Miss I's first Quilt

This is the first quilt of my niece, Miss I.  She is actually my oldest niece and started her quilt with Grandma when she was in her twenties.  She got the blocks pieced, but then life got busy and crazy.  She wasn't able to finish it before moving, so my mom asked me to finish it for her. 

I laid out all the blocks on my design wall, pieced them together, and then quilted it on the Bernina Q24.  The fabrics in the quilt top are all flannels. 

I quilted it with a light tan thread in a medium stipple. 

The binding is a pretty red flannel cut three inches wide. 

The backing is an extra wide Benartex print my mother has had for years. 

If you look closely, you can see the birds. 

I love the fabric and have used it on the back of other quilts.  (My mom bought a whole bolt.)

I tried to take some pictures outside...

But it was too windy. 

So I took it inside for a couple more pictures. 

It is a full size quilt and finishes about 81 by 96 inches.  I had to finish it and take pictures quickly so that it could be delivered personally by a family member.  :)  I will miss having my niece so close, but wish her the best in her new area. 

XX,
Jasmine

Wedding Quilt for Mrs. S

This is the wedding quilt for my niece, Mrs. S, which I helped my mother-in-law make.  When she described what type of quilt she wanted to make, I suggested she look at pictures of trip around the world quilts.  She really liked how they looked, and I figured out all the fabric she would need as well as how to put it together using strip piecing. 

All of the cutting was done at my house, and my mother-in-law did all of the piecing at her house.  This was done in stages before Christmas.  She was able to add the borders and wrap up the quilt top  for Christmas. 

Then early in January I quilted it on the Bernina Q24. 

The stipple was fast and gives great texture. 

The backing was an extra wide white fabric. 

She did an amazing job picking out the fabrics.  They blend so well together and I love the soft pop of light blue. 

I trimmed it up, and then she added the binding. 

We were racing the clock, so I didn't have very much time to take pictures.  After getting a shot of the whole quilt...

I quickly put it on my bed to see how it would look. 

I am thrilled with how it turned out and I know Mrs. S and her husband love it too. 

XX,
Jasmine

Custom Queen Size Sheet Quilts

As I mentioned earlier, my mom's friend Tammy asked me to quilt these four quilts for her.  They are each made from two queen size (200 thread count) flat sheets.  Tammy pressed them all to prepare them, and I trimmed off the side hems.  I then quilted, trimmed, and bound each one.  This was my first time working with sheets, and I was pleased with how they turned out.

I quilted them on the Bernina Q24 with a large stipple.

It felt so good every time I took one off the frames.

Here they all are.

The colors are more accurate in this close-up.

I think Tammy was intending for these to be picnic blankets, but they do look good on a bed as well.

I have a funny story to share.  I always tell my FMQ students to think of whatever a design reminds them of while they are quilting.  One day when I was quilting a stipple, Panda came up and asked me why I was quilting fidget spinners.  I stepped back and could see what he was saying.  Now every time I stipple a quilt I see fidget spinners and think of him.

What do you think of when you stipple or what do you see in the design?

XX,
Jasmine

Star of Wonder

I was asked to make a quilt for a gentleman whose wife had recently passed away.  It was a pleasure for me to make the quilt because his wife had become my dear friend and I had known him through my husband's work for years.  She and I didn't know each other for very long, but because she was another quilter we made a deep connection.  The first time she visited Utah, I took her around to visit different quilt shops and taught her to free motion quilt on a domestic sewing machine.  We didn't stay much in contact that first year until she was ready to visit again.  The second time she visited Utah we went to some quilt shops and I taught her how to quilt on my long arm and make a draw string bag.  We had so much fun together.  This time we kept in contact and would text each other regularly.  It was an honor to know her and be her friend. 

The only direction I was given on the quilt was to make it big (he is over six feet tall) and put minky on the back.  (My husband is the one who said it needed the minky.)  I selected the Shibori fabric line by Moda because I thought the blues were both beautiful and masculine. 

I didn't have a lot of time to make the quilt, so I selected a simple design that has a lot of wow factor.  I was inspired by this beautiful black and white quilt at Night Owl Quilting.  I cut everything out one night and pieced it the next day. 

I quickly quilted it on the Bernina Q24 with a spiral design. 

I quickly did the binding in the darkest blue. 

Then I took it outside for a few pictures in the fading light. 

Then I took it inside to get a picture of the entire quilt.  It finishes about 72 by 90 inches. 

My husband took it to work the next day so that they could send it to him before Christmas.  I really miss her and hope this quilt can bring her husband some comfort.

