Teacher Gifts

After all the minky blankets were made I didn't have much time to make some end of school year teacher gifts. I decided to make some simple drawstring bags that we could put a little treat in.  

I did some assembly line construction to speed things up.  

The fabrics we chose went along with the teacher's favorite color or movie.  I finished them just in time.  

Then my orange loving Kitty picked out some fabric for a bag of her own.  (I have a spare for just in case.)

What are your favorite simple gifts to make?

XX,

Jasmine

Custom Disappearing Nine Patch

My friend Linda commissioned me to make this quilt for her sister who loves blue.  We picked out the fabrics together and I did everything else.  

That day after shopping I was able to cut out all of the five inch squares.  Then I got started on piecing the blocks.  

I divided all of the blocks into fourths so that each quadrant of the quilt has the same amount of each fabric.  

Piecing all the blocks together went really fast.  

I quilted it on the Bernina Q24 with a pretty blue bird fabric for the backing.

I quilted it with the loopy spiral.  

Then I got the navy blue binding on.

I love how it turned out!

After finishing the quilt I used some of the scraps to make a matching tote bag.  

Linda and her sister loved them both.

XX,

Jasmine

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

Scrappy Totes

It may have taken a long time, but I was able to turn my scrappy panels into scrappy bags.

The bags were inspired by Amanda Jean's scrappy purse, but pieced using the pattern in Christina Cameli's Scrappy Market Tote class which I watched on Bluprint.  Her class was wonderful. 

I finished the big one first.  It was the size in Christina's pattern.

And the other side.

After awhile I finished the smaller one.  I just altered the size of the panel and straps from Christina's pattern.

And the other side.

Here the cute bags are together.

There is actually a bigger size difference than appears in the photo above.  Here the small one is inside the larger one.

Now they are hanging on the quilt rack by my cutting table waiting to be used.

I love how they turned out, but next time I would use cool colors for one and warm colors for the other.  I think I would like a more limited palette.  I would love to make more bags like these when I have time.

XX,
Jasmine

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

Gift Bags

I have had a lot of fun making a rainbow of bags.  With the exception of the hot wheels bag Monkey asked for, these are the most girly bags I have made.  They will be given to some of my family and friends.

Two were made specifically for two blogging friends, Mary and Cynthia, who won my Blogiversary Giveaway.  

Mary said that she likes grey and teal.  Cynthia said that she likes purple and turquoise.  I was happy to find fabric in those colors.  :)  They should have received their packages by now.

And just for fun, here are 15 of the 16 bags I have made recently.  (One was given away to Cheetah's friend.)

I like using the Pants Bag Tutorial by Jennifer at Glinda Quilts, but I cut the fabric out at different sizes.  These bags are great for headphones, charger cords, and toys.

XX,
Jasmine

Making Bags with my Niece

I spent one morning cutting out and making little gift bags with my niece.  She had found a bag like this in my mother-in-law's closet and decided that she wanted to make a bunch out of Christmas fabric.

She brought over the original bag and we figured out how to make it.  We cut out 5.5 inch circles for the base and 7 by 17 inch rectangles for the top.  One yard of fabric was enough for eight bags.

First, we ironed the hem and casing on the 17 inch side of the rectangle.  Second, we sewed the opposite side around the circle.  Third, we sewed the side seam.  Note: the 17 inches was bigger than necessary and we trimmed the excess from the side after the seam was sewn.  Fourth, we zig-zagged around the raw edges because the bags are not lined.  Fifth, we sewed the two seams which formed the casing.  Last, we threaded the twine through the casing with a large needle.  (That part was definitely easier said than done!)

We cut out enough fabric for 40 bags and made two prototypes.  She kept one and I kept one.  I think it is pretty cute, but I wonder what my niece plans on putting inside 39 bags.  ;)

I think it even looks pretty cute open.

XX,
Jasmine

My First Sew Together Bag

I recently finished my first Sew Together Bag, and I absolutely love it!  I have already put it to use holding my hand sewing tools.  I purchased the pattern back in May at the HMQS with my birthday money, so this is like a belated birthday present for myself. ;)

I purposely made it to match my Beatle Bag which pattern I also purchased at the HMQS.  I love that one holds my sewing machine tools and the other holds my hand sewing tools.

When I mentioned to Jennie of Porch Swing Quilts that I was going to make a Sew Together Bag, she said to be sure to check out the Sewalong at The Quilt Barn.  I am so grateful for her advice, because while the pattern was awesome and clever, I couldn't have done it without the extra pictures and tips shared in the Sewalong.

For the outside of the bag, I used some Soft and Stable as the interfacing.  While it added thickness (and I cut my binding a little wider), I absolutely love how well it stands up on its own and how the quilting looks around the large Riley Blake Quatrafoil.

The print almost matches up at the top of the bag, which I think is pretty cool.

You may have noticed in the picture above that I accidentally bought an invisible zipper for the outside of the bag.  I do not recommend that at all.  It would have been so much easier if I had just made another trip to the store and purchased a different zipper.

On the inside of the bag I used some Riley Blake Swiss Dots and a light Kona gray solid.

I used a slightly stiffer interfacing for the pockets and love how they stand up.  Another thing I did was purchase zippers for the pockets a little bit extra long.  The extra length made it so that I didn't have to keep moving the zipper itself as I sewed it in.  I will definitely do that again.

As soon as I finished the bag, I had to fill it up.

It is pretty awesome, and I will definitely be making more of these bags.  I know my mom wants one...

XX,
Jasmine

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

More Gift Bags

I have been busy making a lot of draw string bags.  In fact, I have made 26 over the last month and a half.  Some of them have already been given away, so you will just have to believe me. ;)

I like using the pants bag tutorials by Jennifer at Glinda Quilts to make the quick, simple bags.  Here is her tutorial for the basic bag and here is her tutorial for the casing I like.  I cut my gift bags out at 10 inches square and the casing at 9.75 by 5 inches.  For the large bags I cut them out at 18 inches square and the casing at 17.75 by 5 inches.  I find that cutting the casing a quarter inch shorter helps reduce some of the bulk at the sides.  

In the picture below you can see one of every kind I made.  I made four each of the BYU and construction bags, but two of everything else.

Here are all of the boyish bags.

And here are all of the girlish bags.

And here are all of the bags ready to be given away.

I love to give these bags as gifts to family and friends.  Young children love them for toys, and I love them for traveling and organizing.  I keep all of the phone and tablet chargers in my bag when I am traveling.  I also keep all of my clips for hanging quilts for pictures in another bag.  While 26 bags is a lot, I know they will go fast.  5 have already been given away and 12  more are already designated for someone.  I have plans for making even more before Christmas, but I think I need a little break.

XX,
Jasmine

P.S.  I will be linking up with some of the fun parties on my sidebar.  Check them out for more inspiration.