Patchwork Tile For My Laundry Room, RTW Quilted Jacket Inspiration, and NO, I'm Not Packed Yet

Shhh!!!  No one tell Bernie that I'm on the Internet writing a blog post right now while I'm supposed to be packing my sewing room!  🙊  I can't stand it; I have to show you guys the mosaic tile backsplash I found for my laundry room in the new house:

This Mosaic Tile Says "A Quilter Lives Here!" 

What do me and my quilter peeps see when we look at this tile?  We see a patchwork quilt, English Paper Piecing, diamonds, kites and squares!! 💕  Tra-la-la-la-LAAAA!!!!!  I am powerless to resist.   

Meanwhile, I have been packing -- just at the same slothful pace of my sewing projects.  The moving truck comes in three TWO days.  😰. And yet this blog post continues...

The Long Arm Studio is All Packed Up

The night before last, I managed to get my Bernina B990 sewing machine, its embroidery module, and my Babylock Triumph serger packed up in their original manufacturer's shipping cartons, thank goodness for YouTube "unboxing" videos that helped me remember what goes where.  I still need to pack my AccuQuilt machine and die collection, my acrylic cutting rulers, embroidery hoops, WIP project boxes, the rest of my quilting fabric stash, my hand embroidery and beading supplies...  My sewing paraphernalia is definitely the biggest packing category, and the one I'm least likely letting the movers assist with.  To heck with my clothes and my dishes, as long as my sewing goodies survive the move!

New York Times Tileset Game

Switching gears...  My sisters and their families are in a group chat where they all play the New York Times phone app games like Wordle and Connections and share their scores everyday.  I find those games annoying -- the last Connections game I tried required knowledge of casinos in Las Vegas and some kind of sportsball team names.  I could not care less.  But I discovered this other game they have called Tileset that seems custom made for quilters' brains:

New York Times Tileset Game

There is a different one every day but they always look like a cool sampler quilt.  You play by tapping a quilt block, then tapping another quilt block that shares a common element, and then the matched elements disappear and you choose another block that matches one of the remaining elements.  What makes it challenging is that there are subtle differences in the motifs sometimes, like two nearly identical motifs slightly different in size, and the motifs are layered so that sometimes you can't see a motif on a block until another motif in the same color is removed.  In addition, the motifs are overlaid on a two-color checkerboard that makes the same motif look slightly different depending on which color background block it's on.  Anyway, it's a fun way to kill time on your phone while you're in a waiting room.

RTW Quilted Jacket Inspo

Had to share this with you all, too -- I spotted this quilted jacket in a shop window of the SouthPark Mall in Charlotte when I was there a couple weeks ago checking on our renovation progress:

Sorry, I didn't get the name of the store.  Here's what I love about this jacket:

• Mix of "patchwork" (they used cheater cloth) and nubby fleece textures is so interesting and cozy
• Zipper closure at the front instead of buttons gives it a sporty look
• Bound edges on the sleeve and jacket hem
• Same "patchwork" cheater fabric for the facings
• Not sure, but it may have even had a hood

Love This Fresh Take on a Quilted Jacket!

I thought it was really cute, and also hysterically funny that the store styled it with a sports bra and bare midriff.  IMO, if it's cold enough to warrant a fleece/quilted jacket, it's cold enough to warrant wearing an actual SHIRT.

Susan's Songbook Quilt

Lastly, I know y'all come here for the quilts and I can't disappoint you!  Fortunately although I've not been sewing anything in the last couple weeks, I have a backlog of not-yet-shared longarm quilts for clients that I can dip into.  Like this beautiful Songbook quilt made by my client Susan a couple years ago as a Christmas gift for her sister-in-law -- these photos were taken in 2023 in the studio of our last home in North Carolina, before we moved to Florida:

Susan's Songbook Quilt, Longarm Quilting by Rebecca

I don't think you can get this fabric collection anymore but I sure wish I'd grabbed some while it was in shops.  All of the panel designs are classic church hymns.  

Abundance E2E Quilting Design, Masterpiece 50 wt Cotton Thread in Bisque

I used Quilters Dream Cotton Natural batting, Select loft and Superior's Masterpiece 50 wt cotton thread in color Bisque for the quilting.  The edge-to-edge quilting design, Abundance by Karlee Porter, is fairly dense but the lighter weight thread ensures that the design blends into the fabrics without fighting the prints.  Lighter weight quilting thread is also the secret to prevent a dense quilting design from making the finished quilt feel stiff.  

I just loved everything about this quilt!

Here's the "before" photo of Susan's quilt top before I quilted it for her.  Not sure if she used a pattern or not, but I really love the mix of 9-patch blocks, sawtooth star blocks, and contrasting borders around each of the panel designs.  It looks so cohesive and could work with other panels as well.

Susan's Songbook Quilt Top Before Quilting

...And that, my friends, is all you get from me until AFTER I move back to North Carolina next week!  I hope you are all quilting madly away and enjoying yourselves while my poor sewing machines are locked up in jail in their shipping cartons.

I'm linking up with a few of my favorite linky parties, and I'll be catching up with all of my blogging friends' projects as soon as I can catch my breath.

MONDAY

Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts  

Monday Musings at Songbird Designs  

TUESDAY

To-Do Tuesday at Quilt Schmilt  

WEDNESDAY

Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter

THURSDAY

Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation  

FRIDAY

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Off the Wall Friday at Nina Marie Sayre

Beauty Pageant at From Bolt to Beauty

 TGIFF Thank Goodness It’s Finished Friday, rotates, schedule found here: TGIF Friday

SUNDAY

Frédérique at Quilting Patchwork Appliqué

Slow Stitching Sunday at Kathy's Quilts

Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework