Sneaky Sewing with My Friend

I have helped my dear friend Alissa with a huge sneaky sewing project for the last few months.  I am so glad that we started early, because my husband and I decided to move halfway through the project.

Alissa and I did almost everything together, starting back in August after the kids were in school.  We bought the fabric together, cut the quilts out at my house, and used my design wall to determine the layout.  Then she stacked the individual quilts up, put them in boxes, and pieced them in her craft room at home with a locked door.  Then we quilted about one quilt per week.  Three were quilted on my mom's Fusion long arm machine, and I quilted one on my Tiara.  Then we did all four bindings by machine at my house. All four quilts were finished the first week in December before my big move.

While her family knew I was helping her with a "project" they all assumed they knew what it was because I am a quilter.  However, they were surprised that there was one for each of them.  The quilts were a big hit with her family because she made them and because they are all backed in minky.  And yes, they were all Monkey tested and approved.

This first quilt is for her husband who loves watching sports and is a big BYU fan.

I quilted it on the Fusion in a large stipple.  She wanted to keep the quilting simple because the prints were so busy.  Alissa did help quilt the last block.

The second quilt is for her son who is currently attending the University of Utah.

It is also quilted with a large meander on the Fusion.   Alissa quilted the last block on this one too.

Both of the boy quilts used kits she purchased.  The pattern used less blocks and had a border.  We bought more fabrics, made more blocks, and eliminated the border.

For the girl quilts, she decided to keep the piecing simple and made plus quilts with eight inch cut squares.

This one is for her older daughter who loves the color gray but also likes yellow and light blue.

We quilted most of it with a digital pantograph on the Fusion.

Then we had a problem and my mom's machine went out of timing.  We took the quilt off the frames,  traced the design onto gold paper, and I was able to finish the quilting on my Tiara.

It turned out great, and you would never know that some was quilted by a computer and some was quilted by me.

Because we were running out of time before I had to move, we decided to have me quilt the fourth quilt on my Tiara instead of waiting for the Fusion to be serviced.  This one is for her younger daughter who loves everything bright and colorful.

The loops and daisies turned out so cute for the quilting.

Alissa had previously made quilted table runners and rag quilts, but these were her first quilts which have been quilted.  She loved working on her project and looks forward to future projects.  She might even want to learn free-motion quilting.  I look forward to more projects with her, even though we no longer live on the same street.

XX,
Jasmine

P.S.  I will be linking up with some of the fun parties on my sidebar.  Check them out to see what other quilters have been up to.