on Instagram and Facebook so we can see and share your work! 
​Happy Quilting!