Little Things

 Gratitude Week ~ Day 7 

Happy Thanksgiving to those celebrating in America.  Today I am sharing some little things which I have made and some little things which I am grateful for.  

This is a thread catcher which I made from some practice quilting sandwiches.  It was my first time quilting on such a small scale.  (These are 4 inches tall.)  They looked awful on the back but cute on the front.  Making a thread catcher showed off the front and hid the back because they are lined with another fabric.  

I also recently made my husband some fleece drawstring bags.  These are big enough to keep helmets in.  The fleece was great because it doesn't fray.  I used another helmet bag my husband had as a basic pattern.  They were pretty simple because the bottoms are just rounded not boxed.  

Two yards of fleece was the perfect amount for these six bags, because each piece was cut out at 18 by 20 inches.  

Now for the little things I am grateful for.  I thought it would be fun to list 20 for 2020. Here they are in no particular order:

1.  Sunshine

2.  Mountains

3.  Lakes

4.  Camping with my family

5.  Beautiful fall colors

6.  Chocolate

7.  Pretty fabric

8.  A fenced in back yard

9.  When my husband does the dishes

10.  When my husband does the laundry

11.  Baby laughter

12.  Children laughing

13.  Naps

14.  Seasonal Quilts

15.  Friends

16.  Neighbors

17.  My children's teachers

18.  Flowers

19.  Book of Mormon

20.  Technology to keep in touch with people near and far

What are you grateful for today?

#givethanks

XX,

Jasmine

Green Thing

 Gratitude Week ~ Day 6

Today I am grateful for my ability to quilt and the opportunity to give service.  Being able to do quilty service is even better.  

I made this quilt to use the AccuQuilt and hopefully bring someone some comfort as well. 

 I started out with these practice blocks.  They all used the same green, but different backgrounds.  I found some lighter green to add dimension as well.  My goal was to use every die in the three 12 inch qube sets made by AccuQuilt.  I also used the pineapple BOB and the log cabin BOB.  I had fun filling the quilt in with different sized blocks.  

Once I had enough blocks made there was a lot of shifting things around on the design wall.  

Then I sewed it into three chunks.  

I sewed those together and added a border.  

My sweet mother donated the backing and I pieced the batting from larger batting scraps.  Then I quilted it on the long arm.  

Taking it off the frames is always so much fun.  

It looked even better once I trimmed it up.  

I added a dark green binding to finish it off.  

Here is a peek at the backing.  

While my boys do not like this quilt (at all), I love how it turned out.  I think I may have to make another one similar to it with brighter colors.  

I think that keeping it green and neutral will make for a nice masculine donation quilt. I had so much fun with the AccuQuilt Qube sets and am so grateful my mother has decided to let me keep her AccuQuilt at my house for the time being.  

What are you grateful for today?

#givethanks

XX,

Jasmine

Pillows From Scraps

 Gratitude Week ~ Day 5

Today I am grateful for my home.  It is a place of love, happiness, safety, security, and some craziness. It is a place where we can have fun, learn new things, make mistakes, and be ourselves.  It has been a huge blessing this year when we have had to stay home so often.  

I am also grateful that I can make things to beautify my home, like these pillows.  They are made with the scraps from this quilt.  

I had so much fun making all four of these pillows.  

The back is this beautiful print designed by Amanda Murphy.  (Almost all of the fabrics on the front were designed by her as well.)

These pillows now live on the gray sofa in my basement.  

Cheetah likes the backs better than the front.  The silly boy is not a fan of random.  

I love how they bring more color into the basement.  

What are you grateful for today?

#givethanks

XX,

Jasmine

Miss C's First Quilt

 Gratitude Week ~ Day 4

Today I am grateful for my extended family.  I am so grateful for my brothers, sisters, grandparents, ancestors, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, and the grand nieces and nephews.  I love them all!  

I also love helping my family members with their quilts.  This quilt was pieced by my niece Miss C with my mother.  They again used the original Turning Twenty quilt pattern.  I quilted it on the long arm.   

She requested simple loops.  

She also requested that I bind the quilt for her.  

I love how it turned out.  She did a fantastic job piecing it.  

