More Baby Blankets

I go to JoAnns on Black Friday and buy lots of baby flannel.  I use the flannel to make tied baby blankets to give as gifts.  I purchased more than fifty yards last November. 

I got tired of making one or two blankets at a time, so I decided to go through all of my baby flannel.  I used this tutorial I wrote to get the blankets ready to tie.  It takes me about an hour per blanket to do that, but I think I saved some time doing it all at once.  My craft room seemed messy during the process, but it was an organized mess. 

I finished nine baby boy blankets...

And nine baby girl blankets. 

Pretty soon they will all be tied and look like this:

They are all stacked up under my cutting table, emptying three cubes in my Expedit.  I have five to tie and finish in the next month.  (Have I mentioned there are a lot of babies born in Utah?)  The rest I will tie little by little.  I guess you can consider this a WISP (Work in Slow Progress).  Maybe I will get tired of them not being completely finished and get them all done.  But for now I am ready for something else.  :D

What do you do for baby gifts?

XX,
Jasmine

Three Small Quilts

Back in March, Panda Man told me that Pooh Bear needed a quilt.  I have been busy with a lot of other projects, but I decided that it was time to make Pooh Bear his own quilt. 

Panda Man was at the quilt shop with me and found this Angry Bird fabric.  He fell in love with it and asked me to buy some for him.  He was so good that I couldn't resist.  I decided that the Angry Bird fabric would be perfect for Pooh Bear's quilt.  I had some left over Minky from the back of My Cuddle Quilt, so that became the backing. 

I quilted it simply with straight lines every three inches.  Then I bound it by machine with Kona Black.  Pooh Bear definitely approves. 

Quilt Stats #107
Name:  Pooh's Bird Quilt
Pattern:  Whole Cloth
Quilting Design:  Vertical Lines every 3 inches
Fabric:  Angry Birds and Kona Black
Backing: Ultra soft minky
Amount Used: 2 yards
Batting:  Frankensteined Warm and White
Size: About 30 x 30 inches
Date Finished: June 2014
What I Learned: 

• If Pooh Bear gets a quilt, then Leonard will want one too. 

Thankfully, Panda Man also approves of the quilt. 

Like I mentioned above, if Pooh Bear gets a quilt then Leonard wants one.  So, I made a similar quilt for Leonard.  I used an animal print I already had in my stash, and the rest of the black Minky from My Cuddle Quilt.  (Leonard is happy to show you how fuzzy it is.)

I quilted Leonard's quilt with straight lines every three inches as well.  I also bound it with Kona Black fabric.  I am grateful Leonard approves. 

Quilt Stats #108
Name:  Leonard's Cheetah Quilt
Pattern: Whole Cloth
Quilting Design: Vertical Lines every 3 inches
Fabric: Animal print from stash and Kona Black
Backing: Ultra soft minky
Amount Used: 2 yards
Batting: Frankensteined Warm and White
Size: About 30 x 30 inches
Date Finished: June 2014
What I Learned:

• If Pooh Bear and Leonard get a quilt, then George will want one too.

Cheetah was quick to inform me that Leonard gave him the quilt.  (Kind of funny to see a 12 year old cuddle under such a small quilt.)

Monkey came down to my craft room and saw the quilts for Pooh Bear and Leonard.  He wanted to know where his quilt was.  I pulled out the rest of the panel from his Thomas the Train Bag and showed him.  Once he knew his quilt was coming, he was happy to wait.  I fussy cut the trains from the panel and added the red sashing to make his quilt the same size as the other two.  I had to run to the quilt shop to buy more Minky.  George approves of the red dot minky. 

I stitched in the ditch around the red octagons, and a quarter inch away from the seams on the red sashing.  Then I added a blue sketch fabric for the binding.  I am grateful that Curious George likes his new train quilt. 

Quilt Stats #107
Name:  George's Train Quilt
Pattern:  Train panel with sashing added
Quilting Design:  In the ditch
Fabric:  From my stash
Backing: Red dot minky
Amount Used: 2 yards
Batting:  Warm and White
Size: About 30 x 30 inches
Date Finished: June 2014
What I Learned:

• If I make one animal a quilt, I will have to make three.

So happy that my Monkey also likes the quilt. 

It is kind of like the story "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" by Laura Numeroff.  Now there is one simple fuzzy quilt for each child favorite stuffed animal.  All made in one day to keep things "fair" in our house.  Do you have to make things in triplicate (or for each child)?

XX,
Jasmine

P.S.  I will be linking up with Let's Bee Social, Needle and Thread Thursday, and Can I Get a Whoop Whoop (buttons on sidebar).  Plus, I will link up with Finish it Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts. 

P.P.S.  This post was highlighted at Val's Tuesday Archives.  :)

New Quilt Blogger Blog Hop

Hi!  I am excited to be participating in this year's blog hop for new quilt bloggers hosted by Beth at Plum and June.  Welcome to my blog, Quilt Kisses.  My name is Jasmine and I live in Utah, U.S.A.  I have been quilting for over 20 years, making more than 100 quilts.  I am a stay at home mom, with a super supportive husband. 

While I love more modern fabrics, this year my focus has been on stash busting.  I have used more than 160 yards of fabric this year.  I hope to work through my stash and update it with newer fabrics.

I would like to share with you four of my favorite quilts that I have made this year.  All of them were made completely with fabric from my stash.

This is Solstice, a twin size reverse star quilt measuring 72 x 90 inches.  I finished Solstice in January. 

I finished Rich in Love in February.  It is a large lap quilt measuring 72 x 80 inches. 

