My Nephew's First Quilt

This is my nephew Mr. C's first quilt.  My mother and I put together a few different boy kits for basic Turning 20 quilts and he chose this blue, green, and gray kit. I helped him cut it out and decide on a layout on my mom's new design wall.  Then my mom helped him sew it all together by pinning and pressing.

My mom usually starts similar quilts with the granddaughters when they turn thirteen, but only recently offered to teach the grandsons.  Mr. C was the first after Cheetah to make his quilt.   He is a senior in high school.  We learned that he was always a little jealous of his cousins and sisters who were given the chance earlier.  So my mom is grateful she listened to my suggestion and offered to teach the grandsons.  Three more of my nephews have expressed interest and will be making similar quilts soon.

I quilted it for him on the Bernina Q24 with the Q-matic (computerized quilting).  While I absolutely love free motion quilting, some designs look a little better with the computer.  (It is also nice to let the computer do the quilting when you have a nasty cold.)

Mr. C chose this fun boxy meander design.

I think it looks great on such a masculine quilt.

He also asked me to finish the binding for him which I did completely by machine.

I am so proud of him!  His quilt turned out awesome.

We bought a 90 inch wide gray minky for the back of his quilt.

I love how the quilting design shows up on the minky.

What a fun quilt with lots of memories.

I will always remember how appreciative he was every step of the way.  It is always nice being told that you are an amazing aunt, right?

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 are making.

Bindings Galore

I mentioned in a previous post that my pile of unbound baby blankets was growing.  I had four at the time which were all quilted with the Q-matic on the Bernina Q24.

My pile doubled in size before I started on the bindings.

Two of the boy blankets (on the left) were quilted free-motion to try new types of thread.  Two were quilted with the Q-matic (on the right).  It took about half of the time to free-motion quilt them than for the computer to quilt them.  However, I can't free-motion quilt such cute lizards or such perfect squares and rectangles.  I definitely think that both types of quilting have their place.

I think there is a reason why I usually work on one quilt at a time.  Binding eight quilts at once wasn't nearly as much fun as quilting them!

I have already used the computerized boxy meander design on my nephew's quilt.  Hopefully life will get a little less crazy and I will have more time for blogging and playing in my studio.

XX,
Jasmine

HST Sampler Quilt in Progress

While my computer was busy quilting on the longarm, I was nearby squaring up a bunch of half square triangles for a spring sampler quilt.  These blocks were made from the scraps of my WISP, Dancing Daisies.

I want a quilt like the one I sketched below with twenty blocks.

So I added some solid pastel charm squares and extra blue squares from the binding and cornerstone fabric.

It feels so good to be working on this.  A HST Sampler quilt has been on my bucket list for the last few years.  Now I need to start sewing the blocks together so I can arrange them how I want with the sashing and cornerstones.

XX,
Jasmine

P.S.  I will be linking up with some of the fun parties on my sidebar, including Oh Scrap.

Computerized Quilting: Bernina Q-matic

My mom and I recently went to the Q-matic class for the Bernina Q24.  Before the class I had not even turned on the computer.  Honestly, I was having too much fun playing with free-motion quilting on the longarm. ;)

The teacher was so helpful and inspiring that I practiced on a little muslin the next day.

Then I pulled out some baby flannel to practice digital pantographs on as well.

Normally, I use the envelope method to finish the edges before tying the blanket or quilting it.  I only buy a yard and a half for the top and the back.  I ended up sewing scraps to both ends of the backing to make it longer.

I cheated by not using the side clamps and just kept the stitching a half an inch in from the selvages.

It was so much fun that I just kept going...

and going...

and going!

The only problem is that now I have a growing pile of baby blankets that need binding.

I could have quilted these much faster if I just free-motion quilted them.  However, they were great practice for learning a new skill.  Maybe sometime I will combine free-motion and computerized quilting in the same quilt.

It is probably a good thing that I practiced on these baby blankets.  My nephew Mr. C just finished piecing his first quilt top.  He really liked the boxy meander digital pantograph that came with the Q-matic.  I may practice that on baby flannel before trying it on his quilt.

XX,
Jasmine

Private FMQ Lessons

I recently had a request for a private free-motion quilting lesson.  I was pleased that I was still able to arrange my room to fit two six foot folding tables even with the Bernina Q24 taking up so much space.

I put all of my class examples on the cutting table by the window. By the end of the class most of them ended up draped over the bars on the longarm.

My sewing cabinet moved over to the side where my design wall is most of the time.  (It ended up in the closet again.)

The private lesson ended up being a lot of fun.  I had four people come for the class.  A husband and wife and their son and daughter-in-law.  I love to see families quilting together!

I also really love my craft room/studio.  I may set it up like this again sometime for my little quilting group.

XX,
Jasmine

Blue and Gold: A Finished Quilt

This is the last quilt that I will be able to make almost entirely from my old stash.  It is such a good feeling to be able to say that I have been so successful with my stash busting goal that I am down to one small box of old stash fabrics.  But don't worry, I made up for that by buying a small fat quarter bundle of Kimberbell Basics to add to my new stash fabrics.

My plan all along was to make a plus quilt with eight inch squares.

But once I got it up on my design wall I didn't like the busy prints next to each other.  So I tried a diagonal patchwork layout.  I cut into the scraps of my husband's quilt to keep the busy prints separated.

I liked this layout so much better.  I was able to use the squares which did not make the cut on the back with some of the other scraps.  It worked out great because the six other pieces would not have been wide enough by themselves.

I quilted it on the Bernina Q24 and used an old polyester batting.  There were a few areas where I had  a little problem with the tension.  I'm going to blame that on the batting.  ;)

I decided to try quilting with a large meander to see how it went on the longarm.  It was a lot of fun and was finished before I knew it.

The only thing I had to purchase for this quilt was the binding.  I was able to find a nice slate blue fabric which looks really good with the blues in the quilt.  That is why I had to say it was almost entirely made from the old stash.

I think that simple quilting really is the best on some quilts.

This was a very fast finish.  It took one day to piece the top and back.

 It only took one more day to quilt and bind.  I really do love fast finishes.

Quilt Stats #203
Name:  Blue and Gold
Pattern:  8 inch cut squares on the diagonal
Fabric Used:  From my old stash
Amount Used:  10.5 yards
Batting:  Low loft polyester
Size:  About 60 by 75 inches
Date Finished:  2017

This quilt will be donated somewhere sometime this year.  It feels good to be ahead on my goal for donation quilts this year.

XX,
Jasmine Stephens

P.S.  I will be linking up with some of the fun parties on my sidebar including Oh, Scrap for the scrappy backing.  Check them out for more quilty inspiration.

March Decor

I enjoyed pulling out my green quilty decorations for March.  However, I realized that I don't have much that is green.  That is something I may need to work on.  ;)

My green bunting and daisies ended up on the mantle.  Autumn Race (folded to see the green backing) and an upside-down Christmas table runner ended up on the entertainment center.

Yeah, I definitely need more green quilts and runners.

My husband's new quilt, Snowy Pines, is hanging out in the family room for the month of March near the kite quilt.

On the kitchen table is another upside-down Christmas table topper.  I do like the flecks of gold on the fabric.

The living room stayed the same, but the upstairs landing looks more springy.  Irish Rose is on the wall, Spring Race is on the sofa, and a pastel table runner is on the cubbies.

Hopefully the weather will agree that it should be more spring-like and less snowy now.

XX,
Jasmine