TGIFF - Prairie Points Pinwheel Pattern Release

Welcome back for another TGIFF party! I don't have a finished quilt to share this week, but I do have a finally-finished new pattern I can share 😊

A couple of years ago, I was a guest blogger on Amy Smart's Diary of a Quilter blog, and I shared the free pattern for a Prairie Points Pinwheel baby quilt. Ever since then, I've wanted to expand the pattern to include other sizes and get it put in my shop. Thanks to an abundance of time working on my computer last week, I can finally say it's done!

Prairie Points Pinwheel adds some 3D pizzaz by using prairie points for the pinwheels (did you figure that out??), which gives the quilt such a different look! Can't you see some toddler or child playing with those floppy pinwheels (or adult, let's be honest)?

In addition to the baby size I made, the pattern includes instructions to make a mini quilt and a throw quilt. I kind of want to make myself a throw size now. Not that I need another throw quilt, but you understand I'm sure.

If you've never made prairie points before, you might think they're complicated, but they're not at all. It only takes a couple of folds to get a prairie point ready to sew into your block. In fact, it's probably faster to make a pinwheel with prairie points than with HSTs!

Prairie Points Pinwheel uses fat eighths, or you can use fat quarters or scraps. Add yardage for the background and you're ready to start making some 3D pinwheels!

I had a bit of fun playing with other colour choices for a Prairie Points Pinwheel baby quilt. Rainbow would be fun.

Or maybe black, grey, and pink.

Or maybe an ombre look. Of course I tried the ombre look with blues!

You can get the Prairie Points Pinwheel pattern in my shop! Will you make the mini, baby, or throw size first?

That's my finally-finished project for this week. What's yours? Link it up below, then be sure to visit some of the other links to celebrate their finishes, too.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

How to Sew Bulky Seams With a Hump Jumper

I have a quick tip post today, featuring a little tool you may already own and, if you're like I was, you have no idea what it is or what it's for! Allow me to introduce you to the hump jumper, also known as a seam jumper.

Did one come with your sewing machine? One was included with the various notions with my Janome 6700, but I had no idea what it was, so it sat in the box untouched for years. I can't remember where I finally discovered its use, but now it is one of my favourite things and I hope you'll find it useful, too. If you don't have one, you can buy one or just fold a piece of cardboard to achieve the same effect.

A hump jumper is designed to help your sewing machine deal with thick seams by raising the back of the presser foot so the foot is level. I've been using it this week while sewing the blocks for a Burst quilt top, and I snapped a couple of pictures to show you how it works. First, here's the thick seam at the corner where I need to start sewing.

As you can see, there are quite a few layers there, and my sewing machine struggles to start pulling it through without a bit of help. To give it that help, I place the hump jumper behind the needle and lower the presser foot onto it, with my blocks right in front of the needle, ready to be sewn. The hump jumper has two ends, one thick and one thin, so choose whichever one matches the thickness of your seam best. I'm using the thinner end for these blocks.

Then I just start sewing. The feed dogs move the hump jumper back as they pull the fabric through; you don't have to move it out of the way. The front of the presser foot isn't pressing onto the blocks quite as hard as usual, so you'll want to pay extra attention to keeping the block straight, but other than that, just sew as normal.

After a few seconds, the hump jumper will be pushed out from under the presser foot and will likely fall off the back of your sewing machine. Try not to jump when that happens 😂 I definitely jumped the first few times, startled by the sound of it hitting the table behind the machine.

The hump jumper works just as well if the bulky part is in the middle of the seam. Just stop before you get to it, raise the presser foot to put the hump jumper behind the needle, and keep sewing the seam.

That's all there is to it! The hump jumper is a nifty little notion, and I'm glad I learned how to use it 😊Is the hump jumper new to you?

Not That Important

Devotion for the week...

Today is Thanksgiving here in Canada, and I'm giving thanks for the wonderful turkey dinner we ate yesterday at my sister-in-law's house, a turkey dinner that I didn't have to cook! 

Leading up to Thanksgiving, both our school and our church have had food drives for our local food bank, like many other places do. It's always beautiful to see the accumulated donations, but also sobering to know there are families who wouldn't eat without those donations.

Our food bank runs a used clothing store that funds the food bank (in addition to donations), and Aiden and Zach have both spent summers working there. I remember asking Aiden once what actually goes into the food hamper a family receives. Though he did list out the various categories of things they try to cover in each hamper, his initial response was, "Not enough to last until they get the next one." Doesn't that make your heart hurt?

In Galatians, Paul tell us to "Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important" (Galatians 6:2-3). I have to admit I love this passage for the real-talk style 'You are not that important.' It feels like that line should be delivered by a sassy friend who might laugh as she says it, but you both know she's speaking truth at the same time. 

Sharing each other's burdens can be applied in so many ways. Sometimes it might mean picking up some extra peanut butter or cereal to give to the food bank. Other times it might mean sitting with someone who is grieving. Right now it might look like sending quilts to those who are distributing them to people who lost everything in the recent hurricanes.

No matter what it looks like on the outside, though, it always starts with an acknowledgement that we are not so important that we are above helping others. 

PS. I've written about this verse in Galatians before.