The backing is this soft blue minky.  My sister has told me that Miss C frequently wraps up in her quilt and takes it everywhere around the house.  I am grateful for quilts which are used and loved.  

What are you grateful for today?

#givethanks

XX,

Jasmine

A Family Heirloom

 Gratitude Week ~ Day 3

Today I am grateful for my in-laws.  I am grateful for the welcome and love they give me and my children.  I am grateful for what they taught my husband, because he is absolutely wonderful.  

I am also grateful for this family heirloom my mother-in-law recently gave me.  It was made by my husband's great-grandmother Nellie.  My father-in-law slept under it when he was young.  It is a treasure just like them.  

Here is a peek at the back of the beautiful quilt.  One interesting fact is that Miss Kitty and Nellie share the same middle name.  All of my children have family names for middle names.  

What are you grateful for today?

#givethanks

XX,

Jasmine

My Mom's Autumn Quilt

 Gratitude Week ~ Day 2

Today I am very grateful for my parents.  I am grateful for the love they share and for the many wonderful things they have taught me.  It was my mother who started teaching me to quilt when I was eleven years old and my sweet father who supported us every step of the way.  

My mother embroidered these beautiful autumn blocks, but had a hard time sewing them together.  They are very stiff and bulky.  I finished assembling the blocks together for her.    

Then I quilted it with my walking foot on my small domestic sewing machine.  

Originally she wanted me to bind it with the same tan used in the blocks, but I thought it needed a darker frame.  She bought a beautiful darker brown fabric for the binding.  

I love how it looks with the darker frame.  

Here you can see how little quilting I actually did.  I am so grateful I can help my mother finish her quilts.  

What are you grateful for today?

#givethanks

XX,

Jasmine

Why I Quilt

 Gratitude Week ~ Day 1

Russell M. Nelson, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, shared a special message of hope and healing today.  He said that being grateful can make a big difference in our lives and encouraged us to use social media to express our gratitude for one week.  

Today I am especially grateful for my family.  I love being a wife and mother.  It comes with many challenges, but even more rewards.  My family is the greatest source of joy in my life.  I quilt for them to express my love for them.  I want them to know the comfort of a quilty hug from a quilt made with love in every stitch.  I want them to experience the joy of playing on, under, and in handmade quilts.  

I love this picture.  I took my large apple quilt out to the backyard one Sunday afternoon so Miss Kitty and I could enjoy the shade.  Pretty soon the entire family joined me on the quilt.  See that empty space on the right?  That is where I was laying down.  See that floral tied blanket?  My grandmother made it for me when I was little.  

My three middle children love making quilt forts.  This is the biggest, sturdiest one that they made this year.  The quilts cover two six foot tables.  I love the two heads peeking out along with a pair of feet.  

Miss Bunny loves playing peek-a-boo in her minky blankets and quilts.  I love her happy giggling self.  

I almost didn't share this picture, but it is too cute to resist.  Miss Kitty loves playing on colorful quilts.  Here is one year of Kitty on quilts.  She has brought so much joy into our home.  

What are you grateful for today?  

#givethanks

XX,

Jasmine

Sunrise Pinwheels

 After finishing Chiclets, I was able to get my pinwheel quilt loaded on the frames.  It used more of the Winline 100% cotton white batting.  I look forward to using that batting again.  

I quilted it in spirals because they remind me of wind on the pinwheels.  

The backing is an Riley Blake ombre dot fabric.  (Not minky because I was trying to use what I already had.)  

Bunny couldn't wait until it was bound to dance on it.  

I decided to bind it in navy blue because the blues on the front and back were not the same tone.  I always say that it doesn't matter what the backing is as long as the binding looks good on both sides.  

I like how the navy frames the front.  

All the pinwheels were cut out of one fabric with the AccuQuilt.  

I named it Sunrise Pinwheels because the layout reminded me of sunrise on the mountains east of my home.  

It was a fun finish!

It is being kept in this cabinet for now.  These quilts are always ready for a snuggle or a quilt fort.  

When I first got this cabinet it was filled with older quilts.  I'm so happy that I now have enough bright lap quilts to fill it up.  (That was my original goal.)  

XX,

Jasmine