Skittles Quilt Finished

It turns out that blogging about my Skittles quilt in progress was just the inspiration I needed to finish it.  I got the top pieced in just a couple days. 

Then I bought some minky and loaded it on the frames. 

I quilted it with a simple stipple because I wanted the applique to take center stage and not the quilting. 

I love how quick it is to stipple.  The quilting didn't take very long at all. 

I love the texture on the minky backing as well. 

It got a black and silvery gray polka dot binding because a circle quilt needs more circles, right?

Kitty was the first one to test out the quilt. 

She loved it so much we put it on the floor for her to crawl on a lot.  She sometimes spins around on her tummy to check out all the different fabrics. 

I think this may be my new favorite quilt. 

It is perfect for more snuggles.  At the time I finished this quilt I had no more UFO's or WIP's.  Things have changed a little since then.  I have four nephew wedding quilts to make this year.

XX,
Jasmine

Skittles Quilt in Progress

Three years ago I started a hand applique project inspired by the 365 quilts I loved.  Before going on a road trip I traced four inch circles onto iron-on interfacing, sewed the circles to sixteen scraps, turned them right side out, and ironed them onto gray squares.  Even though we were in the car for several hours, I only hand sewed three and a half around the edge.  I realized I didn't like doing it.  

I thought about the project for a couple years and wondered if I should change my methods.  I had machine appliqued some circles at a retreat a few years ago using a blind hem stitch.  Machine applique is so much faster!

 I decided that appliqueing the circles by machine was a much better idea.  Then I could work on my only UFO.  I pulled out the circles I had started and all the five inch scraps I had.  Then I placed them on my design wall.  There were 93 different fabrics.

It wasn't nearly enough for a lap quilt.  So I cut into my stash for more variety.  This is definitely a case where the scraps were multiplying.  There was now 140 different fabrics.

I worked on one color at a time for a little while.  Pink and purple were my first choice.  Even with only working on it for twenty to thirty minutes at a time things got done.

But I didn't like them all in rows.  So I played with the layout.

Much better.  I ended up preparing the rest of the circles.  This could be done out of the craft room while watching the kids.

Things went much faster after that.  (This layout was inspired by Kelly's Shattered Rainbow scrap quilt.)

I totally loved it, but did't feel like piecing all the blocks together in little spurts of time.  So it is now sitting in a box, stacked in columns, and waiting some more.

XX,
Jasmine

Four: A Mini Quilt

I recently finished this mini quilt which I started at Quilt Bliss last November.  It was from a class teaching four different methods to applique circles.

It was pretty boring until I added the quilting.  I love the texture from the quilting!

I used a Hobbs 80/20 batting and Aurifil thread in gray and aqua.  I quilted spirals on the circles with the walking foot on my Pfaff, and then quilted stacked swirls in the background.

I stitched the binding down by hand to the back using a ladder stitch, and I love the simple mini.

XX,
Jasmine

P.S.  Thanks to everyone who has wished me well with the move and building a house.  I have been spending as much time as possible in my temporary sewing room, but haven't had much time for the computer.  I have a few more finishes I hope to share soon.  :)

My craft room is the bonus room over the garage.

Southern Belle



As I mentioned in this post, my Grandma Mildred (on my mom's side) made a quilt for my parents when they got married.  This quilt was used and abused loved.  Most of the quilt is in shreds, but here is a close-up of part of it.



After Grandma Mildred died, my Aunt B brought some of her quilting things over to my mom.  Included among those items was a box with fabric already cut out to make a couple more of the old fashioned doll quilts. 

We decided to make this a family project.  My sisters and I were each going to make quilts like the one my grandma made and include some of her original fabrics.  Because I like big borders, I decided to have one doll match my border and setting squares.  Purple is my favorite color, so I selected that for my solid and a 1930 reproduction fabric for the doll and borders.  I selected another lavender for the backing.  Except for the one purple dress which matches my border, all of the doll dresses were cut out by my grandmother (most likely in the 1940's). 



I tried to make my quilt as much like my grandmother's as possible.  I turned the edges of the fabric under and appliqued it by machine with a decorative stitch.  Then I hand embroidered the hair, arms, neck, and bow.  This took me a couple years to finish.  I had to put the quilt top aside for a little while.  (I seem to have done that a lot.) 



After I had taken a class from Maybeth Oxenrider and quilted some seasonal quilts in my cabinet, I felt ready to tackle this quilt.  I basted it with a different quilt basting spray, and later wished I hadn't.  I normally use Sullivan's quilt basting spray, but this time I used 505.  (I have heard so many wonderful things about 505 that I am now wondering if I just got a bad can.)  My quilt didn't stick together as well as it normally does, leading to many tucks while quilting. 



I decided to do cross-hatching around the dolls like Maybeth demonstrated in her class.  Then I did a feathered quilting in the solid squares like Linda Taylor describes in her book, The Ultimate Guide to Longarm Machine Quilting.  I think it looks awesome on the back (even with my tucks).  I did a free hand feather in the borders.  You can see that feathers are not my strong point, but it is pretty good for my first attempt on a real quilt. 



I really enjoyed working on this quilt and finishing something the way my grandmother would have (with the exception of quilting it by machine instead of by hand).  What was supposed to be a mother/daughter project, really became just my project.  I am the only one to have finished this old fashioned doll quilt. 

I quilted this with my Janome 6500 (with an eight inch arm) while it was sitting in my sewing cabinet. I used extra tables behind and around my machine to support the weight of the quilt. I decided I liked quilting this way more than on my Grace Machine Quilting Frames. I like being able to quilt in a larger area than just the six or so inches I am limited to on the frames.

Quilt Stats #26
Name: Southern Belle
Pattern: based on a quilt my grandmother made in the 1940's
Size: about 91 x 112 inches
Batting:  Hobbs 80/20
Date finished:  2005
What I learned:

• I don't enjoy machine applique. (Most of my quilts are just pieced.) 
• I don't enjoy hand embroidery. (But I am glad I did it anyway.)
• I should stick with what I know works (my preferred basting spray).
• It is fun to do more detailed machine quilting and give the quilt texture.

XX,
Jasmine

P.S. Cheetah was watching over my shoulder and asked, "What is the XX for?"  I told him it meant "kiss, kiss" like "quilt kisses."  He said, "Oh."  He didn't seem think it is as clever as I do. 

P.P.S.  I just linked this up to Val's Tuesday Archives for Apples and Applique.