Pleasantly Purple

I made this quilt as a sample to hang at my local quilt shop.  It will advertise my new free-motion quilting class which is an intermediate level.  I will teach it for the first time in April. 

The layout for this FMQ sampler was inspired by one made by Amanda Murphy. 

I saw her quilt when I took a class from her last year.  I simplified it by just using a solid block, but liked how the sashings and borders had different designs. 

I quilted this on the Bernina Q24.  I used Amanda's method of quilting everything in the ditch to stabilize the quilt and then rolling back and forth to fill everything else in. 

The binding is the same dark purple as the cornerstones.  I stitched it to the back by hand and added a label. 

The backing is a lighter purple solid. 

It was a little nerve wracking quilting with a high contrast thread.  Every mistake shows, but I didn't do any unpicking. 

It doesn't look too bad from a distance.  ;)

In my class I will be teaching pebbles, spirals, paisleys, hearts, flowers, leaves, feathers, and combining designs.  I'm really looking forward to it. 

XX,
Jasmine

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

Amanda Murphy Class

My mom and I recently took a three day longarm class/workshop from Amanda Murphy at Nuttall's Bernina.  The classroom was amazing and a lot of her quilts were hung around the room.

I loved this free motion quilting sampler.

They also had a lot of her fabric for sale.

And here is a close-up of the quilt on the left, because I told Sandra how awesome it was.  ;)

The first day was about free motion quilting on the Q-series machines.  Here is a peek at some of what I did that day.

The second day was about ruler work and combining it with free motion.

The third day was about using the Q-matic and combining it with free motion quilting. I didn't take any pictures of that.  ;)

It was wonderful taking a class from a Bernina Quilting and Long Arm Spokesperson.  Amanda Murphy was able to give little tips and tricks for doing things on the Q24 which I found helpful.  It was also wonderful spending that time with my sweet mother.

My mom and I bought some of her fabric and patterns, and I'm looking forward to trying some of her techniques on future projects.  

XX,

Jasmine

A Sweet Surprise

I love teaching free motion quilting classes at my local quilt shop.

I teach the basics class about 3-4 times each year.

I had a sweet surprise in my last class.

My high school sewing teacher (one of my favorite teachers ever) was one of my students.  It was wonderful seeing her again.  The student had become the teacher.  ;)

XX,
Jasmine

Sue Patten Class

Shortly after I taught my mom a little FMQ on her Bernina Q24, we took a three day workshop from Sue Patten.  It was an absolutely amazing class. She is an incredible machine quilter.  In the picture above she was telling us why she quilted what she quilted on her quilt.  Pretty much, she just quilted whatever she felt like quilting where she felt like quilting it.  She said she likes to mix things up so she doesn't get bored.  ;)

This is my favorite close-up which I took from that quilt.

That is a very tiny design.  I love the hearts!

She definitely has her own style with lots of color and what she calls "a gross misuse of thread."

 The quilt above wasn't much bigger than a fat quarter.

The first day we spent doing free motion quilting on the long arm.  (My mom and I shared a Bernina Q24).  This is a sampling of what I quilted that day.

The second day we did a lot of ruler work and grid work.  Here is sample of what I quilted the second day.

The third day we marked a quilt with a Zen Suedle design.

We used stencils and traced shapes on black fabric.  Then we took it home to quilt it.  I will be sharing the finished quilt soon.  It took me more than two months to do all of the quilting on my Baby Lock Tiara.  (Which is one of the reasons why it took me so long to blog about the class.)  Here is a sneak peek at my little practice for tiny quilting.

 
I think that is the smallest I have ever quilted!

If you ever have a chance to take a class from Sue Patten, I highly recommend you take it.

XX,
Jasmine Stephens

Teaching My Mom

Earlier this year my mom came over a few times and I taught her how to do free motion quilting on her Bernina Q24.

We started by loading a sample sandwich (about 21 x 36 inches) where she could practice quilting in rows.

Once nice thing with practicing on old fabric is that it doesn't matter what the end result looks like.  She used a couple different colors of thread and quilted each row several times.  This was a great way to develop muscle memory.

This is the first little quilt she free motion quilted all by herself.  It is spirals which end up looking like upside-down e's.