XX,
Jasmine

Valentine's Day Projects

I had so much fun finishing three small Valentine projects this year.  The first is this ombre table runner made from the scraps of one of my favorite quilts, Quilty Kisses.  It is currently adding some Valentine charm in my bedroom.

I quilted the table runner with hearts and spirals, which is one of my new favorite designs.

When we are eating at the table, this runner moves to the trunk/coffee table in my family room.

I had so much fun making that table runner that I decided to make a table topper for our new end table.

It has a cute Riley Blake print I bought last year and a Northcott print for a border.  I used the envelope finishing method instead of adding a binding for speed.

Once that was finished, I put together one more table runner with five inch squares.  I love how it turned out!

It was so busy with all the prints that I just quilted it simply with a medium stipple.  I love how it looks with the valentine decorations on my mantle.

My great room now looks so festive and is really cheerful.

I don't know how many times I have said this, but sometime I would love to make some quilted pillows.  Do you think they will look okay on leather sofas?

Check out my February Decor post from last year to see some of my previous Valentine projects.

Happy Valentine's Day!

XX,
Jasmine

P.S.  I will be linking up with some of the fun parties on my sidebar, including Oh Scrap.  Check them out to see more fun projects from other quilters.

Simplify

After finishing my Christmas Decoration projects, my goal was to make several draw string bags to give as personalized gifts.  Then I was going to relax and enjoy the Christmas Season and time with family.  Oh, how quickly my plans changed.

First, my mom's friend had a "batting question" for me.  Turns out she really had four queen size sheet quilts she wanted me to make for her to give as Christmas gifts.  She asked before Thanksgiving, and I said I could do it.  I finished all of these in less than three days.

Next, my husband's boss asked if I could make a quilt for someone we all knew and appreciated whose wife just died.  I said I would be happy to do that.   I thought I could get to it after Christmas, but it turned out that they really wanted it done before Christmas.  So, I selected a simple design (inspired by this gorgeous quilt) and got it done quickly.

Next, my mother-in-law wanted to make a wedding quilt for my niece who just got married.  She originally planned on working on it after Christmas.  However, once she found out that said niece and new husband would be visiting for Christmas, she decided she really wanted to give it to her then.  So amidst everything else I was doing, I was helping her with calculations, cutting, planning, and sewing.  The quilt top was finished before Christmas, and the quilting was done after Christmas, but before everyone flew home.

Is anyone noticing a pattern here?

Then, my mom told me that one of my nieces was moving, but had been unable to finish her first quilt.  She had pieced the blocks.  Would I finish it up?  Before Christmas when someone planned on visiting her and could deliver it personally?  Um... okay.

All of that was done before Christmas while we also got ready for hosting several family dinners.  My family came on December 22, and we had 46 people come for dinner.  Thank goodness it was an open house dinner and not everyone was there at the same time. On Christmas Eve, my husband's family came for breakfast to celebrate my mother-in-law's birthday.  We had 18 people come then.  On Christmas Day we had 27 people from my husband's family come for dinner.  It was truly magical because all of his family (except for two Mormon missionaries) were there.  It was the first time in 17 years the family from New Hampshire and Germany were here together.

My sweet niece, Miss S, who was visiting asked if we could make time to finish a jelly roll race quilt that she had already pieced.  Of course, I made time to quilt with her.  She is such a sweetheart!  We finished this on December 27.

In the beginning of January I was finally able to quilt my niece, Miss H's first quilt.  She had brought it to me back in November and waited patiently for me to get to it.  It has wild quilting all over it.  I added the binding by machine to the top, and her mom (my sister) will sew it to the back by hand.  I hope to then get some better pictures of it.

After all of that I took a three week break from quilting.  I was exhausted and little burnt out.  Deadline sewing is not my favorite, but I couldn't say no to any of these projects for friends and loved ones.

So is it any wonder why my word for 2018 is to Simplify?  I hope to eventually write a post for each of these projects so you can see more pictures, but I'm not making any promises.  ;)

Knowing how I don't like deadline sewing, the crazy thing is that it took another deadline for me to get back to the sewing machine.  In April I will be teaching an intermediate Free-Motion Quilting class at my local quilt shop.  (I am still frequently teaching my basic Free-Motion Quilting class.) I needed to make a sample they could hang at the shop to advertise my new class.  I call it "Pleasantly Purple."

I want to thank my friends for thinking of me and for checking up on me during my blogging break.  As you can see, I was just so busy (and then so exhausted) creating and spending time with family that something had to give.  I really hope things slow down and I can get back to blogging more regularly.

XX,
Jasmine