A Lovely Twist is a twin size quilt measuring 70 x 88 inches.  I finished it in March.  It is one of my favorite quilts because I figured out a way to make a twister quilt without the special ruler. 

Sunrise, Sunset was a gift I made for one of my sisters in April.  It is a lap quilt measuring 58 x 72 inches.  (I am half done with my goal of making a lap quilt for all of my siblings this year.) 

These quilts have really helped me appreciate the fabrics in my stash.  I love making something useful and beautiful out of fabric that has been sitting in my craft room for nearly ten years. 

Both Solstice and Rich in Love were quilted with my Janome 6500 in a corner of my craft room.  I quilted with my Janome for over ten years. 

A Lovely Twist and Sunrise, Sunset were quilted with my Tiara, Princess El. I have only had her for the past three months. I love all the extra space! 

My favorite quilting tip is to use a Post-it when sewing on binding.  I place the triangle along the bottom edge and stop when I get to it.  Then I back stitch.  I find that this helps when mitering the corners of your binding.  (Click here for more details.) 

My favorite part about blogging is meeting new people and forming friendships. So my advice to you is to leave comments and respond to those left on your blog.  ;)

A few random facts about me:

• I can not wear shoes while using a sewing machine.  I have better control of the foot pedal in socks or bare feet. 
• I like it best when I only have one or two works in progress.  
• I am OCD when it comes to keeping my craft room clean. 

 

What is one quilting habit you have that you love or would like to change? 

Don't forget to visit some of the other lovely people participating in the New Quilt Blogger Blog Hop.  We have all been blogging about quilts for less than two years and will be sharing some of our favorite tips. 

Jill @ Pie Lady Quilts

Chelsea @ Patch The Giraffe

Daisy @ Ants To Sugar

Rachael @ The Floral Suitcase

Elizabeth @ And Pins

Jennifer @ Never Just Jennifer

Alice @ Blossom Quilts

Megan @ Sew Stitching Cute

Stephanie @ Late Night Quilter
Kelsey @ Lovely and Enough

Thanks again for stopping by!

XX,
Jasmine

My Updated Craft Room

I have been trying out a new floor plan in my craft room, and I am loving it! 

Last November (when I started blogging) my craft room looked like this:

My cutting table was near the closets and the sewing cabinet was near the window.  It worked very well for me.  But when I bought my Baby Lock Tiara, I had to put the sewing cabinet in front of my design wall with the Tiara in front of the window. 

Having my Tiara was well worth the change, but I missed the easier access to my design wall.  I had to move my sewing cabinet (thank goodness for wheels) in order to use the design wall. 

So after lots of measuring and thinking, my sweet husband helped me rearrange the furniture.  I am sure he thought I was crazy, but he humored me.  Now I have my sewing cabinet in front of the window again. 

It is so nice having it close to, but not blocking, my design wall.  The white table you see in the picture above is my cutting table.  The two sides can fold down and it can be rolled out of the way for even easier access to the design wall.  So nice. 

This is what it looks like with the cutting table set up.  I love having access to three sides of the table. 

I wondered if it would feel tight while I was sewing, but I have lots of space. 

And now my Tiara is near the closest.  I like having it even with the edge of my corner Ikea table.  It used to stick out before. 

Updated September 12, 2014:  Here is what the Tiara looks like when I am quilting a big quilt.  I still have plenty of room to set up support tables.  :)

My ironing board still moves around wherever it is convenient for me.  I like having it next to a table to set the iron down on. 

The only thing I am still getting used to is walking in next to the table. 

However, I can make my table like an island simply by putting one side down.  That helps with the tunnel feeling. 

I think these changes are here to stay, but it is nice to know I can always change it back later. 

XX,
Jasmine

P.S.  I will be linking up with Let's Bee Social and Can I Get a Whoop Whoop (buttons on sidebar).

My Brother's Cuddle Quilt

I finished R's cuddle quilt this week.  It was my June goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes (Link #15).  So nice to have it finished early again, because I never know what will take my time during the summer with my boys. 

Here is a close-up of some of my favorite prints. I love the mustache print, and I know he will love the butterflies. 

The phrase, "Second verse, same as the first" keeps going through my mind.  His quilt is a lot like mine, but hopefully more masculine. 

The solid in his quilt is Kona Crimson, while the one in mine is a mystery from my stash.  Up close they aren't that different, but the small change makes a big difference. 

His quilt also has a minky with shorter fibers on the back.  I quilted it by stitching in the ditch horizontally and vertically. 

I did the binding by machine with three inch cut strips.  I like wider bindings when the quilt is thicker.  I am beginning to really like binding by machine.  It is so fast. 

I finished this quilt in three days, and I totally love it!  I just love quilts that are black and white plus one more color.  It is my hope that my brother will also love and use it. 

Quilt Stats #106
Name:  R's Cuddle Quilt
Pattern:  Patchwork with 6 inch finished squares
Quilting design: Stitch in the ditch
Fabric:  Kona Crimson and random black & white prints
Backing: Black Minky
Amount Used: 7 yards
Batting: Warm and white
Size: about 60 x 72
Date Finished:  June 2014
What I learned:

• It is really fun to go buy new fabric for a new quilt! 
• I am tired of keeping track of a stash report, so I am not going to any more. I already know I am using way more than I am buying. 

If my brother doesn't like it, he can just give it back.  I am not the only one in my family who likes this quilt.  ;) 

XX,
Jasmine

P.S.  I am linking up with Finish it up Friday and Can I get a Whoop Whoop.