This is her second little quilt.  She quilted it in wiggles.

I love the texture from quilting in rows, and I am so proud of my mom.  She plans on quilting another little flannel quilt before quilting a chunky race quilt like mine.

XX,
Jasmine

Teaching my Sister

I spent a lot of time over spring break teaching one of my sisters how to machine quilt on the Bernina Q24.  She had previously hand quilted a couple quilts and machine quilted some small quilts on her domestic sewing machine.

She brought over a couple 60 inch wide pieces of flannel and some batting.  We loaded them on the frames and she started quilting after doodling designs on paper.  She had so much fun and even added extra shapes like stars and flowers between her wiggles and loops.

I think quilting in rows is a great way to start with free motion quilting because you know where you are going and it is easier to fill the space evenly.

The flannel was a great first quilt.  Her second quilt on the frames is the Eagle Scout quilt made from the panel by Riley Blake.  She added some extra borders not included in the free pattern to make it a little longer.

She did an amazing job custom quilting the quilt.  She even learned to love using rulers to quilt on the longarm.  She used the rulers for circles, stitching in the ditch, wavy lines, and straight lines.

I am so impressed with her second machine quilted quilt!  You can really see the designs she used on the minky backing.

She used her Cricut to cut out the BSA fleur de lis.  She traced it onto the outer border with a blue water soluble marker.

The large eagle in the panel was my favorite part.

Quilting with my sister was so much fun and my kids enjoyed all the time with their cousins.

I wish all my students could catch on as quickly as my sister.  I am so proud of her.  Didn't she do an amazing job?

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

Still Teaching FMQ Classes

I started teaching FMQ classes last year at my local quilt shop, and I am happy to say that I am still teaching classes there.  I teach about one beginning class every other month.  I really enjoy sharing my love of free-motion quilting with my students.  I have even had one student take my basics class twice.  The classroom is a little small, so I have anywhere from three to eight students in each class.

I took a few pictures before my students came to share here on my blog.  I demonstrate on one of the store machines, usually a Baby Lock Crescendo.  I have some quilts and table runners on display and for examples at the front of the classroom.

Then I displayed my most recent finish, a class sample, and my first FMQ project on the wall.

I tell my students to not compare their beginning to my middle.  I think it helps them to see where I started with my free-motion quilting.

I look forward to teaching more classes this year.

XX,
Jasmine

Quilt Bliss Retreat

I had an absolutely fabulous time at the Quilt Bliss Retreat last weekend.  I went up for just Saturday and was privileged to spend the whole day with Yvonne of Quilting Jetgirl and Renee of Quilts of a Feather.

Quilt bliss was held in the beautiful Timber Moose Lodge in Heber City, Utah.  (Not too far from my home.)

Photo courtesy of Yvonne

I was very lucky that Yvonne was able to save me a seat right next to her sewing station.  :)

Photo courtesy of Yvonne

That is her Bernina between Renee and I.  Don't you just love the color of Renee's machine?

I had fun preparing for the retreat by making a pincushion for a swap and selecting a couple bags for gifts.  I used scraps of wool batting for the pincushion because I heard that the lanolin is good for your pins.  I added some butterfly pins and rainbow of ribbon scraps for cuteness.  

I also cut out a quilt for my dad which is very similar to one I made for my husband earlier this year.

I took two classes while I was there.  The first was a house (turned castle) pillow from Heather of Quilt Story.

It was so much fun making a project like this in a class with friends because my project evolved.  The chimney became a turret, the windows were rounded with little ledges, and the door was rounded and added to the back.  Here is a picture of the class projects.

The second class was a curves class taught by Anna and Kristen of the Utah County Modern Quilt Group.  They taught four methods for appliqueing circles.  I am looking forward to quilting this mini.

While I was there I was able to sew half of the blocks for my dad's quilt.  It was fun sewing moose, deer, and bear blocks in the rustic lodge setting.

All in all it was a great time at the retreat.  I loved spending the day with Yvonne and Renee.

Life has been kind of crazy (more on that next week), but I look forward to finishing up these projects when I can sneak in the time.

XX,
Jasmine